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hello_lovely13's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality and Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Medical trauma, Abortion, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Miscarriage
Medical trauma: Human experimentationclavishorti's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Di kota-negara misterius bernama Town, tujuh menteri tanpa wajah mengendalikan segala hal, namun siapa mereka sebenarnya tetap menjadi rahasia. Ada tiga kelas masyarakat: L—atau yang sering disebut Warga—yang kaya dan berpengetahuan, L2 yang hanya memiliki izin tinggal sementara, dan Saha, golongan yang tak diakui—termasuk imigran gelap, difabel, korban kekerasan, dan kemiskinan.
Ketika seorang dokter wanita terhormat ditemukan tewas dengan tanda-tanda kelebihan obat dan pelecehan, mata publik langsung tertuju pada tersangka dari golongan Saha. Namun, apakah benar dia pelakunya?
Di tengah kabut misteri yang menyelimuti kota-negara Town, penghuni Saha Mansion mulai menghilang satu per satu, meninggalkan kekosongan dan pertanyaan yang tak terjawab. Setiap kali seseorang menghilang, suasana Saha Mansion menjadi semakin tegang, rasa takut dan kecurigaan merajalela di antara penghuni. Dengan setiap petunjuk yang muncul dan setiap rahasia yang terungkap, kota-negara Town semakin terperangkap dalam lingkaran misteri yang tak kunjung selesai. Apa sebenarnya rahasia yang tersembunyi di balik dinding-dinding misterius Town yang tak bisa ditembus?
Saha Mansion karya Cho Nam-Joo memulai perjalanan dengan wara yang sangat menjanjikan, menggoda pembaca dengan janji misteri yang mendalam dan memikat. Sebagai penggemar genre misteri, saya tak bisa menolak untuk menyelami cerita ini dengan harapan menemukan teka-teki yang rumit dan memikat. Namun, seiring berjalannya cerita, saya mulai merasa bahwa misteri yang dijanjikan tidak sekompleks atau seintensif yang saya harapkan.
Awalnya, saya berharap bahwa buku ini akan menyajikan investigasi mendalam terhadap sebuah kasus pembunuhan yang misterius, memecahkan teka-teki yang tersembunyi di balik dinding-dinding Saha Mansion. Namun, harapan saya berubah ketika saya mulai tenggelam dalam alur cerita yang sebenarnya lebih fokus pada pengembangan karakter dan dinamika sosial, bukan pada misteri yang dijanjikan. Saya merasa seperti sedang diundang ke sebuah pesta misteri, tetapi yang saya temukan adalah sebuah kehidupan yang kompleks.
Meskipun ada pengungkapan mengejutkan tentang nasib penghuni Saha Mansion, cerita tersebut belum sepenuhnya berhasil memikat imajinasi saya. Meski beberapa bagian cerita berhasil menarik perhatian, ada segmen lain yang kurang memadai, menurunkan ritme narasi dan membuatnya terasa monoton.
Buku ini memang lebih berfokus pada genre distopia daripada misteri, menawarkan sebuah dunia yang kompleks dan penuh dengan ketegangan di kota-negara Town, tepatnya di Saha Mansion. Saya harus mengakui bahwa penulis berhasil menciptakan sebuah dunia distopia yang kaya dan penuh konflik. Namun, kekayaan tersebut tampaknya belum dieksplorasi sepenuhnya, meninggalkan ruang kosong dan kekecewaan bagi pembaca yang berharap menemukan lebih banyak lapisan misteri dan kompleksitas dalam cerita.
Dengan latar belakang dunia distopia yang rumit ini, penulis dihadapkan pada tugas berat untuk menjelaskan berbagai aspek cerita, menghasilkan narasi yang padat dan terkadang membingungkan. Ini adalah sebuah dilema, di mana upaya untuk membangun dunia yang kaya sering kali bertentangan dengan kebutuhan untuk menjaga kelancaran dan keterbacaan narasi.
