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A review by sumayyaha
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-joo
4.0
Rating - 4 Stars
____________________________________
At the last line, I'm kind of just thinking, "What?"
^Was my initial reaction. The author had written the epilogue as if another psychiatric specialist had written the tale of Kim Jiyoung as a recount from his patient Kim Jiyoung. He then proceeded to make comments about his own family and wife in such a way that I was truly in awe that he even found Kim Jiyoung's story full of misogyny at all because he himself was a man who still could not see the issues in his thinking despite counseling Kim Jiyoung. However, I soon realized that man was a fictional character Cho Nam-Joo had made for that specific reason, to ingrain irony within irony.
Anyway, that's all on a tangent. My rating for this fictional recount of a woman's journey through life with stigma and sexism spattering throughout is for the thoughtfulness put into the writing and some truly standout phrases that made me go, "Yes! Exactly that!" As I read the translated version, I'm not sure if it was through translation or actually translated as "The father" or "The mother" or "The boyfriend" but I began to think it was a great way of spotlighting the character that really mattered and the only one constantly referred to by name, "Jiyoung". The plain type of writing was also very easy to digest and would give the generation that lived during Jiyoung's time an easy read of this story. (That's not to say I think they have a low education level so that they cannot read more complex writing, but that it's a fast read that any middle-aged woman with plenty of troubles and duties in her own life could make the time for and could feel seen by Jiyoung's experiences.)
Lastly, here are a few quotes that shot a mouthful of disgust in me or triumphant at the chord that it struck in my mind and soul.
"Oh Misook held the infant in her arms and wept. 'I’m sorry, Mother,' she’d said, hanging her head. Koh Boonsoon said warmly to her daughter-in-law, 'It’s okay. The second will be a boy.' When Kim Jiyoung was born, Oh Misook held the infant in her arms and wept. 'I’m sorry, little girl,' she’d said, hanging her head."
"girls were disgusted by older boys at
cram school, church, and tutoring
sessions pawing their shoulders,
stroking their napes, and sneaking a
peek at their breasts through
button-down shirts and T-shirts with
low-cut necklines, but the girls
couldn’t let out a single horrified cry.
All they could do was remove
themselves from the scene."
"When he left the stick on the
podium by mistake one day after
morning announcements, one
classmate with heavy breasts, whose
nametag the teacher often
“checked,” marched to the front,
threw the stick on the floor, and
trampled on it over and over as she
wailed"
"The girls stowed away repulsive, frightening experiences with males deep in their hearts without even realizing it."
"The most demoralizing answer
came from the department head
himself: 'Companies find smart
women taxing. Like now—you’re
being very taxing, you know?' What
do you want from us? The dumb
girls are too dumb, the smart girls
are too smart, and the average girls
are too unexceptional?"
"'How can you say something so backward in this day and age? Jiyoung, don't stay out of trouble. Run wild! Run wild, you hear me?'"
"While offenders were in fear of losing a small part of their privilege, the victims were running the risk of losing everything."
"'The coffee was 1500 won. They
were drinking the same coffee, so
they must have known how much it
was. Tell me—don’t I deserve to
drink a 1500-won cup of coffee? I
don’t care if it’s 1500 won or 15
million won. It’s nobody’s business
what I do with the money my
husband made. Am I stealing from
you? I suffered deathly pain having
our child. My routine, my career, my
dreams, my entire life, my self—I
gave it all up to raise our child. And
I’ve become vermin. What do I do
now?'"
____________________________________
At the last line, I'm kind of just thinking, "What?"
^Was my initial reaction. The author had written the epilogue as if another psychiatric specialist had written the tale of Kim Jiyoung as a recount from his patient Kim Jiyoung. He then proceeded to make comments about his own family and wife in such a way that I was truly in awe that he even found Kim Jiyoung's story full of misogyny at all because he himself was a man who still could not see the issues in his thinking despite counseling Kim Jiyoung. However, I soon realized that man was a fictional character Cho Nam-Joo had made for that specific reason, to ingrain irony within irony.
Anyway, that's all on a tangent. My rating for this fictional recount of a woman's journey through life with stigma and sexism spattering throughout is for the thoughtfulness put into the writing and some truly standout phrases that made me go, "Yes! Exactly that!" As I read the translated version, I'm not sure if it was through translation or actually translated as "The father" or "The mother" or "The boyfriend" but I began to think it was a great way of spotlighting the character that really mattered and the only one constantly referred to by name, "Jiyoung". The plain type of writing was also very easy to digest and would give the generation that lived during Jiyoung's time an easy read of this story. (That's not to say I think they have a low education level so that they cannot read more complex writing, but that it's a fast read that any middle-aged woman with plenty of troubles and duties in her own life could make the time for and could feel seen by Jiyoung's experiences.)
Lastly, here are a few quotes that shot a mouthful of disgust in me or triumphant at the chord that it struck in my mind and soul.
"Oh Misook held the infant in her arms and wept. 'I’m sorry, Mother,' she’d said, hanging her head. Koh Boonsoon said warmly to her daughter-in-law, 'It’s okay. The second will be a boy.' When Kim Jiyoung was born, Oh Misook held the infant in her arms and wept. 'I’m sorry, little girl,' she’d said, hanging her head."
"girls were disgusted by older boys at
cram school, church, and tutoring
sessions pawing their shoulders,
stroking their napes, and sneaking a
peek at their breasts through
button-down shirts and T-shirts with
low-cut necklines, but the girls
couldn’t let out a single horrified cry.
All they could do was remove
themselves from the scene."
"When he left the stick on the
podium by mistake one day after
morning announcements, one
classmate with heavy breasts, whose
nametag the teacher often
“checked,” marched to the front,
threw the stick on the floor, and
trampled on it over and over as she
wailed"
"The girls stowed away repulsive, frightening experiences with males deep in their hearts without even realizing it."
"The most demoralizing answer
came from the department head
himself: 'Companies find smart
women taxing. Like now—you’re
being very taxing, you know?' What
do you want from us? The dumb
girls are too dumb, the smart girls
are too smart, and the average girls
are too unexceptional?"
"'How can you say something so backward in this day and age? Jiyoung, don't stay out of trouble. Run wild! Run wild, you hear me?'"
"While offenders were in fear of losing a small part of their privilege, the victims were running the risk of losing everything."
"'The coffee was 1500 won. They
were drinking the same coffee, so
they must have known how much it
was. Tell me—don’t I deserve to
drink a 1500-won cup of coffee? I
don’t care if it’s 1500 won or 15
million won. It’s nobody’s business
what I do with the money my
husband made. Am I stealing from
you? I suffered deathly pain having
our child. My routine, my career, my
dreams, my entire life, my self—I
gave it all up to raise our child. And
I’ve become vermin. What do I do
now?'"