A review by clara_mai
Violets by Kyung-sook Shin

challenging dark emotional reflective sad

5.0

I was planning to write a review of Violets, but then I watched Books and Bao's on YouTube and it felt like they took everything that was floating around in my head after finishing this novel and put it into words in this excellent, to-the-point interpretation. Their channel is fantastic in general btw, especially if you're interested in translated literature. Highly recommend! Here's the link to their review of Violets: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1kdnurYPE8

What I have to add is that I also really appreciated the afterword that Shin Kyung-sook wrote for this edition. She reflects on the novel, which was originally published in 2001, talks about the writing process and provides a bit of political context. Her comments on the protagonist San reinforced my feelings toward and connection with her as a character. Last but not least, the translation by Anton Hur is just beautiful. While reading I had the feeling that the translator must have really understood the themes and characters in order to convey the story in this way and the author apparently felt the same, because she remarks on Anton Hur's connection to the work in her afterword. 
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