A review by spenkevich
Grass by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim

4.0

I have found graphic novels to be an excellent medium for memoirs and depictions of history, allowing a personal narrative to come alive in moving artwork that creates a powerful and engaging read. Grass from author and illustrator Keum Suk Gendry-Kim (also wrote and illustrated The Waiting) examines the lives of Korean women who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese army during their occupation between 1910-1945. They were referred to as “comfort women,” a euphemism that downplays the horrors and misogyny of their forced captivity. Grass was created from interviews the author did with Lee Ok-sun and is in part a response to when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe denied “comfort women” were coerced, walking back a 1993 statement of admission by the government. Haunting and stark, yet gorgeously depicted through Gendry-Kim’s black and white ink artwork, Grass is an important testimony to the lives of these 200,000 women who had their lives forever altered.

The graphic novel is written in a very direct style, much like a documentary. ‘I resolved to try telling her story in a calm and even tone,’ Keum Suk Gendry-Kim writes, ‘no matter my position, I avoided sensationalising the violence, pain, and suffering of the characters.’ Instead, she allows the story to tell itself, and there is enough raw emotion in Lee Ok-sun’s life that will certainly overwhelm the reader. This is, admittedly, a difficult and sad story to read. She was sold by her parents to a family in Busan, under the conditions they would send her to school. They did not and used her for housework instead. Barely surviving and near starvation, she is kidnapped by soldiers and taken to a camp in Japanese-occupied Manchuria. She was 15 when her life as a sexual slave began.

The artwork really brings this story to life, with beautiful landscapes while the simple black and white art provokes a heavy, woeful tone. The faces of the young girls are very minimalist compared to the adults, representing how they were dehumanized and objectified. In many scenes, the Japanese soldiers who come for the young girls are drawn without a face, showing their interchangableness and lack of humanity towards the girls.

The book, however, does not leave you simply feeling empty and horrified, as the later portion shows how she was able to carry on after and have a fairly normal life, though still carrying the scars of wartime and captivity. It is a moving testament to the human spirit and the will to survive. The author even retraces her steps, adding a very documentary-like feel to the story and providing current context. It is very well done.

Grass isn’t a lighthearted read, but it is a necessary one. Keum Suk Gendry-Kim tells an important story and keeps history alive by ensuring we remember the horrors of the past, but most importantly the women who endured it.

4/5