Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982: A Novel

I think this book is worth your time. But I think it is also worth tempering your expectations against the way the book has been advertised, especially in its English translation. For example, according to the inside of the hardcover dust jacket this is presented as the story of “a thirtysomething ‘millenial everywoman … at the center of our global #MeToo movement.’” I want to gently push back on this marketing copy as I think the novel and the characters rise above that of archetype and stereotype.There can be something flattening about how the everyday indignity of sexism and discrimination is unintentionally smoothed over when described as “universal.” When discrimination happens to you, what can be so shattering is how excruciatingly individual and direct that pain can feel; how hard it can be to put what just specifically happened to you into words, let alone speak of it to others; finally, it is astonishing how difficult it can be for others to truly understand in a meaningful way what you, as an individual, went through: This is the experience that Cho Nam-Joo attempts to capture in this novel and one I feel the author succeeds in doing.You are never left in doubt that this is a novel about Kim Jiyoung, and as you read, you will be told more about her older sister Kim Eunyoung, her mother Oh Misook, her grandmother Koh Boonsoon, and more. The circle of women in her life shape and inform, guide and restrict, challenge and sometimes even seem to possess her as their lives unfold and fold into each other’s. This is not a novel full of exquisite prose and brutal interiority that delves deep into the stream-of-consciousness of our central character. It is not slow or meditative. It is a blunt book. The narrative does not dawdle and is structured to move quickly across several periods of Kim Ji Young’s life labelled “childhood,” “early adulthood,” and (tellingly) “marriage.”In the English translation by Jamie Chang, the plot of the novel carries an urgency and reads as taut like a spring, uncoiling as you read it. The story presents a steady, ceaseless stream of individual, highly personal episodic events from Kim Ji Young’s life as well as the other women in her life: Moments where their status as a woman was used by others to truncate a dream, bring them fear, make them uncertain, to be imposed on them by another as a way to reduce their ambitions or their agency. These moments begin in slow waves at first. And at a certain point, the narrator even begins to cite statistics from the likes of the Economist, or the Ministry of Labor, or Statistics Korea at the end of a narrative event, in the same manner as one might add an underscore or italics for emphasis. By the end, these moments arrive almost ceaselessly, one after the other. I certainly felt overwhelmed as a reader.At 163 pages, I was able to finish the slim, hardcover version in a single sitting, on a quiet Friday. The ending of the novel, which I leave for you to discover, made me feel more acutely than ever the challenges we have in lasting empathy or understanding. The novel shows how easy it is, for anecdotes or accounts of suffering to induce a moment of clarity, and empathy, to bemoan the circumstances. It also shows how easy it is to revert to the mean, to proscribe a platitude, to once more slip into a norm of everyday inequity. I found this book to be a source of many good conversations, and an opportunity to discuss our individual experiences, and made me hope for more lasting awareness of our capacity to discriminate – unintentional or not – but also our ability to be better.

Although this is a fictional narrative, it’s peppered with facts and citations throughout the text to remind us that while we are reading a story, the text is also a scathing indictment of the misogynistic policies that constitute the everyday reality of Korean women.To be honest, all of this was a surprise to me. I had no idea that women in Korea suffered to this extent, so I was intrigued to learn that gender inequality in South Korea is ranked one of the highest in the world, and this book’s publication actually led to a heated debate about sexism in the country.Perhaps Cho Nam-Joo saw this coming, and that’s why she wrote the book in a very unique style. It reads like an academic paper or newspaper article. It’s very clinical in its approach, almost daring the reader to argue with her or to dispute the premise on which the story is written.

Just here to express my love for this poignant piece of a literature art. What an incredible book. This translation is easy to read in 1-2 sittings.

This is basically an expose of everything that has been wrong with the way South Korea treats, and has treated women. I think it is quite clever in the way it is written, a mixture of memoir, diary and novella. It communicates its message through character archetypes and typical social scenarios. Its mass appeal stems from the way in encapsulates the experience of most Korean women born in from the 70’s to the 90’s. It functions as an awakening, a long-due dam-burst of expression in a society known for its cultural straightjacket.The Republic of Korea is a country that modernized quickly in terms of infrastructure but lags when it comes to quality of life and social justice. Things have improved a bit since this book was penned, but it can still be a stressful and frustrating place if you are female or belong to a minority. It is a society of advanced technology yet still in the grip of outdated traditional practices and oppressive societal expectations.It is a fairly quick read, you will get through it in under a week. This is because it is quite brief but also fairly engaging. It will be of interest to anyone who has spent time in the country. It begins to dismantle a carefully constructed façade, the illusion of a perfect country, an image oft presented to the international community and one that has depended on Korea being still relatively unknown to the world at large.

This book does what good fiction does best: it puts you in the shoes of another and forces you to grapple with their reality from their perspective. The protagonist and narrative are a vehicle for social commentary, but the characters have enough personality to keep you invested in them. The author gives everyone fair treatment and injects enough nuance into the plot points to make the story more convincing and true to life. Also, the book is short and easy to read, which makes it absolutely worth checking out. As a final comment, this book is about South Korean society, but much of the sexism and inequalities it explores are directly applicable to all modern developed societies, included the United States (where this reader is from).

I truly enjoyed reading this novel as it touches on cultural and women issues in South Korea. Though the focus is South Korean society, I do feel the motherhood theme depicted is universal.I’m giving it 4/5 stars because the ending felt inconclusive; I was expecting more closure to the story. However I do recommend this book.

A researched, resourced look at an average South Korean woman. This book is a feminist rant about the institutionalized misogyny in modern South Ķorea. Many women's stories are shared in the narrative as well as men's. There is a lot of anger and helplessness between the sexes expressed in the book. It was the best expression of institutionalized perjudicar that I have ever read.

Great novel

I really loved it!! and it is a sad reality in many countries

Libro molto scorrevole. Da donna ho provato molta rabbia per certi passaggi e mi fa molto riflettere sulla situazione delle donne in Corea come anche in Italia, essendo italiana.

Lovely book. It was recommended and it surprised me how much I liked it. As a mother of two, we can definitely share many thoughts with Kim Jiyoung

Interesting narration, reading page after page i wanted to know the main character better