(PQ 2704 .U87 H5813 2021)
It’s winter in Sokcho, a tourist town on the border between South and North Korea. The cold slows everything down. A young French Korean woman works as a receptionist in a tired guesthouse. One evening, an unexpected guest arrives: a French cartoonist determined to find inspiration in this desolate landscape. She agrees to accompany him on trips to discover an “authentic” Korea, [b]ut he takes no interest in the Sokcho she knows. As she’s pulled into his vision and taken in by his drawings, she strikes upon a way to finally be seen. –adapted from the publisher summary
Title: Winter in Sokcho
Author: Elisa Shua Dusapin
Genre: Literary fiction; Novella
Read Great Things 2023 Categories: A book about an experience different than your own; A book that piques your curiosity; A book recommended by a Durham Tech staff member on the Library blog
This book was read by Kyle Minton, Reference Librarian.
Why did you choose to read this book?
I’m not too proud to admit it: Winter in Sokcho has an incredibly inviting physical design. The postcard-as-book-cover approach promises big feelings, but the generous use of white space inside offers plenty of contemplation between what ends up being a very sensual reflection on one’s own romantic and professional destinies.
What did you like about it?
Elisa Shua Dusapin’s writing, translated here by Aneesa Abbas Higgins, invites a lot of emotional interpretations about the narrator’s motivations and curiosities. The reader is allowed inside the head of a woman who spends time during her tedious seaside hotel job getting to know a mysterious new visitor, but Dusapin’s writing is abstract enough that it allows plenty of suspense about how these curiosities will resolve.
Did it remind you of any other book, or a movie?
I do not watch or read a lot of Korean narratives, but I did recently watch the highly-acclaimed film Decision to Leave (2022), which offers a similar heaping of poignant yearning.
Durham Tech Library has this movie on order, so look forward to checking it out soon!
Was there anything noteworthy about the book?
Specific Korean cultural rites and food are italicized throughout the book. The book is short, so I found that pausing to research specific terms and look up pictures to be a useful way of exploring the book.
What feeling did the book leave you with?
The book left me with a feeling of longing and a reminder of why it is nice to travel in the winter to traditionally summer locales: it’s quiet, the air is crisp, and there’s always a lovely contrast when a place designed for summer tourism is explored in the winter months.
Who would you recommend the book to?
I’d recommend it to anyone who loves a “will they, won’t they” approach to ambiguous romantic attraction and self-exploration.
What would you pair this book with?
If you are interested in learning more about Korean cuisine and want a similarly light read, I recommend the graphic novel/cookbook Cook Korean! by Robin Ha and the tragic memoir Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner for further explorations of Korean heritage narratives that, in these examples, often intersect with cuisine.
