A GUARDIAN ‘ONE TO LOOK OUT FOR 2020’
A RED MAGAZINE ‘CAN’T WAIT TO READ’ BOOK OF 2020
THE MULTI-MILLION-COPY SELLING SOUTH KOREAN SENSATION THAT HAS GOT THE WHOLE WORLD TALKING
Kim Jiyoung is a girl born to a mother whose in-laws wanted a boy. Kim Jiyoung is a sister made to share a room while her brother gets one of his own.
Kim Jiyoung is a female preyed upon by male teachers at school. Kim Jiyoung is a daughter whose father blames her when she is harassed late at night.
Kim Jiyoung is a good student who doesn’t get put forward for internships. Kim Jiyoung is a model employee but gets overlooked for promotion. Kim Jiyoung is a wife who gives up her career and independence for a life of domesticity.
Kim Jiyoung has started acting strangely.
Kim Jiyoung is depressed.
Kim Jiyoung is mad.
Kim Jiyoung is her own woman.
Kim Jiyoung is every woman.
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 is the life story of one young woman born at the end of the twentieth century and raises questions about endemic misogyny and institutional oppression that are relevant to us all. Riveting, original and uncompromising, this is the most important book to have emerged from South Korea since Han Kang’s The Vegetarian.
Praise for Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982
‘It describes experiences that will be recognisable everywhere. It’s slim, unadorned narrative distils a lifetime’s iniquities into a sharp punch.’ The Sunday Times
‘A ground-breaking work of feminist fiction’ Stylist
‘Along with other socially critical narratives to come out of Korea, such as Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-winning film Parasite, her story could change the bigger one.’ TheGuardian
‘This witty, disturbing book deals with sexism, mental health issues and the hypocrisy of a country where young women are “popping caffeine pills and turning jaundiced” as they slave away in factories helping to fund higher education for male siblings.’ The Independent
‘Enthralling and enraging.’ Sunday Express
‘Cho’s moving, witty and powerful novel forces us to face our reality, in which one woman is seen, pretty much, as interchangeable with any other. There’s a logic to Kim Jiyoung’s shape-shifting: she could be anybody.’ Daily Telegraph
Rashmi –
Purchasing this book was the best decision. As a woman it was kind of emotional for me reading it. I’ve read it many times now and i always keep it with me. Absolutely loved it?
Arya Tr –
This is well written book about the suppression faced as a woman the moment they are born
Jyothirmai Pagadala –
You are not the only one, is what the books says to all the women..
Amin –
?Our BTS readathon cum bookclub choice for the month of May was Kim Jiyoung Born 1982 / Nature. Since May was a busy month for me, I decided to read the ‘featured read’ of our book club, ‘Kim Jiyoung Born 1982’. In a 2017 V Live, BTS member RM mentioned that he had read this book. His exact words were, “The book’s implications were unlike any other, and I was impressed. It’s a thought-provoking book.” .” What more does an army need to read this book..?✳️There are stories that touch our hearts, but some stories are strong enough to touch our souls. Kim Jiyoung Born 1982, written by Cho Nam-Joo, was one such book. What I liked the most is the cover. The woman depicted on the cover has no face. If I’m not mistaken, I think it’s trying to convey that this isn’t the story of one woman, but the story of all women.✳️✳️I became emotional as I flipped through the pages of this book. Gender discrimination has been with us for centuries. The fact that it still exists in this society is scary. The place where gender inequality first begins is within your own four walls. I’m really privileged because of my parents, but that’s not the case for many others. I don’t think there is a single woman who hasn’t gone through any one of the incidents described in the story. This story made me angry. It made me cry. And I want everyone to go through the same feelings I felt reading this book! That’s it..!! This book should be read by every single person on earth.✳️
Komal –
This is the story of a woman born in Korea. Her childhood her adulthood till her marriage and childbirth and eventually falling into mental illness because of post natal and childcare depression.Although it is fictional, it is written in the form of a biography. And in a way it is a biography. A biography of every female born in a lower middle class patriarchal household in every developing country in 1980s.It is called a feminist book but really it doesn’t talk about feminism or women empowerment or anything like that. It just gives account of a female’s daily life. There are so many facts with footnotes giving sources which makes it even more real.Every woman, young or old, should read it because you will feel connected and draw courage from Kim Jiyoung’s life.And Every man should read it to realise what women go through everyday in their life ever since their birth up to giving birth to their own child. Why does your mother, sister, girlfriend, wife behave in a certain way they do. How much they have suffered to be at the place they are and sacrificed so that you could reach the place you are today. You should read it so that the misogynistic society can change and your daughters don’t get to suffer as much.It was a small book. Less than 200 pages. I finished it in one go. Please read it even if you read only one book in your whole life.
