A review by annreadsabook
The End of August by Yu Miri

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Yu Miri’s The End of August is a deeply intimate yet sweeping exploration of family, nationality, resistance, and dreams deferred. We are introduced, through a contemporary character named after the author herself, to a young Korean boy who loves running and has his heart set on running at the Olympics, but is forced to navigate the harsh realities of life under Japanese occupation. Over time, the narrative branches out to consider the lives of his relatives and others in his community, who contend with daily life set against the backdrop of war and colonization.

I loved Yu’s exploration of the significance of names—we see multiple characters muse over what it means to be called certain names or to shrug off certain names, and what it means for Japanese colonizers to force foreign names upon people who hold their family names so dearly. And there is the aspect of local and national mythology that I found so intriguing—this idea that the spirit of a community can bear witness to the locale’s struggles. There is also a lot to be said about the role of girlhood and womanhood in this book as well—the embodied spirit of Miryang is the soul of a young girl who died horrifically but appears unthreateningly (and often soothingly) to those in distress.

The writing style in this book, as I have mentioned previously, is quite unconventional and idiosyncratic, and it requires a heightened attention to the words on the page—there are points of the book that will require your full attention for you to understand what’s happening. But, with that being said, I think the payoff is tremendous, even in a book clocking in at over 700 pages. Yu’s writing in this book helps the reader delve further into the psyche of each of the characters, highlighting the various ways in which life, love, desire, and struggle unfold for each of them.

If you’re looking for a chunky historical fiction, and especially if you loved Pachinko but were looking for a deeper exploration of Japanese colonization on the Korean peninsula (as opposed to a primary focus on Zainichi Koreans), I would highly recommend this book!

Please note that this book broaches heavy themes including colonization, war, violence, r4pe (specifically, as pertaining to Korean comfort women), grief, and child loss.

Thank you so much to Riverhead for the gifted ARC!
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