Book Review of Spring on the Peninsula by Ery Shin

Name of Book: Spring on the Peninsula

Author: Ery Shin

ISBN: 978-1-6626-0222-1

Publisher: Astra house 

Type of book: South Korea, commentary, society, modern times, lost love,  grief, transition, seasons, disconnect, LGBtQI+, break up, secrets, life 

Year it was published: 2024 

Summary:

A sexually fluid narrator mourns a failed relationship over the course of two harsh winters in this raw, unprecedented portrait of millennials living in Seoul.

The time is roughly now in Seoul, and Kai, a bisexual white-collar worker, has just been abandoned by his longtime lover. Follow him through the city’s alleyways as he reels from this sudden departure. Walk with him up snowy mountains where he contemplates ending his own life. That mourning can be both a sensuous and revelatory art is epitomized in the paths that Kai crosses and the lives he alters for better or worse.

Kai is not the only one feeling disoriented and aimless these days. Those in his inner circle similarly experience personal crises as they go through their thirties in a nation simmering with class and generational tensions, as well as the specter of new and old wars. The center of Kai’s heartbreak, Seoul in all of its millennial glory and turmoil, is brought to the forefront in austere, visceral prose. Doing for Seoul what Kathy Acker and Constance De Jong once did for New York City, Ery Shin offers rare insight into the psyches of those in and around the margins, living under the contemporary geopolitical tensions of the peninsula—her characters are sexually fluid, depraved, nihilistic, impotent, prone to violence, and obsessed with suicide. The result is a phantasmagorical story and a poignant meditation on queer life in a city beset by North Korea’s shadow.

Characters:

Main character is definitely Kai, a bisexual man who recently has his lover leave him. Kai seems to enjoy giving pleasure rather than receiving pleasure and often looks down on certain people while he looks up to others. Kai is extremely complex to understand and not much is explored of Kai, or Kai doesn't allow anyone into his heart. Other characters include Han, Jung, Min and Yoon as well as the hairdresser and her daughter. Han later on becomes entangled with a patient which causes him death, while Jung was the sole woman in the group who seems to share something with Kai, perhaps chemistry, perhaps not. She is struggling with societal expectations of being a woman. Min a gambler and having an obsession of plastic surgery and Yoon, an aristocratic young man who is going through a divorce. The hairdresser and her daughter are on the bottom of the totem pole and they seem more realistic although less likable. 

Theme:

Trying to understand transitions and life

Plot:

The story is in third person narrative primarily from Kai's point of view. Other characters, namely Kai's cohort of friends and even a lover and lover's daughter also make appearances and their thoughts felt. There is definitely no time in the novel, very little attention paid to technology or passage. The reader is often offered mere glimpses and stories of the characters and their lives, and they are often asked to put the story together on their own with little to no help from the narrator. Pretty much the novel is a testament to life's brutal force of moving on, but not wanting to move on, just wanting to linger a moment longer in self reflection. I didn't find the characters relatable I am sorry to say, but there is a lot of commentary and I am of opinion that one needs to re-read the novel to understand it. 

Author Information:
(From goodreads)

N/A
Opinion:

Its no secret: I love intellectual and stimulating novels, in particular in challenging my brain to help me make sense of the words I read. After I finished reading Y/N by Esther Yi, I began to understand its beauty. For this one, the time hasn't arrived perhaps. While I was reading the novel, quite a few emotions played within; one is a K-Drama I watched some, namely Bittersweet Life starring Lee Dong-Wook and some similarity between that drama and the novel; I also often recalled The Simpsons clip where Homer brings his fans into Moe's Bar. Moe: So You guys are Eurotrash, how's that working out for you?" Art Fan #1 "To be honest we are adrift in a sea of decadent luxury and meaningless sex." Moe: "Uh huh." (Gets notepad out) "So uh where might this sea be located?" I am of definite opinion that the line describes the novel perfectly, with the book being the art fan and the reader being Moe. Having said that, the actual contents were reminiscent of brutal and forced transitions because the novel seemed very bleak, very introspective yet life goes on, for better or worse is the message I received. 

This was given for review

4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)