Thank you so much Soraya at @blackwellbooks for gifting me this book - you were right, it was completely up my alley! A straight-talking, unapologetic account of a woman just trying to live her life in a country where the odds are completely stacked against her and her entire sex, with an ending that’s like a kick in the teeth.
.
Kim Jiyoung is the most common name for girls born in the 80s in South Korea. This is the story of one Kim Jiyoung, but it’s also the story of the Korean everywoman. From the very minute she is born a girl, not a boy, she represents a disappointment for her family. She is exposed to sexism as soon she goes to school, and it only gets worse as she gets older, finds a career and has to choose between that and starting a family. Cho Nam-joo substantiates everything with references and footnotes, which seems odd at first but makes more sense by the end. It doesn’t really detract you from the story, just reminds you that the injustices that Jiyoung faces are not fiction but a reality for women in South Korea.
.
The translation by Jamie Chang is neatly done. Cho Nam-joo deliberately keeps the tone quite clinical, nothing is sugarcoated, and I feel like English lends itself well to that. It’s not flowery or lyrical, it’s stark and sometimes cold, but it keeps you reading.
.
I’m sure every woman who reads this will find herself gritting her teeth or being reminded painfully of something similar that’s happened to her. But everyone should read it for an insight into the systematic sexism that’s so deeply entrenched in society - specifically South Korea here, but unfortunately the experiences are often universal.