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notesofacrocodile's Reviews (257)
4☆ — an interesting and short read that traces the life of kim jiyoung, a south korean woman who has given up her career pursuits, dreams, and desires- all in order to take care of her family. the story takes us through the many different prejudices, injustices, and discriminatory attitudes that she faces, purely on account of her being a woman. although fictional, kim jiyoung's story is certainly one that would resonate with most women. it goes through several situations that women would understand so intimately, ranging from the unfair gendered difference in dress codes at school, to the consequences of childbirth and childcare for the working woman. cho nam-joo writes with a very specific and occasionally cutting tone, driving in the deep-seated anger and hopelessness that her protagonist experiences in daily life. there is a sense of detachment throughout, adequately communicating the lack of faith and resentment that the author and her protagonist harbours against the brutality of the patriarchal system.
interspersed with very real facts and figures, cho nam-joo presents us with a work that may be short, but does not lack any punch for it. it will leave the reader infuriated and angry, and anger is always the first step towards working for change.
interspersed with very real facts and figures, cho nam-joo presents us with a work that may be short, but does not lack any punch for it. it will leave the reader infuriated and angry, and anger is always the first step towards working for change.
4☆ — a novel that follows the perspectives of two unique characters, soon to be married, as well as from the points of view of their ex-love interests and friends. i can definitely understand the sally rooney comparisons (story is set in ireland, looks into dynamics between flawed characters and the bonds that define their relationships etc) and in addition to it, there's also the occasional humour that complements the story and the characters quite well. special mention for exploring how the heteronormative paradigm of marriages and marital relationships (and also just relationships in general) can manifest and how there is not a lot of good that comes out of it. i had a blast reading this one.
i had such a hard time getting through this book and considered dnf-ing it several times, definitely was not for me. while i do enjoy books where the emphasis is on character rather than plot, the no-plot-just-vibes nature of this novel was a little too extreme for my taste and the protagonist wasn't really interesting enough for me either. sad to have not enjoyed this as much as i had wanted to.
what a pleasure it is to read annie ernaux's writing, so intimately rendered! in this short piece, she tells us of her passionate affair with a married man. it is important to understand that this isn't about the man or his person. rather, it is about the effect that his existence in her life brings about; pure overwhelming passion: white-hot and simmering underneath her skin. annie ernaux's writing always takes care to remind us of how explosive and all-consuming her emotions are: she may try to put it into words but we as the reader should keep in mind that it is so much more than what words or verbal language could ever seek to demonstrate. her prose, regardless, oozes with want and yearning, and as it nears the end of this affair, it transitions into a ghostly despair, and then acceptance. this felt like her personal diary, and not like an unpublished piece because of how painfully personal and viscerally raw it felt. this was short, but it certainly hit all the right notes.
2☆ — a short piece revolving around two lesbians who meet through the internet and the alarming descent into exploitation and abuse. if the story was longer it may have been possible to improve upon it and give the characters and the story more substance and impact, but as it stands, i wasn't too impressed with this one
gorgeously crafted prose that follows a woman who seemingly loves her husband and hates to imagine him unhappy, and yet cannot stop herself from initiating sexual encounters with other men. it was certainly written well, but at some points had me thinking that it would've been beneficial to the story had the length of it been reduced.
// "...I think we are more severe judges of our own acts than professional judges. We judge our thoughts, our intents, our secret curses, our secret hates, not only our acts."
// "...I think we are more severe judges of our own acts than professional judges. We judge our thoughts, our intents, our secret curses, our secret hates, not only our acts."
3.5☆ — an interestingly constructed dystopia that plunges the reader into a society where human meat has replaced the consumption of animal meat, all as observed through the depressively detached gaze of our narrator, who has undergone enough tragedies as it is. the writing style was beautiful and if i were to rate on the basis of it alone, i could've given a much higher rating. however, I couldn't understand as to how a couple of circumstances or things came to be in this world, starting with my biggest question: how did the transition to eating human meat become naturalised so quickly? i suppose i could conjure scenarios where few may resort to human meat after a long time, but the fact that this was a mass transition, and that too within the short period of the narrator's lifetime seems like something that just cannot happen.
i thought the way that the narrator and his fellow men regarded women, in different degrees and flavours of misogyny, was quite realistic- even the humans who are reared to be eaten cannot escape the misogyny of their killers. the writing also perfectly complements the dark and grimy morals and perspectives of this dystopian society. overall, i can still see why this book is so highly recommended.
i thought the way that the narrator and his fellow men regarded women, in different degrees and flavours of misogyny, was quite realistic- even the humans who are reared to be eaten cannot escape the misogyny of their killers. the writing also perfectly complements the dark and grimy morals and perspectives of this dystopian society. overall, i can still see why this book is so highly recommended.
