pannii's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
nanasanchez's review against another edition
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
emsemsems's review
4.0
“Memory finds its way back through blood, through body heat. Right at that moment.
But now is not that moment. Right now doesn’t mean anything at all.”
A solid 3.5 that I’m willing to round it off to a 4. I’d have enjoyed the book a lot more if the ending was a bit – more (of everything). I wouldn’t even complain if Suah wanted to go with melodramatic. But it was more like the falling of a stray flyer – poetic to some, insignificant to others. I lean towards the latter group. The story begins by describing the narrator’s relationship/association to Gyeonggi Province. Two things popped into my mind when I think of Gyeonggi: glorious rice fields, and/but also the Korean Zodiac Killer. Suah’s novella doesn’t revolve around either of those things (or at least I don’t think so), but it does have the same – quiet, unsettling landscape that I’d imagine it’d have.
“Rain falls inside the dark, abandoned house. It streams down the walls of the kitchen and front door like a waterfall. Burn me. Pour gasoline over me and set my body on fire. Burn me at the stake like a witch. Wrap me in garbage bags and toss me in the incinerator. I’ll turn into dioxin and make my way into your lungs. Stroke my face lightly with a razor blade and suck the blood that comes seeping out. Lap it up like a cat. I want to be covered in blood. I’ll cry out in the end and weep for fear of leaving this world without ever once discovering the me inside me, the ugly something inside me. But then I see her: another me passing by like a landscape of inanimate objects outside the window of the empty house quietly collapsing in the rain.”
But regardless of how I feel about the ending, the writing in general/as a whole is quite glorious. I have little to complain about the characterisation/characters. It’s a very bleak story in every way. It reminds me of something of the Southern Gothic genre except this one’s East Asian. Perhaps like a mix between Flannery O’Connor + Bong Joon-Ho (I’m thinking more of ‘Memories of Murder’ and less of his more famous film, ‘Parasite’). Also, the protagonist’s relationship with Cheolsu (her kind-of boyfriend) is fascinating even though it’s so uninspiring and lack of a better word – so ‘whatever’.
“No matter how decadent and corrupt my body becomes, I will, like a desert orchid that blooms once every hundred years, come to you bearing this frigidness toward life.”
Cheolsu’s mother in the book – in my opinion – is a lot like the antagonist, elderly-woman figure in Ghibli/Miyazaki films – notably the character ‘Yubaba’ from Spirited Away. This gives a deeper complexity to the already odd gothic vibe which gradually thickens towards the end of the book.
“To see Cheolsu, I would have to go all the way past the city of Uijeongbu, which I’d never been to before, transfer buses several times, go to a place called Yeoncheon, which I’d never even heard of, and find my way to an army base with a strange address. To top it all off, now I had to tote along a bundle of cold chicken like some kind of refugee. This was too much.
“I wish I could visit him myself.” She sounded crestfallen. “But Cheolsu told me not to come. He said the other boys all have their girlfriends visit them and he’ll be embarrassed if his mother shows up…. I just want to feed my son his favorite dish, so though I know it’s a burden for you, please do me this one favor. Anyway, he absolutely insists that I don’t go, for fear of making his girlfriend uncomfortable.”
She laughed. I pictured her eyes shining like a rat’s when she peeped at us in Cheolsu’s bedroom. I didn’t want to have to look at her face again, but I figured one last time couldn’t hurt. Once it was done, I would never have to see her again.”
I wanted the novella/book to be longer/a novel. There is so much good content – and subplots; this should have been written as a novel. Plus, the complicated political chaos/mess that simmers constantly in the background of the story also adds to the ‘beauty’ and darkness of the protagonist’s life/’suffering’/outlook on life in general. If Suah had written this as a novel, it would allow more space/room for the individual/separate events/stories to grow and decorate the plot instead of being a clumped-up mess. It would also make the ending more beautiful/meaningful and less rushed.
