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A review by lauxreads
I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Baek Se-hee
medium-paced
2.5
When I initially saw the book at the bookstore, I was intrigued by the title and the cover, and the blurb also caught my eye.
Upon taking another look, I quickly realized that I want to die but I want to eat tteokbokki wasn't a fiction book about a woman suffering with mental health issues, as I initially thought, but is instead a memoir of a woman's experience with therapy and working through her problems. I was very interested in the way the author would portray her experience, so of course I bought the book.
Now that I finished, I'm not sure what to think about it. Certainly, the matter of the book and the described exoeriences are deeply personal to the author so I don't want to go too deep into describing how I only found myself relating to short passages at the time, while other experiences were strange to me.
As far as the style of the book is concerned, the fact that it is largely made up of transcripts from therapy sessions is interesting to me. Since therapy is usually a confidential setting between the patient and the therapist, being the 'third person in the room' as a reader was interesting. However, I didnt enjoy the parts in between as much and the epilogues felt a bit distracting to me.
I would probably have enjoyed the book more if it was entirely made up of therapy transcripts - maybe including the author's thoughts where necessary.
At times, the descriptions also felt superficial, which is why I would have preferred for the book to be longer and to go into more detail.
Nonetheless, it was an interesting and fairly quick read that did include some sentences that I will also keep in mind for myself from time to time.
Upon taking another look, I quickly realized that I want to die but I want to eat tteokbokki wasn't a fiction book about a woman suffering with mental health issues, as I initially thought, but is instead a memoir of a woman's experience with therapy and working through her problems. I was very interested in the way the author would portray her experience, so of course I bought the book.
Now that I finished, I'm not sure what to think about it. Certainly, the matter of the book and the described exoeriences are deeply personal to the author so I don't want to go too deep into describing how I only found myself relating to short passages at the time, while other experiences were strange to me.
As far as the style of the book is concerned, the fact that it is largely made up of transcripts from therapy sessions is interesting to me. Since therapy is usually a confidential setting between the patient and the therapist, being the 'third person in the room' as a reader was interesting. However, I didnt enjoy the parts in between as much and the epilogues felt a bit distracting to me.
I would probably have enjoyed the book more if it was entirely made up of therapy transcripts - maybe including the author's thoughts where necessary.
At times, the descriptions also felt superficial, which is why I would have preferred for the book to be longer and to go into more detail.
Nonetheless, it was an interesting and fairly quick read that did include some sentences that I will also keep in mind for myself from time to time.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Fatphobia
Minor: Homophobia and Xenophobia