Translate by Shanna Tan
There was only one thing on her mind.
‘I must start a bookshop.’
Yeongju did everything she was supposed to, go to university, marry a decent man, and get a respectable job. Then it all fell apart. Burned out, Yeongju abandons her old life, quits her high-flying career, and follows her dream. She opens a bookshop.
In a quaint neighbourhood in Seoul, surrounded by books, Yeongju and her customers take refuge. From the lonely barista to the unhappily married coffee roaster and the writer who sees something special in Yeongju – they all have disappointments in their past. The Hyunam-dong Bookshop becomes the place where they all learn how to truly live.
Rating
Review
I don’t know what to think of this book, like I like it, but at the same time I can’t dismiss the elements that were bothering me.
It’s my first book from a Korean author, and as it’s a contemporary one, you have a lot of insights into this society. I found it very instructive to read about it as you also reflect on it. Nothing is black or white, and seeing those different grey areas helps to give me a good idea of this society that is different from mine. Those explanations and reflections come from the characters, and they all have different lives, so you see how society impacts them, especially with the expectations it imposes on them. However, as you have a ton of reflections about it, some passages are a little too lengthy and nearly dull. In fact, you have a ” life lesson ” in almost all of the chapters, which helps the characters evolve in their lives. The themes used in them are the same so sometimes you have the feeling to already have read it with different words but in fine it means the same.
There are two main characters, and as one of them is the owner of the bookshop, you follow some of the patrons. I was happy initially as I like to read about different characters, which adds something to the story. Sadly, I was also disappointed by it. I struggled a little with the viewpoints used in the chapters; sometimes, you only have one, but other times, you have two or three changes, and the writing was too similar to know right off the bat who we were following, especially if it was a woman. Also, the ending was written as a big revelation about one of the main character’s past. At the beginning of the book, you have some insights into something that happened in her life that changed her forever. When you read what happened at the end, you understand, but simultaneously, I was disappointed by the explanation. However, the reactions of the people around her were heartwarming and touching.
Lastly, I liked to see the evolution of the bookshop and how she exerted herself to make it not a big thing but more a place where people would think of it as a home, with books and coffee. I especially like one of her final decisions. This book shows that even if you start a bookshop because you love books, you need to have ideas and try to make them work.
No, I don’t want to talk about the “romance” that appears out of the blue and is, for me, completely useless. Happily, it’s not the focus of the book, and it only comes at the end.
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