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nuhafariha's review against another edition
4.0
A very beautiful, lyrical book. I like Yoon's sparse writing style, with its third person narration which leaves the reader guessing a lot about the main protagonist, especially towards the end of the novel.
teaandlibri's review against another edition
3.0
Minimalist and sparse This book is a little different and perhaps not something one would expect. It is a story of Yohan, a man who has moved to an unknown village in Brazil after the Korean War and his refusal to go back to North Korea. He must readjust after the horrors of war as well as having nothing to return to after the war.
Although I enjoyed the minimalist prose (we often don't even get names of various people that Yohan interacts with), the book can be quite confusing. It shifts to the present to past, sometimes not even going in chronological order and not exactly marking when we were looking at a flashback or not.
There's also discernible reason for the book to end when it did. I would guess that it's just the author saying: This is the story. This the end.
Still, it was worth the read and I still enjoyed it. Perhaps best as a library borrow or cheap book pick up though.
Although I enjoyed the minimalist prose (we often don't even get names of various people that Yohan interacts with), the book can be quite confusing. It shifts to the present to past, sometimes not even going in chronological order and not exactly marking when we were looking at a flashback or not.
There's also discernible reason for the book to end when it did. I would guess that it's just the author saying: This is the story. This the end.
Still, it was worth the read and I still enjoyed it. Perhaps best as a library borrow or cheap book pick up though.
msmo's review against another edition
4.0
"The plantation house was no longer recognizable. But it was the people in the photograph who seemed far more different, the style of their clothes and something else he could not articulate. Their postures, their stillness. Or perhaps it was knowing that they were no longer of the age when the photographs were taken. That the moment had already gone by the time their images were captured. That people aged, second by second, leaving themselves behind." (106)
smkean's review against another edition
4.0
This little book was lovely, it's kind of slow going with very little dialogue and has no real climax but that's sort of the point. It's the story of a man who was a POW in the Korean war, after the war ends he decided he didn't want to go home and defects to a town in Brazil to be a tailors apprentice. He can't speak the language, he knows no one and he's scarred by his memories. It's him in his little solitary world and its beautiful.
jtferdon's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 Stars -
I won this book in a Goodreads giveway. It was a beautifully written, quiet book that pulls the reader along very slowly and deliberately through Yohan's journey from Korea to Brazil. I normally like more plot driven books but Snow Hunters drew me into the story. I loved the writer's style.
I won this book in a Goodreads giveway. It was a beautifully written, quiet book that pulls the reader along very slowly and deliberately through Yohan's journey from Korea to Brazil. I normally like more plot driven books but Snow Hunters drew me into the story. I loved the writer's style.
suzz's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
stitchykitch's review against another edition
2.0
I'm going to 2 it, you might 5 it-- I won't deny that it is most likely a fabulous book; it just wasn't for me.
I was not dissuaded from reading Snow Hunters on account of it being relatively slow and a "quiet" book. I loved Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf, and The Lake, by Banana Yoshimoto, which I would also characterize as gentle prose. I think the reason Snow Hunters wasn't for me was that I couldn't get beyond the idea that the novel was a series of observations. I didn't quite vibe with Yohan, and wasn't really sure how he felt. Yoon kept Yohan at a distance, in my opinion.
I've really enjoyed reading the excerpts from the novel in some of the other Goodreaders here. I think I might have liked it more if I was in a poetry state of mind, because the writing really is beautiful. I just wasn't transported.
I was not dissuaded from reading Snow Hunters on account of it being relatively slow and a "quiet" book. I loved Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf, and The Lake, by Banana Yoshimoto, which I would also characterize as gentle prose. I think the reason Snow Hunters wasn't for me was that I couldn't get beyond the idea that the novel was a series of observations. I didn't quite vibe with Yohan, and wasn't really sure how he felt. Yoon kept Yohan at a distance, in my opinion.
I've really enjoyed reading the excerpts from the novel in some of the other Goodreaders here. I think I might have liked it more if I was in a poetry state of mind, because the writing really is beautiful. I just wasn't transported.
fkshg8465's review against another edition
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Again found myself loving the prose and feeling wistful for Korea, for my own stories, for all of us who have had to leave behind a home.
heathersbike's review against another edition
This was another random audiobook pick from the library. The author read it a d his voice is very soothing but rather monotone. The story had a very broad arc so not a lot happened. It was fine but not great.
jwelchreads's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed parts of it but the middle kind of lost me and I wasn’t to stop reading.