incipientdreamer's review
3.75
How you have changed enough to miss America, now, and you can bear the loss of one homeland but not two.
Review for Homecoming is Just Another Word for the Sublimation of the Self by Isabel J. Kim.
She really ended it like that! Ballsy move. This is my first time reading anything by Isabel Kim, and I wasn't disappointed. Kim packs a lot of emotions and nuance in this 6k-word story. I was impressed by how she was able to address so much and still be able to develop a world that was understandable to the reader. It was rather meticulously done, and while yes I had a couple more questions (can you instance more than once?), SF isn't meant to answer all of the reader's questions (as demonstrated by that cruel ending), and I can respect that.
This story tackles a lot of the generational traumas experience by the diaspora and shows trauma and cognitive dissonance using the concept of Instances. Copies of yourself that are created when you make a big decision that has you leaving one place for another. I loved how emotionally Kim managed to make that final scene. The way Soyoung talks about the regret of leaving Korea, and regret of not leaving for America, and the way that regret would be compounded if she were able to live all the lives possible to her. It reminded me a lot of Everything Everywhere All At Once, and while the film tackled the issue differently the sentiment was almost the same.
Definitely, an author to keep an eye out for!
Read as part of Short Story July - 2/31
em_22's review
5.0
Submergence by Arula Ratnakar in particular is fantastic! I loved the in depth themes that tie morality to science (environmentalism, etc.)
Fantastic work and I can't wait to read more.
Fantastic work and I can't wait to read more.
More...