Book Recommendation: Almond by Sohn Won-pyung (Women in Translation Month)

Posted On August 7, 2023

Hi Readers! August is going wonderfully so far. Health has never been better. Hustling happily at work. Read five books this month already and loved three of them! Insert evil eye emoji, because after so much bad stuff, I think it’s better to be the kind of person who inserts evil eye emoji. Anyway, the second book I read for Women in Translation Month was Almond by Sohn Won-pyung and translated from Korean by Joosun Lee. It’s going to be a short review because it was a short book.

~~GOODREADS DESCRIPTION~~

This story is, in short, about a monster meeting another monster.

One of the monsters is me.

Yunjae was born with a brain condition called Alexithymia that makes it hard for him to feel emotions like fear or anger. He does not have friends—the two almond-shaped neurons located deep in his brain have seen to that—but his devoted mother and grandmother aren’t fazed by his condition. Their little home above his mother’s used bookstore is decorated with colorful post-it notes that remind him when to smile, when to say “thank you,” and when to laugh. Yunjae grows up content, even happy, with his small family in this quiet, peaceful space.

Then on Christmas Eve—Yunjae’s sixteenth birthday—everything changes. A shocking act of random violence shatters his world, leaving him alone and on his own. Struggling to cope with his loss, Yunjae retreats into silent isolation, until troubled teenager Gon arrives at his school and begins to bully Yunjae.

Against all odds, tormentor and victim learn they have more in common than they realized. Gon is stumped by Yunjae’s impassive calm, while Yunjae thinks if he gets to know the hotheaded Gon, he might learn how to experience true feelings. Drawn by curiosity, the two strike up a surprising friendship. As Yunjae begins to open his life to new people—including a girl at school—something slowly changes inside him. And when Gon suddenly finds his life in danger, it is Yunjae who will step outside of every comfort zone he has created to perhaps become a most unlikely hero.

The Emissary meets The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime in this poignant and triumphant story about how love, friendship, and persistence can change a life forever.

~~THOUGHTS~~

Almond is the story of Seon Yunjae, who is diagnosed with alexithymia which is the inability to identify and express one’s feelings. It’s the smaller-than-usual size of amagdalae in the brain which are shaped like almonds. The story begins with a major incident that changes Yunjae’s life forever. And after than one chapter, it goes back to tell us about his life from birth.

The 272-page book is divided into four parts. The first part is Yunjae’s life from birth until his granny dies and his mother is brutally assaulted leaving her in a comatose-like state. The second part is Yunjae’s high school life where we see how Gon starts off as a bully but ends up being a friend. With Part three comes Dora, who becomes a love interest. In this part, we see Yunjae with these two people who become friends. And lastly part four delves into Yunjae having feelings.

It was incredible to get into the life of someone with alexithymia. It was difficult to understand Yunjae’s life but the more I read, the more I understood. I must say, all the characters were written really really well. I liked staying with these characters for the entirety of the novel. The writing and tone of the book was brilliant, keeping exactly in line with the person who has this condition. It was no nonsense and just straight sentences like a documentary. It achieved its purpose that way.

In terms of the story, I would’ve loved to read more of it or if it had even additional layers of depth to both the story and characters. The plot was linear, which was okay. But the story felt linear too. It was with one perspective and did not dig much deeper. I liked how he had connections with people different from him and how it shaped his life. But, with a topic like this and such strong characters, I truly expected more.

I have rated Almond by Sohn Won-pyung and translated from Korean by Joosun Lee at 4/5 stars!

Until next time,