Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Трава

Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Трава by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim

15 reviews

acchristopher14's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

5.0

This graphic novel touches on a very dark spot in Korean history - the abduction and enslavement of comfort women. I really appreciated how this novel also gave voice to the women after WW2 ended and how this period in history has been ignored by the Japanese government.

Content Warnings

irene2002's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark sad fast-paced

4.0

Content Warnings

sleepylit's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

5.0

I knew I was in for an emotional ride when I started this, but Grass truly blew me away. The illustrations work so well to depict deeper meaning, so the book is truly art on several levels. The story is gutting and truly shows the horrors so many women had to endure. But Kim does a great job of making the content digestible for sensitive readers.

Content Warnings

jayisreading's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional sad medium-paced

5.0

The history of “comfort women” (i.e., girls and women who were forced into sexual slavery by Imperial Japan’s military) is one of the many heartbreaking parts of Korea’s dark history during the twentieth century. In Grass, Gendry-Kim illustrates the life story of one survivor, the late Lee Okseon, starting from Lee’s childhood leading up to the present. Lee had a difficult life even before she was forced into sexual slavery, and she recounted life under Japanese occupation and those who suffered under their rule (particularly Koreans). Unfortunately, life remained difficult for her even after she and the rest of Korea were liberated, facing enough adversity throughout her life that she stated, “I’ve never known happiness from the moment I came out of my mother’s womb.”

I thought Gendry-Kim did a wonderful job presenting Lee’s story with great respect, as she never turned Lee’s suffering into a spectacle, as well as emphasizing that Lee is more than a survivor. I really liked the brushwork art style that Gendry-Kim used, and I got the impression that she was heavily inspired by traditional Korean brushwork. She noted at the end of the graphic novel that she “refrained from provocative expressions to give lightness to a story burdened with such brutality.” On this note, I did feel that she found a relatively good balance between restraint and freedom in her illustrations, the freeing moments especially highlighted when opportunities arose to show the beautiful landscapes of Korea, as well as the occasional smiles and laughter given by Lee in the present.

Lee was one of the few remaining comfort women survivors (at least based on those registered with the South Korean government), and she passed away in 2022. It breaks my heart to know the number of survivors is growing smaller, with neither those who have passed away or are currently alive having received full reparations and a proper apology from the Japanese government. It’s imperative that their life stories are documented in all forms, and I truly appreciate that Gendry-Kim did so with great care through a graphic novel form.

Content Warnings

isaile's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark informative sad tense medium-paced

4.25

It's very vile and disturbing how women were treated during this time. It would be great if there was a warning about such topics discussed in the book (mainly r*pe). Other than that, it described very well what the comfort women went through.

Content Warnings

poemsandponds's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

This book was devastating. Not sure how else to describe it beyond that. The story of this woman is overall well told and heartbreaking. It pulls no punches in telling the horrors that “comfort women” aka girls sold into sex slavery, endured during the Japanese occupation of Korea. It was hard to read. And yet I couldn’t look away. I found myself wanting to know her story. The truth is I came away knowing much more than I had going in about the occupation and that it was so much worse than I had thought. The brutality is unbearable to witness, and yet people lived it. As a whole, I think it shows that no matter what side of the world, what period on time, the atrocities of war, colonization, and oppression bring out the darkest sides of human nature. I came away feeling amazed that people survive these things and continue on. It brought out a sense of compassion that said, you really don’t know what other people have been through, so carry that thought in mind whenever you meet someone.

Side topic: To comment on the author inserting needle fin the narrative, I wasn’t a fan. It just took me out of the story. I like the idea of flashing backwards and forwards in time in stories like these, however, I think those flashbacks should be solely focused on the teller of the story, not the journalist wiring it down. The journalist was too detached for it to have a real impact on the delivery of the story, but somehow her thought, feelings, and etc, were part of it? I like hearing the author’s pov when they have a very personal connection to the story, such as Thi Biu in the Best We Could Do. She’s telling her parent’s refugee story and giving parts of her life, thoughts, feelings, but you care because she’s their daughter. I didn’t care about a random journalist’s thoughts, and the thoughts given weren’t even insightful or emotionally impactful. They could’ve been removed with no harm to the book. It would have been a lot more interesting if the author would have made a section in the back of the book dedicated just to their research process and how they developed the book. If they talked about the emotions that came up whole writing and interviewing, why they wrote this book, etc it would have been so much more interesting. I guess I learned that I don’t like researchers inserting themselves in the memoir narrative when they don’t have much to say.

Content Warnings