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A review by bogdanbalostin
Prințesa Bari by Hwang Sok-yong
5.0
War, poverty, famine, immigration, human trafficking, terrorist attacks, shamanism, harmony, the flow of lie, pride, despair.
I have two main criteria by which I rate a book. One is the boring factor and the other one is the emotional factor. A story should not be boring and should elicit some emotional response from me.
Princess Bari is a weird story. Look at the list of words at the beginning of the review. Those are the themes presented in this novel. This is a lot and even if it's not confusing, there's not enough time to talk about them all. Princess Bari is not a long novel. Actually, because I'm used to drawn-out stories that have a definitive ending or a cliffhanger, I read this very quickly, soon to discover it just ends. There's no end, it's just life.
The plot isn't exceptional and because Bari narrates the story from a detached point of view like she's not involved in the action, the book isn't particularly exciting. And yet, it's emotional. I was interested in the first part of the story as I got to learn a little about Korean culture and I was also captivated by the second part when Bari starts making decisions and living her life.
Then the ending. It bugs me a lot that there's not a real ending. If you want to argue with me, there is a spiritual ending when Bari understands life but I wanted more. Also, the novel couldn't talk deeply about all of the themes it presented which is a shame.
P.S. I really liked the fantasy aspect of this novel, but I see many reviewers not too fond of it.
I have two main criteria by which I rate a book. One is the boring factor and the other one is the emotional factor. A story should not be boring and should elicit some emotional response from me.
Princess Bari is a weird story. Look at the list of words at the beginning of the review. Those are the themes presented in this novel. This is a lot and even if it's not confusing, there's not enough time to talk about them all. Princess Bari is not a long novel. Actually, because I'm used to drawn-out stories that have a definitive ending or a cliffhanger, I read this very quickly, soon to discover it just ends. There's no end, it's just life.
Spoiler
Bari lives and she's doing what she's doing, having the life any of us can have.The plot isn't exceptional and because Bari narrates the story from a detached point of view like she's not involved in the action, the book isn't particularly exciting. And yet, it's emotional. I was interested in the first part of the story as I got to learn a little about Korean culture and I was also captivated by the second part when Bari starts making decisions and living her life.
Then the ending. It bugs me a lot that there's not a real ending. If you want to argue with me, there is a spiritual ending when Bari understands life but I wanted more. Also, the novel couldn't talk deeply about all of the themes it presented which is a shame.
P.S. I really liked the fantasy aspect of this novel, but I see many reviewers not too fond of it.