We are off! In my wrap-up post for 2023, I mentioned my intention of reading more international books. My dislike of goals and targets has made me look for a relaxed way of doing this. The solution is: The Reading Around the World Challenge.

Contrary to common practice, my project will have no rules. I may aim for a local author from a specific country, but it could also be a novel set in that country or even a nonfiction book. If I’d already read a book from a country, I won’t feel obliged to read another one, unless I feel like it.

Also, the format will vary. Occasionally, I may do a post about literature in a specific region or country. For some books, I will do a full length book review, whereas others may be bundled in a summary post. If I’ve visited the country in real life, I may add photos or even do a Literary Location post. In short: Everything goes.

Why such a pragmatic approach? Well, I have to be realistic. With my limited reading (around 50 books per year) and a strong preference for mood reading, visiting 10 countries per year seems ambitious. And even if I manage that, Reading Around the World will take me almost 20 years to finish!

South Korea

In recent years, South Korean literature seems to have been on a roll. Several novels have made it onto the longlist for The Internationalist Booker Prize, most recently Whale by Cheon Myeong-kwan. And Korean books often seem to be talk of the town within the bookish community.

Han Kang has become household name. I read Human Acts some years back and it made a huge impression. It’s a difficult read about the massacre in Gwangju, South Korea in 1980, when students demonstrated against the martial law government.

Kyung-sook Shin (Violets), Bae Suah (Untold Night and Day) and Yun Ko-eun (The Disaster Tourist) are other names, which pop up regularly. International authors with Korean background include Frances Cha (If I had Your Face), Min Jin Lee (Pachinko) and Michelle Zauner (Crying in H Mart).

The one I’ve selected for my Reading Around the World project has been on my TBR for a while. Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 is a modern feminist novella about life in South Korea seen from the perspective of a young women. We follow Jiyoung from childhood, where she and her sister are treated as second rank family members compared to their brother.

The discrimination escalates as Jiyoung gets older. In the hiking club, women can choose the lunch menu, whereas men can run for president of the club. Sexual harassment is common and girls are brought up being told it is all their fault. They need to wear conservative clothes and basically behave themselves, otherwise bad things will happen. Getting a job matching their qualifications is almost impossible for women and in any case, they are still expected to make the coffee. Unsurprisingly, they mostly leave the job-market when getting children, since the excessively long work hours and other demands are incompatible with family life.

Jiyoung in the present time is struggling with mental health issues. After having heard her story, I am starting to find it surprising that this condition isn’t commonplace for Korean women.

The story is told via an unemotional, straight-forward third person narrative, which I found impactful and suitable for the story. Real life statistics are included throughout, emphasising that Jiyoung’s story is far from unique.

I can’t recommend this novella enough. Undoubtedly, it will make you furious, but it’s an excellent account of all the more or less subtle ways women can be harassed, discriminated and put to a disadvantage in modern society.

Title: Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 [2016]
Author: Cho Nam-joo, translated by Jamie Chang
Format: Audiobook, narrated by Jamie Parker 
Genre: General Fiction

North Korea

Translated books from North Korea can mostly be ascribed to authors, who have left the country. Two noticable exceptions are Friend by Nam-nyong Paek and The Accusation by the author known as Bandi.

Friend is a novel exploring love, marriage and divorce. Published in 1988 and translated to English in 2020, it is the first state-sanctioned North Korean novel available to international readers. The Accusation was smuggled out of North Korea and published in translation in 2017. It’s a collection of short stories throwing light on daily life in North Korea. I would very much like to read The Accusation, but for now I apply my pragmatic approach and use a book I’ve already read.

The Girl with Seven Names was one of my favourite nonfiction books last year. Hyeonseo’s story about leaving North Korea was fascinating. Seeing the Western world through her eyes was interesting and eye-opening. But my favourite part was probably hearing about her daily life in North Korea. Admittedly, she had a relatively privileged life after North Korean standards, but it was still a life so distant from anything, I would ever want.

Some people have questioned Hyeonseo’s decision making process during her escape. This puzzles me. For a teenager, who grew up in complete isolation from the rest of the world and had been living a protected life, where all choices were made for her, I thought she did exceedingly well.

Title: The Girl with Seven Names [2014] 
Author: Hyeonseo Lee, David John (ghostwriter)  
Format: Audiobook, narrated by Josie Dunn  
Genre: Memoir

Right, what a flying start to my Reading Around the World project. Two thought-provoking five-star reads, both of which provided fascinating insight into the countries, they represented. Fingers crossed, the remaining part of the project will be equally successful.