Selain itu, kehadiran banyak tokoh dengan hubungan antartokoh yang kompleks menjadi tantangan tersendiri. Saya sering kali merasa terjebak dalam labirin karakter-karakter yang saling terkait namun sulit untuk mengikuti alur cerita, mengurangi intensitas rasa penasaran saya selama membaca. Saya merasa kesulitan untuk menemukan benang merah yang menghubungkan setiap karakter, membuat saya terjebak dalam ketidakpastian dan kebingungan.
Menuju akhir cerita, saya merasa seperti tersesat dalam labirin kata-kata dan plot yang rumit. Kebingungan saya meningkat dengan setiap halaman yang saya baca, membuat saya bertanya-tanya apa yang sebenarnya ingin disampaikan oleh penulis. Saat saya mencapai penutup, rasa kecewa melanda, meninggalkan saya dengan rasa penasaran dan frustrasi.
Penutupan cerita ini meninggalkan saya dengan banyak pertanyaan yang menggantung, seperti misteri yang belum terpecahkan. Apa tujuan sebenarnya dari cerita ini? Apa makna mendalam yang ingin disampaikan oleh penulis? Semua ini menantang saya untuk merenung lebih dalam, mencoba mengurai benang kusut dari plot yang rumit ini dan mencari pemahaman yang lebih mendalam. Namun, saat ini saya tetap merasa kecewa dengan bagaimana penulis memilih untuk mengakhiri cerita ini, meninggalkan saya dengan perasaan campur aduk dari frustrasi, kebingungan, dan ketidakpuasan.
Saya berkesempatan membaca versi alih bahasa Indonesia dari buku Saha Mansion yang diterjemahkan oleh Iingliana. Secara keseluruhan, saya menghargai pemilihan kata yang cermat dan penuh perhatian dalam menyajikan narasi yang mendalam.
Menurut saya, alih bahasa memang bukanlah tugas yang mudah, terutama ketika menangani sebuah karya sekompleks Saha Mansion. Alih bahasa bukan hanya soal memindahkan kata dari satu bahasa ke bahasa lain, tetapi juga tentang memahami dan menangkap nuansa, emosi, dan esensi yang ingin disampaikan oleh penulis asli. Iingliana dihadapkan pada tantangan untuk mempertahankan esensi dan kekayaan nuansa dari karya asli, sambil juga memastikan bahwa cerita tetap mudah diikuti dan dipahami oleh pembaca berbahasa Indonesia.
Dalam membaca buku Saha Mansion karya Cho Nam-Joo, saya merasa bahwa buku ini belum sepenuhnya menggugah minat dan mempertahankan ketertarikan saya sepanjang cerita. Kemungkinan besar, ini disebabkan oleh perbedaan selera pribadi saya dengan nuansa dan tema yang diusung oleh buku ini, serta gaya penyampaian narasinya yang mungkin tidak sesuai dengan ekspektasi saya.
Namun, di balik ketidaksesuaian dengan preferensi pribadi saya, saya mengakui bahwa buku ini memiliki potensi besar untuk menarik pembaca lain yang mencari cerita dengan kedalaman dan kompleksitas yang lebih dari sekadar misteri. Buku ini menawarkan pandangan yang tajam tentang dinamika sosial dan karakter yang kompleks, yang mungkin sangat menggugah bagi mereka yang menyukai cerita dengan nuansa yang lebih mendalam.
Ketika seorang dokter wanita terhormat ditemukan tewas dengan tanda-tanda kelebihan obat dan pelecehan, mata publik langsung tertuju pada tersangka dari golongan Saha. Namun, apakah benar dia pelakunya?
Di tengah kabut misteri yang menyelimuti kota-negara Town, penghuni Saha Mansion mulai menghilang satu per satu, meninggalkan kekosongan dan pertanyaan yang tak terjawab. Setiap kali seseorang menghilang, suasana Saha Mansion menjadi semakin tegang, rasa takut dan kecurigaan merajalela di antara penghuni. Dengan setiap petunjuk yang muncul dan setiap rahasia yang terungkap, kota-negara Town semakin terperangkap dalam lingkaran misteri yang tak kunjung selesai. Apa sebenarnya rahasia yang tersembunyi di balik dinding-dinding misterius Town yang tak bisa ditembus?
