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A review by gyeranbbang
Princess Bari by Hwang Sok-yong
5.0
4.5 rounded up because reasons*
For a while, I've been judging Hwang Sok-yong for [b:Familiar Things|33148672|Familiar Things|Hwang Sok-yong|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1493332395l/33148672._SY75_.jpg|53838592] and assuming I'd hate everything he's written but, hello, this is me acknowledging I was wrong. I loved his memoir, [b:The Prisoner|56034516|The Prisoner|Hwang Sok-yong|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1606249480l/56034516._SY75_.jpg|87275991] because of his recollection about him living, visiting North Korea, and meeting Kim Il-sung, and I found myself adoring Princess Bari for I found it to be a good depiction of what life in North Korea would be. Like, sure life in North Korea is sad, but Hwang could've gone to the grittier bits of the famine and sort of stayed away from them (while acknowledging them).
Princess Bari is a weird migrant story for it is about a North Korean refugee and it covers life in North Korea (the famine + escaping + life in China as an illegal """economic migrant"""), it parallels Korean culture with Muslim culture, deep-dives into illegal migrant communities in London, and it is intrinsically linked with Korean shamanism and the Princess Bari myth. It's a weird mix that still shocks me because it mostly worked? Yet the story flowed weirdly for me.
Anyhow, for what it's worth, I've been wanting to read proper fiction about North Korea for a while and I think this did it for meunlike [b:The Orphan Master's Son|11529868|The Orphan Master's Son|Adam Johnson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327878601l/11529868._SX50_.jpg|16467838]. And I feel Hwang did show his knowledge about North Korea having lived there and visited, but also having been in London around those communities and learning from them. He did his field-work (though unintentionally) and it shows.
For a while, I've been judging Hwang Sok-yong for [b:Familiar Things|33148672|Familiar Things|Hwang Sok-yong|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1493332395l/33148672._SY75_.jpg|53838592] and assuming I'd hate everything he's written but, hello, this is me acknowledging I was wrong. I loved his memoir, [b:The Prisoner|56034516|The Prisoner|Hwang Sok-yong|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1606249480l/56034516._SY75_.jpg|87275991] because of his recollection about him living, visiting North Korea, and meeting Kim Il-sung, and I found myself adoring Princess Bari for I found it to be a good depiction of what life in North Korea would be. Like, sure life in North Korea is sad, but Hwang could've gone to the grittier bits of the famine and sort of stayed away from them (while acknowledging them).
Princess Bari is a weird migrant story for it is about a North Korean refugee and it covers life in North Korea (the famine + escaping + life in China as an illegal """economic migrant"""), it parallels Korean culture with Muslim culture, deep-dives into illegal migrant communities in London, and it is intrinsically linked with Korean shamanism and the Princess Bari myth. It's a weird mix that still shocks me because it mostly worked? Yet the story flowed weirdly for me.
Anyhow, for what it's worth, I've been wanting to read proper fiction about North Korea for a while and I think this did it for me