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2021/08 Almond by Wong-pyung Sohn
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Aleksandra
(last edited Jul 23, 2021 01:59PM)
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Jul 23, 2021 01:59PM
Hello! This is a thread for our August read, Almond by Wong-pyung Sohn.
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Thanks, still trying to decide about this one, the review sounds very K drama somehow, there are so many that hinge on rare brain or psychological disorders, face blindness seems very popular. And I see the author is also a screenwriter. It seems like it's crying out to be adapted for screen. Not that that's a bad thing I watch a lot of similar dramas but not sure if that kind of plot would work as well on the page. So may cheat and see what others think of it first!
I found it a very quick read due to the short chapters and quite filmic, but the whole neuro diverse main character turned “cured”/“improved” by friendship and love is a bit icky - 2 stars for me
Just ordered my copy, although Henk's kinda ruined my hype for it. Haha.
Sorry Jeshika, but as always just my two cents!
I realise now it's a YA book and won an award for Young Adult lit. in South Korea, so maybe why it comes across as a bit "Disneyfied" Henk? Sounds as if the author may have simplified the concepts in the novel to suit a younger readership? Although part of its popularity presumably stems from the BTS endorsement?
Ah, good perspective, for a YA it does cover something quite complicated I would say
Haha, it's alright Henk, I like to hear your views. Just kidding about it putting me off. :DMy copy came last night, so I think I'll try to start this evening or tomorrow if it's a quick read. Trying to get some books done while I have the motivation.
I think I'm going to be sitting this one out based on the summary and Henk's review. It honestly sets off some major red flags for ableist inspiration porn and a lot of the positive reviews seem... oddly biased by a certain K-pop group. But if there are any readers out there with alexithymia or are otherwise neurodivegent and have positive experiences with the book, I'd be interested to hear them!
(Sorry for always being such a downer when it comes to novels involving disabled characters, but poor/harmful portrayals of disability really get on my nerves.)
I am slightly anxious about starting Almond after seeing your reviews, but I'll still give it a try. Can it be worse that Please Look After Mom?
I read this book in Korean so not sure how different it is from the translation. I really enjoyed the story overall but some things about it really bugged me too. I've actually got alexithymia too(and dyspraxia too but the main character doesn't have that) but it's milder than the character in the book, and I think it affects females and males differently like a lot of neurological conditions (?). Knowing that, I still ended up comparing myself to the characters and wondering how I found have felt in those situations.
I also didn't like the way that alexithymia is described in the book. Generally, the word is used to describe people that often know that they are experiencing an emotion but don't know which emotion it is. In the book, however, it was described as a brain disorder - if I remember correctly it said that the person's Amygdala is smaller. This can be the case but doesn't have to be for someone to have Alexithymia. It also often mentioned that the main character can't feel any emotions at all which kind of annoyed me because it's not like that for the majority of people with Alexithymia.
So like if Alexithymia would have been explained better I would have like it more, but to me, the author just tried to make it seem more extreme than it is.
Matylda wrote: "I read this book in Korean so not sure how different it is from the translation. I really enjoyed the story overall but some things about it really bugged me too. I've actually got alexithymia to..."
I am really glad you described this issue so well, Matylda. I am not a psychologist or any sort of expert in medical matters, but the book felt rather superficial to me whenever mental health was involved.
Other elements have been very over the top as well (like the many gruesome scenes which I will skip here), so I generally distrusted the author. I am quite surprised that a book like this can make an international best seller tbh, especially when so many superior novels are available.
Wayyyy late to the party but finally picked this one up, and I'm loving it. It's such a chill easy read, I'm about 100 pages from the end though so maybe not my final thoughts. I should also say - as, primarily, a horror reader - I don't read fiction expecting it to be realistic or an accurate representation of anything mentioned in the book. Especially when it comes to themes like mental health/disability rep. I'm wondering if part of the problem with authors' who aren't own voices including themes like this in their work is the medical labelling of the condition? If alexithymia hadn't been mentioned and Yunjae had just been referred to as neuro-divergent, it wouldn't be mis-representing or leading readers to believe everyone who has that is exactly like this one character.