Saha Mansion karya Cho Nam-Joo memulai perjalanan dengan wara yang sangat menjanjikan, menggoda pembaca dengan janji misteri yang mendalam dan memikat. Sebagai penggemar genre misteri, saya tak bisa menolak untuk menyelami cerita ini dengan harapan menemukan teka-teki yang rumit dan memikat. Namun, seiring berjalannya cerita, saya mulai merasa bahwa misteri yang dijanjikan tidak sekompleks atau seintensif yang saya harapkan.
Awalnya, saya berharap bahwa buku ini akan menyajikan investigasi mendalam terhadap sebuah kasus pembunuhan yang misterius, memecahkan teka-teki yang tersembunyi di balik dinding-dinding Saha Mansion. Namun, harapan saya berubah ketika saya mulai tenggelam dalam alur cerita yang sebenarnya lebih fokus pada pengembangan karakter dan dinamika sosial, bukan pada misteri yang dijanjikan. Saya merasa seperti sedang diundang ke sebuah pesta misteri, tetapi yang saya temukan adalah sebuah kehidupan yang kompleks.
Meskipun ada pengungkapan mengejutkan tentang nasib penghuni Saha Mansion, cerita tersebut belum sepenuhnya berhasil memikat imajinasi saya. Meski beberapa bagian cerita berhasil menarik perhatian, ada segmen lain yang kurang memadai, menurunkan ritme narasi dan membuatnya terasa monoton.
Buku ini memang lebih berfokus pada genre distopia daripada misteri, menawarkan sebuah dunia yang kompleks dan penuh dengan ketegangan di kota-negara Town, tepatnya di Saha Mansion. Saya harus mengakui bahwa penulis berhasil menciptakan sebuah dunia distopia yang kaya dan penuh konflik. Namun, kekayaan tersebut tampaknya belum dieksplorasi sepenuhnya, meninggalkan ruang kosong dan kekecewaan bagi pembaca yang berharap menemukan lebih banyak lapisan misteri dan kompleksitas dalam cerita.
Dengan latar belakang dunia distopia yang rumit ini, penulis dihadapkan pada tugas berat untuk menjelaskan berbagai aspek cerita, menghasilkan narasi yang padat dan terkadang membingungkan. Ini adalah sebuah dilema, di mana upaya untuk membangun dunia yang kaya sering kali bertentangan dengan kebutuhan untuk menjaga kelancaran dan keterbacaan narasi.
Selain itu, kehadiran banyak tokoh dengan hubungan antartokoh yang kompleks menjadi tantangan tersendiri. Saya sering kali merasa terjebak dalam labirin karakter-karakter yang saling terkait namun sulit untuk mengikuti alur cerita, mengurangi intensitas rasa penasaran saya selama membaca. Saya merasa kesulitan untuk menemukan benang merah yang menghubungkan setiap karakter, membuat saya terjebak dalam ketidakpastian dan kebingungan.
Menuju akhir cerita, saya merasa seperti tersesat dalam labirin kata-kata dan plot yang rumit. Kebingungan saya meningkat dengan setiap halaman yang saya baca, membuat saya bertanya-tanya apa yang sebenarnya ingin disampaikan oleh penulis. Saat saya mencapai penutup, rasa kecewa melanda, meninggalkan saya dengan rasa penasaran dan frustrasi.
Penutupan cerita ini meninggalkan saya dengan banyak pertanyaan yang menggantung, seperti misteri yang belum terpecahkan. Apa tujuan sebenarnya dari cerita ini? Apa makna mendalam yang ingin disampaikan oleh penulis? Semua ini menantang saya untuk merenung lebih dalam, mencoba mengurai benang kusut dari plot yang rumit ini dan mencari pemahaman yang lebih mendalam. Namun, saat ini saya tetap merasa kecewa dengan bagaimana penulis memilih untuk mengakhiri cerita ini, meninggalkan saya dengan perasaan campur aduk dari frustrasi, kebingungan, dan ketidakpuasan.
Saya berkesempatan membaca versi alih bahasa Indonesia dari buku Saha Mansion yang diterjemahkan oleh Iingliana. Secara keseluruhan, saya menghargai pemilihan kata yang cermat dan penuh perhatian dalam menyajikan narasi yang mendalam.
