KIM JIYOUNG, BORN 1982: Cho Nam-Joo

KIM JIYOUNG, BORN 1982

by Cho Nam-Joo

This fiercely feminist tale was a cult hit in Korea, and has taken the world by storm since it was translated into English. When a young mother, Kim Jiyoung, begins to exhibit strange behaviour, her husband sends her to a psychologist where she chronicles a life of systematic misogyny. From an early age, her behaviour was monitored and her needs and education subordinated to her younger brother, male schoolmates and work colleagues, her husband and her husband’s family. All this despite the much lauded period of ‘progress’ Korean society was experiencing.

Told in sparse matter of fact prose, this book is strangely mesmerising and utterly compelling. I read it it one sitting. And while it was fascinating to get such a vivid glimpse into Korean culture, the ways in which things have both changed, but at the same time stayed utterly the same will be familiar to women no matter where they are from.

- Reviewed by Kat

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