Zoya D –
This book delves into the issues of women being the fairer aka weaker sex through the story of a South Korean woman from the 1980s to now. Right from women being leered at, groped, teased and made to feel it’s her fault to begin with to being forced to make sacrifices in all aspects of life to raise a family, from society demanding when a couple should have a baby to the importance of that child being a boy, this book has it all. What America and Europe dealt with for women’s rights and equality in the 1950s is what South Korea and all Asian countries are dealing with now and this book divulges all of that. It resonates with every woman who has ever faced any kind of injustice solely on the basis of her gender and it leaves you feeling angry and sad that we’re still fighting for equality and basic rights even in today’s “progressive” times.That being said, this book could have been so much more. Maybe it’s the translation that makes it lose its impact but the language and the sentence structure don’t create a vivid enough picture and leave the reader wanting for more. It starts out very promising with Jiyoung’s mental breakdown but that’s where it stopped. Her character development was weak and it didn’t make me root for her at all. I, for one, had some trouble getting through the book because it read more like a report with statistics than a fictional story. Towards the end, while I was enraged by the ongoing injustices and inequality towards women, I just wanted this book, nay white paper, nope college sociology essay, to be over. Read it if you want a quick read and a deep insight into what women face in South Korea and lots of developing third world countries.
Maithili –
It’s a depiction of what each woman faces in her life. Rich or poor doesn’t matter, every woman faces the same question. I’m sure earning more than her husband won’t matter; she’ll still have to think of how to manage work and children. She would have that thought of leaving her job. This book is exactly that, a telltale of women’s lives. Highly recommended for men to read!
Priyanka Garai –
Well, I read this book a long time ago and thought of reviewing it today because this book has been constantly on my mind for few days! This book has uplifted the humiliation & place for being a woman in Korean society. And i feel like , not in Korea but pretty much everywhere in this world women have been getting humiliated , neglected, taunted for what they’re doing and for what they’re not doing. It’s like they are gonna point their index at you no matter what. I’m not very feminist, but this book torned me apart into shreds internally. I went to bed with swollen eyes that day.And yeah i recommend this book. I read this book because Kim Namjoon ( the leader of the biggest boy band BTS) recommended it and I saw many good & bad reviews on this! At that time everyone was fussing on this so had to. Read it!
Simant Verma –
Kim Jiyoung is me. Kim Jiyoung is almost every woman around me. Kim Jiyoung is the sum total of all the prejudices and hardships a woman has to endure in this patriarchal society!Set in Korea, this story is not unique per day. You might have read many stories talking about patriarchy, sexism and feminism. What is unique though is it’s backed up by statistical data from the country. Throughout this Novella, I didn’t feel like I was reading the experiences of Korean women and sexism and gender discrimination they face in day-to-day life — be it be their home, education or work environment — but rather my own and so many other women. The intensity might be different, but it is all there rooted in the society.I don’t have a brother, we are two sisters. And since childhood, I have seen the various reactions of people when they hear that there is no son. Like Jiyoung, I have seen the male members of the family getting the first servings, better things. It is not unusual and so deeply rooted that even I am ingrown in those customs.The things we hear in schools, the discrimination we face in the working environment, and the expectations of us as a mother, are all too well similar to that of Jiyoung. Sure we have come a long way as a country, but still we have such a long path ahead of us to travel.Jiyoung’s story is a cry for help, to make society understand the way it has been/is treating women. The ending brings the story to a full circle; it ended where it started. Cho Nam-Joo’s writing isn’t extraordinary per se, but it will enrage you and will make you see Jiyoung as yourself.Give this book to men in your lives, give this to your sons, give this to women, for it is a reflection of the society we live in and the work we still need to do to gain gender equality.#kimjiyoungborn1982 #koreanliterature #chonamjoo
Prime member –
Kim Ji young born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo is not just an individual Korean woman story but the story of every other women. Living in the outskirts of Seoul is Kim with her husband and a daughter. One fine morning Kim starts showing disturbing symptoms. She starts impersonating different women she knew. Some of them were living, others were dead. It wasn’t a prank or a joke, she completely, flawlessly became that person. Horrified and nervous by her behaviour her husband takes her to a male psychiatrist and we are taken back to her everyday mundane life from childhood to the current day. But will the doctor being a male be able to understand and diagnose her or even get to the core of what really ails her?The book pinpoints several everyday struggles and sacrifices of a female in a society, the biased and discriminatory society that’s always been there but was never thought of as a problem until recently. From the point of being born to death the defaulted compromises a women makes because there’s never been any other way. Though the book is based in Korea, the condition is ubiquitous. Kim Ji Young lives in a patriarchal society where women are expected to give up their studies so the male member of the family can complete their education because they are the bread earners, where the juiciest part of the meat is served to the male members, where just being a boy is an achievement in it self whereas a girl has to spend her lifetime proving to be worth and rarely succeeds, where women are seen as weaker sex struggling to earn a high post at work despite their incredible credibilities. Like most of the women Kim Ji Young faces work place harassment. With no other option but to give up her career to look after her daughter Kim faces post natal depression which later turns into child caring depression. Issues that go unnoticed because a women’s efforts and sacrifices are hardly looked upon as anything worth noticing. When harassed at a bus stops Kim is blamed for being inviting and provocative. Bitter but true. Just like oxygen is taken for granted people take a women’s compromises and efforts for granted.A very thought provoking novel depicting what’s it to be a woman in Korea (and the world). Though we have come a long way, the biased and misogynistic society still lurks.