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A review by katsel
I'll Go On by Hwang Jungeun
1.0
Something that makes me very angry is victimisation. There is nothing tragic about believing that an event outside of your control has lead to your life inalterably moving into one direction only. There is nothing romantic about accepting being stuck in a dark space. And there was nothing inspirational about I'll Go On.
Two sisters grow up in a broken home after their father dies in a workplace accident and their mother falls into depression. With no love or attention given to them during their childhood they cannot help but take severe emotinal damage that causes them lifelong difficulties to form relationships and feel compassion and love. The "idea" here is that the death of their father disabled their mother to raise her children, which leads to the compulsory development of a very similar depression on their side. Now, you might think, yes, this, unfortunately, happens, it is important to write about it. And you are correct. But the angle with which Hwang approaches the story made me want to tear this book apart.
The two sisters are portrayed as so incapable of healing, of acknowledging their trauma that it doesn't give any "hope" to the reader. If anything, I felt like the message of the book was that, without a father, a family is incapable of forming a strong bond, and without a strong family you are destined to be a weak and broken person that cannot form a functioning family themselves. I would have loved for the book to tell the story of how the sisters are able to turn their lives around by reflecting on what their mother couldn't reflect on, and become strong women that support and heal eachother. Instead, they simply "go on" - meaning they bob up and down in their twisted sadness they can't even comprehend because they blame their surroundings for breaking them, rather than searching for a way out.
There were no intelligent comments on depression in this book whatsoever. The characters understanding of their situation didn't stretch beyond that of a child, minus the intuitive emotional depth with which a child would be able to feel sadness or loneliness. The story felt naft, dated, andborderline sexist. Do not recommend, unless you can find comfort in fatalistic, romanticised descriptions of mental illness - which I truly doubt anyone would.
Two sisters grow up in a broken home after their father dies in a workplace accident and their mother falls into depression. With no love or attention given to them during their childhood they cannot help but take severe emotinal damage that causes them lifelong difficulties to form relationships and feel compassion and love. The "idea" here is that the death of their father disabled their mother to raise her children, which leads to the compulsory development of a very similar depression on their side. Now, you might think, yes, this, unfortunately, happens, it is important to write about it. And you are correct. But the angle with which Hwang approaches the story made me want to tear this book apart.
The two sisters are portrayed as so incapable of healing, of acknowledging their trauma that it doesn't give any "hope" to the reader. If anything, I felt like the message of the book was that, without a father, a family is incapable of forming a strong bond, and without a strong family you are destined to be a weak and broken person that cannot form a functioning family themselves. I would have loved for the book to tell the story of how the sisters are able to turn their lives around by reflecting on what their mother couldn't reflect on, and become strong women that support and heal eachother. Instead, they simply "go on" - meaning they bob up and down in their twisted sadness they can't even comprehend because they blame their surroundings for breaking them, rather than searching for a way out.
There were no intelligent comments on depression in this book whatsoever. The characters understanding of their situation didn't stretch beyond that of a child, minus the intuitive emotional depth with which a child would be able to feel sadness or loneliness. The story felt naft, dated, and