I think it's a really difficult discussion, because at the end of the day, it is just fiction and I am very against the "fiction writers should only write what they know about" argument, because then it isn't fiction. It's non-fiction.
But, aside from that rant I can also seem the damage it can do, people take things at face value and don't do their own research, learn about the realities, talk to people...
I'm sorry if any of that comes across as rude, I'm a bad explainer, but this type of conversation really interests me because I love to hear other people's views, and it gives me headaches because it's so complicated.
I wholeheartedly agree with you, Jeshika. At the end of the day, it's fiction, and unless the writer goes completely off the point or concept, I don't see the point on being picky about it. Fictional writers are valid to display and express the emotion or the truths they believe best for their characters. If this was non-fiction, then that's a different thing because the aim or purpose of the story is completely different.
Alwynne wrote: "Yes but a lot of people get their information about issues or conditions from reading fiction, so if the fiction they read misrepresents or falsifies reality then that can have real-world consequen..."Oh, I know they have consequences. I'm definitely not trying to disrespect anyone's thoughts or feelings either. It just absolutely amazes me, in the worst way possible, that people get their facts and world views from fiction. Without putting any extra time into learning.
Jeshika wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "Yes but a lot of people get their information about issues or conditions from reading fiction, so if the fiction they read misrepresents or falsifies reality then that can have real..."Really? I suppose it doesn't surprise me in that way at all. From a very young age we're introduced to stories, we learn to process the world in terms of narrative, so it doesn't seem very odd that narrative fiction, or non-fiction, should continue to be central to many people's approach to understanding the world around them. Plus this is realist fiction not SF or fantasy so the author is claiming a direct connection with reality.
And sure you're not being disrespectful JP but a couple of posters on the thread have made it clear that they have a personal connection to the subject matter so I think we all need to be sensitive towards their perspective. And in that context deploying terms like 'picky' as a descriptor of others' reactions/reading of a text, for example, can come across as condescending or dismissive or otherwise overly negative - even if that was not what was intended.
Yes, I also absolutely agree that when it comes to mental issues one must be sensitive towards the matter. But I also think that nowadays doesn't matter what one thinks of an issue, everything is taken out of context or is completely hiperbolised. I can't speak from personal experience, but as a reader, I think it's unfair to not allow people who are not part of a certain issue to talk about it and experiment what they think it might be like, as long as it's from a respectful pov. Like, you don't have to feel something to its complete extend to express something. English is not my mother tongue yet I think I have the absolute right to use it as if it were. Just because I'm not native, doesn't mean I cannot use it, is all I'm saying.
I'd say, though, if we wanted to not be misread or misunderstood, then the best thing would be to not express ourselves at all. There is always going to be someone who feels triggered by a certain word, yet again it's true that there are certain descriptions and use of words which should be avoided no matter what. But I also think this book displays everything in a tactful and respectful way, no matter the possible inaccuracies and generalisations.
Yes, it is
Alwynne wrote: "And sure you're not being disrespectful JP but a couple of posters on the thread have made it clear that they have a personal connection to the subject matter so I think we all need to be sensitive..."You are right, I'm sorry and I very much apologise if I have upset anyone. I just wanted to hear more views about an issue that comes up a lot that I don't have an answer for.
Yes, me too. I rated it 5 stars and I still think it's a 5 star read though. I loved everything about this book and it's in my all-time favourites.
My Little Forest wrote: "Yes, me too. I rated it 5 stars and I still think it's a 5 star read though. I loved everything about this book and it's in my all-time favourites."I really loved it too, I gave it 4.5 because Dora felt a bit, pointless. Like shoehorned in just to give some love interest.
I didn't quite like Dora's intentions, either.