Menurut saya, alih bahasa memang bukanlah tugas yang mudah, terutama ketika menangani sebuah karya sekompleks Saha Mansion. Alih bahasa bukan hanya soal memindahkan kata dari satu bahasa ke bahasa lain, tetapi juga tentang memahami dan menangkap nuansa, emosi, dan esensi yang ingin disampaikan oleh penulis asli. Iingliana dihadapkan pada tantangan untuk mempertahankan esensi dan kekayaan nuansa dari karya asli, sambil juga memastikan bahwa cerita tetap mudah diikuti dan dipahami oleh pembaca berbahasa Indonesia.
Dalam membaca buku Saha Mansion karya Cho Nam-Joo, saya merasa bahwa buku ini belum sepenuhnya menggugah minat dan mempertahankan ketertarikan saya sepanjang cerita. Kemungkinan besar, ini disebabkan oleh perbedaan selera pribadi saya dengan nuansa dan tema yang diusung oleh buku ini, serta gaya penyampaian narasinya yang mungkin tidak sesuai dengan ekspektasi saya.
Namun, di balik ketidaksesuaian dengan preferensi pribadi saya, saya mengakui bahwa buku ini memiliki potensi besar untuk menarik pembaca lain yang mencari cerita dengan kedalaman dan kompleksitas yang lebih dari sekadar misteri. Buku ini menawarkan pandangan yang tajam tentang dinamika sosial dan karakter yang kompleks, yang mungkin sangat menggugah bagi mereka yang menyukai cerita dengan nuansa yang lebih mendalam.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Violence, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Child death, Drug use, Gun violence, Rape, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Abortion
thesapphiccelticbookworm's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Abortion, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Rape
bluehairedlesbian's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
3.0
I found this book fascinating. I was originally put off by the reviews but I gave it a try. I really enjoyed this book despite certain aspects that I did not like how it was relating to the plot.
it's based in this country called Town where citizenships separate people by what jobs they are allowed. Following siblings Do-kyung and Jin-kyung, we learn the stories of people they interact with daily and how they ended up in Saha Estates. I quite enjoyed the dystopian aspects of the book with the aspects of government oppression and corruption throughout the book. I feel that the aspects of how Saha Estates relates to real life in a critique of how we live now could have been done in a better manner.
I like the criticism of capitalism shown through how these individuals are suffering because of external governmental powers that they cannot control. These individuals that we meet in the book are living in a continuous cycle because they cannot afford to leave. Saha Estates is in essence what happens when governments fold to extreme levels of corruption and oppression where nothing will ever lift the residents out of poverty.
it's based in this country called Town where citizenships separate people by what jobs they are allowed. Following siblings Do-kyung and Jin-kyung, we learn the stories of people they interact with daily and how they ended up in Saha Estates. I quite enjoyed the dystopian aspects of the book with the aspects of government oppression and corruption throughout the book. I feel that the aspects of how Saha Estates relates to real life in a critique of how we live now could have been done in a better manner.
I like the criticism of capitalism shown through how these individuals are suffering because of external governmental powers that they cannot control. These individuals that we meet in the book are living in a continuous cycle because they cannot afford to leave. Saha Estates is in essence what happens when governments fold to extreme levels of corruption and oppression where nothing will ever lift the residents out of poverty.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Abortion
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
kirstym25's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Medical content, Medical trauma, and Abortion
sarah984's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This was a really interesting book looking at the commodification of bodies and whose lives have value in an authoritarian capitalist society. It's told in a series of loosely connected character vignettes about people who live in Saha Estates, an abandoned apartment building run as a sort of co-op by non-citizens. Sahas are despised but needed for menial jobs citizens don't want to do. I docked a star because things started to get a bit silly near the end with the action scenes, but I liked the actual conclusion.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Pregnancy, and Classism
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Child death, Rape, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Deportation
gnawd298's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Abortion, and Pregnancy
serendipity421's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Child abuse, Gun violence, Suicide, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
Minor: Drug use
bookishbrenbren's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? No
3.75
Saha is the name of a housing project on the outskirts of Town, an island nation owned by a corporate entity and ruled by a shadowy governance board. Town is organized according to the haves (Ls), who are white-collar laborers who can participate in the high-profit sectors of Town like the bio-tech and IT industries, and have full-citizenship; and the have-nots (L2) who are blue-collar laborers that fill the remaining roles in this small economy and are only legally in Town via 2-year work visas, despite many of them predating the establishment of the Town nation-state. In Town, as in every country, there also exists members of the community who are not present "legally" - called "Sahas" for the name of the housing project where many of them live. This book follows some residents of the Saha Estates.