“My mother had started drinking again. I thought about getting mad at her but gave up on the idea. I must have been too tired. Getting drunk was her choice, as were her boozy-breath drunken ramblings that I hated listening to. Since her benders weren’t that frequent, I could put up with this one for a little while. My mother didn’t seem to care at all how badly she stank, or how ugly the whites of her eyes were, yellowed from the havoc she’d wreaked on her liver. ”
“Would my father get his card and his candy? Before he went to prison, he told us, “I want to kill myself. I didn’t do anything wrong. Send me letters on poisoned paper. I’ll swallow them whole.” Instead we sent him poison-free Christmas cards and candy. For all I knew, he might have eaten every page of every book we ever sent him. He’d have been better off looking for a different method. My little sister pranced into the room. Her latest dream was to become a model. ”
I think that the ways in which the protagonist and her family had coped with their poverty-stricken situation is very disheartening and depressing – but it also tells the readers a lot about the society they are stuck in/with. And all of that is written in the book in a somewhat satirical tone which is why it reminded me of Bong Joon-Ho’s portrayal of life in the countryside/a more rural setting where crimes oft come across as being quite absurd yet ‘ordinary’ because of how powerless, and deprived of ‘control’ the people are (politically and otherwise).
Suah’s book is moderately underrated in my opinion. I’m keen to read her other books. Interestingly, aside from being an author/writer, Suah is also a translator; she translated book(s) by Clarice Lispector and Fernando Pessoa (both I adore).
louandlife's review
3.0
This book is only slightly over 100 pages, so if you're looking for a short read then I would recommend this book.
Nowhere to Be Found is a decent short story that creates feelings of loneliness and monotony within the reader. The narrator is going through the motions of her life and it makes the reader reflect on themselves as the narrator does on their life. You probably won't find pleasure in reading this book but it is a read that will make you think.
Nowhere to Be Found is a decent short story that creates feelings of loneliness and monotony within the reader. The narrator is going through the motions of her life and it makes the reader reflect on themselves as the narrator does on their life. You probably won't find pleasure in reading this book but it is a read that will make you think.
theinkandthepage's review
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
brainemptyjust's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
ngominh's review
4.0
Bae Suah một lần nữa mang chủ nghĩa hư vô vào cuốn sách mỏng này. Có thể thấy các nhân vật của cô lờ nhờ lờ nhờ trong một đời sống bình thường thiếu kết nối. Họ không tự ý thức được bản thân, tâm trí họ dường như mất trọng lực và họ quanh quẩn chỉ quanh vài di chỉ cũ. Đó là một đời sống nhiều trúc tra91c, một cấu trúc xã hội còn khiếm khuyết hay từ sâu xa vốn bản chất con người ta vẫn thế?
Thiết nghĩ tại sao các nhân vật của cô luôn cứ cơ nhỡ như thế. Họ chối từ vượt thoát ra khỏi vòng lặp, như trong cuốn này, nhân vật chính có ghi năm 78 cũng chẳng khác 88 hay 98 là mấy. Họ bị động, bị dẫn dắt và đưa vào khe hẹp của chính bản thân mình. Tăm tối và bỡ ngỡ như chính cảm giác Bae Suah luôn mang lại. Nhưng so với Untold vẫn không đặc sắc bằng nên bớt 1 sao nghen.
Thiết nghĩ tại sao các nhân vật của cô luôn cứ cơ nhỡ như thế. Họ chối từ vượt thoát ra khỏi vòng lặp, như trong cuốn này, nhân vật chính có ghi năm 78 cũng chẳng khác 88 hay 98 là mấy. Họ bị động, bị dẫn dắt và đưa vào khe hẹp của chính bản thân mình. Tăm tối và bỡ ngỡ như chính cảm giác Bae Suah luôn mang lại. Nhưng so với Untold vẫn không đặc sắc bằng nên bớt 1 sao nghen.