The Club's in-person ratings and comments for "Red Sword" (June 2025): 5.3/10

[Peter]

:

Korean Literature Club members, friends, well-wishers, and lurkers! Club leader Jeremy directs me to share the following with the group.

(Shared with many in mid-June 2025 via another method; but forgot to re-post here to GoodReads; I am now rectifying that.)

As calculated from the response-slips collected at the end of the June 10, 2025 regular meeting, the group's average rating for Red Sword (June 2025) was...

5.3 / 10.

This 5.3 rating is below the 7.4 rating the group gave to the previous book, Han Kang We Do Not Part (May 2025) (rating and comment thread to follow).

The full list of responses (all anonymous), for Red Sword, for all those interested, is here:

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Korean Literature Club: June 2025 gathering: RATINGS, COMMENTS, SUGGESTIONS and IDEAS by participants

The RAS Korean Literature Club discussed Red Sword by Bora Chung for the June 2025 session.

Attendees anonymously gave ratings, comments, and suggestions, via paper-slips.

Club leader Jeremy directs that the contents of the response-slips shall be published for members of the Club to see.

The responses can be seen as a brief written record of the group's reaction to the book. The responses are reflective of, and complementary to, the oral discussion. By publishing the responses, it is hoped that all can benefit from the collective wisdom they (may) contain!

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[Summary info]

Korean Literature Club, June 2025 regular book-discussion gathering. (June 12, 2025, 6:30--9:00pm, full-group discussion starting at 7:30pm.)

Total: 26 attendees.
- 24 survey responses collected.
- 23 people gave ratings. (One response had no rating,)

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Aggregate ratings, Red Sword, June 2025

-- 5.3 was the average rating for Red Sword.

(Cf.: the average rating for Han Kang "We Do Not Part," in the May 2025 session, was 7.4).

-- Modal rating(s) for Red Sword: "5" and "6."

(Seven individuals gave a "5"; seven or eight individuals gave a "6" (eight, if including Response No.2 in the rating-"6" pile).

-- Total ratings of "8" or above: one individual (3%).

-- Total ratings below "5": five individuals (22%).

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THE RESPONSES

(transcribed from the paper response-slips.)

[1.] Read in English only. Rating: 4.
- Comments: "I was unfamiliar with the S.F. genre, but this book warmed me up to it. My only downside was the translation is a little choppy."
- Suggestions: "Living Reed by Pearl S. Buck (historical fiction)."

[2.] Read in English only. Rating: 6.5.
- Comments: "The historical context of the book is interesting but made it difficult to discuss the book on its own merit. Good choice to have some science fiction; lots of room for discussion."
- Suggestions: "Mater 2-10," by Hwang Sok-young; "Modern Family" by Cheon Myeong-kwan.

[3.] Circled "Did not finish." No rating.
- No comments.
- No suggestions.

[4.] Read in English only. Rating: 6.
- Comments: "Historical allegories made this infinitely more interesting to read. Thanks Peter. Author's Note came in clutch." [see: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...]
- Suggestions: (blank)

[5.] Circled "Did not read/finish." Rating: 3.
- Comments: "War theory [?] was interesting, lack of clarity was disconnecting me as a reader to the orientation of the themes and pallor [??] of the book."
- Suggestions: (handwriting unclear) "Pranacho" [??] (possibly Pachinko).

[6.] Read in English only. Rating: 4.
- Comments: "Red Sword [good things]: the action, the message of hope, the historical references."
- Suggestions: "강애란. Kang Ae-ran." [This person likely refers to Kim Ae-ran, and misremembered the family-name. Kim Ae-ran has at least one well-received book in English translation: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...).

[7.] Read in (blank). Rating: 6.
- Comments: (blank)
- Suggestions: (blank)

[8.] Read in KOREAN only. Rating: 6.
- Comments: (blank)
- Suggestions: (blank)

[9.] Read in English only. Rating: 6.
- Comments: "First Korean sci-fi but it was enjoyable."
- Suggestions: (blank)

[10.] Read in English AND Korean. Rating: 5.
- Comments: "Too magical and imaginary."
- Suggestions: "Pachinko 1."

[11.] Read in English only. Rating: 5.
- Comments: "Good world building, uninteresting characters. Good for a simple read but question literary endurance."
- Suggestions: (blank)

[12.] Read in KOREAN only. Rating: 8.
- Comments: ["What was good" underlined]: "The story."
- Suggestions: Hwang Sok-yong, 'At Dusk,' or anything else by him. Kim Young-ha, "Diary of a Murderer" [see: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4... and https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...].

[13.] Read in KOREAN only. Rating: 5.
- Comments: "Thanks to this novel, I got to know [Bora Chung] author. She is interested in writing unrealistic story."
- Suggestions: "Novel."

[14.] Circled only "Did not finish." Rating: 2.
- Comments: "The contents very confusing."
- Suggestions: "Korean classical novel, e.g., Kim Dongni, Hwang Sun-won."

[15.] Read in English only. Rating: 5.
- Comments: "Prose was a little too sparse for my liking. I felt disconnected. Not enough humanity. (I guess cause they were clones, but still!)"
- Suggestions: (blank)

[16.] Read in English only. Rating: 4. (Initially had circled "2," crossed it out and circled "4")
- Comments: "Her story was meant to hold symbolism and I enjoyed looking for the meaning, but, as a STORY I didn't much enjoy the writing."
- Suggestions: (blank)

[17.] Circled only "Did not read/finish." Rating: 6.
- Comments: (blank)
- Suggestions: (blank)

[18.] Read in English only. Rating: 7.
- Comments: "I thought it was a good novel to read with a lot of depth to discuss, so it was a nice choice."
- Suggestions: (blank)

[19.] Read in English only. Rating: 5.
- Comments: "Not a sci-fi reader in general; difficult to relate; reminded me of Hunger Games."
- Suggestions: "Crying in H Mart. At Dusk (Hwang Sok-yong). Please Look After Mom [Kyung-Sook Shin]."

[20.] Read in English only. Rating: 6.
- Comments: "Confusing. I didn't like the literature form. Looked a scenery for action movie."
- Suggestions: "Ko Un. Poetry?"

[21.] Read in English only. Rating: 7.
- Comments: "Interesting to see the story as a re-telling of one told for 300 years."
- Suggestions: "Not sure if SF is a good idea. I have heard good things about new novel 'Luminous'."

[22.] Read in English only. Rating: 5.
- Comments: "A lot of historical debate; so kind of difficult to have a discussion that everyone could contribute in."
- Suggestions: "Maybe a short-story book? Lots by Honford Star!"

[23.] Read in English only. Rating: 5.
- Comments: "[Good:] Clone stuff was fun. [Bad:] It was kinda depressing."
- Suggestions: "Concerning My Daughter (Kim Hye-jin); The Disaster Tourist (Yun Ko-eun); Beasts of a Little Land (Yu-hea Kim); Free Food For Millionaires (Min Jin Lee); Love in the Big City (Park Sang-young)."

[24.] Read in English AND Korean. Rating: 6.
- Comments: "Themes and character/worldbuilding didn't quite come together, but I appreciated the vision of Bora Chung's historical research."
- Suggestions: "Luminous, by Sylvia Park."

(End, June 2025 ratings and comments.)

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[Hannah]

This was very interesting, and pleasantly and amusingly thorough. I feel like I should update my comment that what I liked about the story is probably that it has nothing to do with Korea at all and it had plenty of violence to keep my from falling asleep. Also, I see I am not the only person to recommend "At Dusk."