The premise of this book is brilliant, I mean just reading that synopsis I was like YES this is a dystopian novel about capitalist-governance and its very real consequences for average people. The book starts off strong, introducing us to some core characters but, more importantly, introducing us to Town, its structure, its genesis, etc. A corporate bio-tech government that takes power in a very simple but completely realistic way - haven't you read stories in the news about massive corporations moving into town, buying up all viable property, forcing the locals out, and greasing palms in local government until the company is the town? Thinking (from my American POV) of Virginian coal mines, United Fruit Company in Central America, pineapples in Hawaii. It's happened for centuries, it's happening now, and in this novel, Cho Nam-Joo simply takes those developments to their natural next step.
I hate when people flippantly compare any dystopian novel to 1984 and any feminist novel to Handmaid's Tale, so I won't do that... but I want to. This book nails the almost horror-like specter of the State leering, monitoring one's every move although you cannot quite know for certain when, where, or how, as well as the hopelessness of people surviving, and it culminates in a final confrontation of the established order, much like in Orwell's novels. Both authors warn of unchecked accumulation of power/wealth - Orwell warns of the dangerous ideology of "communism", and in Saha we see instead the future of the dangerous ideology of capitalism, and its current/ongoing unification with government.
All that being said, I felt disappointed by this novel. As you can see, I was very excited by the premise and set-up but the delivery fell short of the mark. Primarily I have two complaints: first, there were too many character vignettes; second, that she could've done so much more with this premise. Because the book doesn't do enough to serve as a critique of capitalism (or anything else), it ends up as just a nice story of impoverished people barred from society's upper echelons. My third, smaller critique, is that at times the translation felt very unnatural and choppy.
Although the beginning sets us up for an intriguing story of Town and the Sahas who get by despite everything, the meat of the book relies upon vignettes of characters at the Saha Estates and the combination of so many - at times unconnected - vignettes made the book feel disjointed. I also thought many of the characters' stories did not necessarily add anything new that had not been covered already. For instance, the need to include what, 3 or 4 pregnant women and their babies, felt extremely superfluous and I could hardly keep each of them straight. We get it, women are the crux of the family, women are the crux of the community, women take the brunt of bodily oppression... but there was so much more she could've done with this!
This brings me to my second complaint: I wanted more oomph. If you're going to say something about capitalism at a point in time where 75% of people under the age of 30 are ready to see it fall, SAY IT LOUDLY. Going back to the example in the paragraph above, with all the women having babies - in a state where profit is the only thing that matters, I mean your leaders are literally doing profit analysis on human life, right? What could be more natural than encouraging women - half the laborers - to get abortions (and therefore, to continue working)? The closer you get to a purely capitalist state, the more readily available abortions should be. This is not a feminist stance, as feminism would argue that people should not have to choose between an income and a child, but this IS a capitalist stance - people cannot labor for profit when/if they have children, and capitalism values humans only when they are laboring for profit. But this book didn't really say much about these women and their babies except: oh, how sad. Between her first book and this one, I can see that motherhood is an important topic for the author, but if you just wanted to discuss how poorly women and mothers are treated in poverty, you didn't need a dystopian setting for that.
My third complaint was about the translation, although it might have been the editor and not the translator, I can't be certain, but there were times when I would be reading, thinking "What is this sentence structure? What did she mean here?" because the purpose of the sentence did not come across clearly. There were also some things that definitely should have been changed by the translator and if not, then caught by the editor. For example, this sentence: "When Do-kyung seized Su's wrist in surprise, Su slowly free herself from Do-kyung's grasp". In a scene where they are the only two people and he is the only person to have seized her wrist, why include his name a second time as opposed to his pronoun? For that matter, why include her name twice - she is the only 'she' in this scene, "her wrist" and "his grasp" would flow much more smoothly. BUT I DIGRESS.
