82 Nyeonsaeng Kim Jiyoung is a book that has shaken the public debate in South Korea and elsewhere in Asia. Although it is a novel, for me it is much closer to a fictionalized reportage, because Cho Nam-ju weaves numbers and statistics into the story about Jiyoung, and put it into the context of her family history.
But for me – especially in the context of #metoo – it’s the story of each of us. No matter what country you were born in and where you live.
As a child, Jiyoung sees nothing strange in the fact that her grandmother treats her brother differently than her and her sister. Nor that he has to share a room with his sister, even though their brother is the younger one. It’s no surprise that her job applications are rejected. When she asks her father to pick her up from the bus stop because someone is following her, he blames what Jiyoung is wearing. Though she gets angry at times, she comes to accept that that’s just the way the world is. Until one day she gets fed up and starts acting strange…
An ideal choice for those who want to learn about the situation of women in Korea. And at the same time, understand something about themselves.
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