The premise of this book is brilliant, I mean just reading that synopsis I was like YES this is a dystopian novel about capitalist-governance and its very real consequences for average people. The book starts off strong, introducing us to some core characters but, more importantly, introducing us to Town, its structure, its genesis, etc. A corporate bio-tech government that takes power in a very simple but completely realistic way - haven't you read stories in the news about massive corporations moving into town, buying up all viable property, forcing the locals out, and greasing palms in local government until the company is the town? Thinking (from my American POV) of Virginian coal mines, United Fruit Company in Central America, pineapples in Hawaii. It's happened for centuries, it's happening now, and in this novel, Cho Nam-Joo simply takes those developments to their natural next step.
I hate when people flippantly compare any dystopian novel to 1984 and any feminist novel to Handmaid's Tale, so I won't do that... but I want to. This book nails the almost horror-like specter of the State leering, monitoring one's every move although you cannot quite know for certain when, where, or how, as well as the hopelessness of people surviving, and it culminates in a final confrontation of the established order, much like in Orwell's novels. Both authors warn of unchecked accumulation of power/wealth - Orwell warns of the dangerous ideology of "communism", and in Saha we see instead the future of the dangerous ideology of capitalism, and its current/ongoing unification with government.
All that being said, I felt disappointed by this novel. As you can see, I was very excited by the premise and set-up but the delivery fell short of the mark. Primarily I have two complaints: first, there were too many character vignettes; second, that she could've done so much more with this premise. Because the book doesn't do enough to serve as a critique of capitalism (or anything else), it ends up as just a nice story of impoverished people barred from society's upper echelons. My third, smaller critique, is that at times the translation felt very unnatural and choppy.
Although the beginning sets us up for an intriguing story of Town and the Sahas who get by despite everything, the meat of the book relies upon vignettes of characters at the Saha Estates and the combination of so many - at times unconnected - vignettes made the book feel disjointed. I also thought many of the characters' stories did not necessarily add anything new that had not been covered already. For instance, the need to include what, 3 or 4 pregnant women and their babies, felt extremely superfluous and I could hardly keep each of them straight. We get it, women are the crux of the family, women are the crux of the community, women take the brunt of bodily oppression... but there was so much more she could've done with this!
This brings me to my second complaint: I wanted more oomph. If you're going to say something about capitalism at a point in time where 75% of people under the age of 30 are ready to see it fall, SAY IT LOUDLY. Going back to the example in the paragraph above, with all the women having babies - in a state where profit is the only thing that matters, I mean your leaders are literally doing profit analysis on human life, right? What could be more natural than encouraging women - half the laborers - to get abortions (and therefore, to continue working)? The closer you get to a purely capitalist state, the more readily available abortions should be. This is not a feminist stance, as feminism would argue that people should not have to choose between an income and a child, but this IS a capitalist stance - people cannot labor for profit when/if they have children, and capitalism values humans only when they are laboring for profit. But this book didn't really say much about these women and their babies except: oh, how sad. Between her first book and this one, I can see that motherhood is an important topic for the author, but if you just wanted to discuss how poorly women and mothers are treated in poverty, you didn't need a dystopian setting for that.
My third complaint was about the translation, although it might have been the editor and not the translator, I can't be certain, but there were times when I would be reading, thinking "What is this sentence structure? What did she mean here?" because the purpose of the sentence did not come across clearly. There were also some things that definitely should have been changed by the translator and if not, then caught by the editor. For example, this sentence: "When Do-kyung seized Su's wrist in surprise, Su slowly free herself from Do-kyung's grasp". In a scene where they are the only two people and he is the only person to have seized her wrist, why include his name a second time as opposed to his pronoun? For that matter, why include her name twice - she is the only 'she' in this scene, "her wrist" and "his grasp" would flow much more smoothly. BUT I DIGRESS.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Abortion, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Classism