What a fascinating reading experience. Kim Jiyoung is the story of a woman, wife, and mother on the verge. She has been subjected to misogyny, subtle and overt, at every stage of her life, and there is a sense of disassociation throughout the book as a result. The book is written in a clinical style, with copious footnotes to back up its assertions; the ending is revelatory and made me want to reread the book immediately. I suppose the challenge for a western reader is that these topics seem fairly conventional, whereas in Korea I understand that this book is a groundbreaking and controversial sensation. All the more reason to read widely and to not assume that my own reading lens is the default.

I very much enjoyed this story. It was wonderfully written. I look forward to the author’s next book!

The book that started a feminist revolution in South Korea is an engrossing read from start to finish and takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions - a lot of them anger at the injustices of the male-dominated society that had prevailed in the country. Focused on the life of the titular character, Kim Jiyoung is an average Korean woman - not particularly rich or poor, one of three children, respectful of her parents. The story starts with her suffering a mental health episode following the birth of her first child, where she starts believing she's other people - from her own mother, to former colleagues and other women from her life.
The book then takes a look back at her life and shows the path it has followed to this day, offering pretty clear explanations as to what has possibly contributed to her current situation - a life of challenges brought about by her gender - a million micro-aggressions, a host of harassments, constantly being overlooked for her male counterparts, constantly being made to feel second best - from her home life, to her school life, to her work life, to her married life... It's relentless in its grinding down of her spirit.
It's a fascinating look at life bounded by cultural traditions, societal norms, gender discrimination and stark inequities, many of which are by no means unique to South Korea, either now or in the past. There were so many all-too-familiar themes for me, and I found little solace in learning they are even worse in another country. However I did find a lot of hope - both within the book (from the more progressive characters - the school teacher who stands up to the bullying, the work colleagues who challenge the status quo, Jiyoung's kick ass mother) and from the effect it has had since its publication, holding a mirror up to Korean society and the ensuing change that it has caused. A hugely important book.

A powerful book that talks about how systematic misogyny is trivialized since childhood. It successfully displays how gendered experiences shape young minds, but ultimately keeps pushing them to the brink of a breakdown. To every woman who has lost her identity to being just a mother, wife or a daughter, this book is a reminder that it does not have to be this way.

Brilliant and relatable! This is a quick read, but wow, is it impactful. I highly recommend. It had just the right amount of character description and blend of statistical data to keep you hooked and saying, "Really?". The ending blew me away as well.

This book was well-researched and infuriating. I loved reading Kim Jiyoung's story, and as a woman, I laughed with her, cried with her, got angry with her, and felt for her throughout the entire book. The narrator reveal at the end simultaneously made me laugh and want to scream.

Cho does a good job creating deep characterization in this novella. One thing is clear: she knew her theme well and covered its pernicious effects on the working/modern women in a way where one cannot look away. It read, in many ways, much more like a memoir or research for a qualitative study of sorts; and less like fiction. Re: it reading like a study makes sense once we discover that the 3rd POV narration comes from a psychiatrist who is telling her story because she is one of his patients. I think this begins my curiosity on her rhetorical choices and how dense, possibly clever, but poorly executed they were.

*To be transparent, I received my copy from netgalley, so it was an uncorrected proof and may have line-/section-break differences from the original that could've added to the strains.

To make the narrator not only a psychologist but a male psychologist who was only able to more thoroughly understand Kim Jiyoung's psychosis because of re-memory of his wife's professional sacrifices as a mother, is such an intentional choice, but does not get introduced until most of the novella is done. Why? The fact that he is a male psychologist proves that his narration is filled with biases to only to reveal that to the reader at the tail-end is to compromise their trust of everything that's been read, especially seeing that the reconstruction of her life was filled with feminist critique. It influences our meditation on her story.

[SPOILER] I think this trust further deteriorates upon the ending of the story. His conclusion on patients leaving due to a female therapist of his quitting for maternity reasons is to hire unmarried women. After countless sessions with Kim Jiyoung, he still doesn't quite understand the multi-faceted strain patriarchy puts on the working woman, still participates in exacerbated that difficulty. How much less does that make us trust his diagnosis of Kim Jiyoung? What from the story is missing?

I think the last bit really is the question I was waiting to be clarified. Who is Cha Seungyeon? If she wasn't important, why was she first to be embodied in Kim Jiyoung's psychosis. And why emphasize that she had died. In order to answer these questions, this novella would have to have been made into a novel.

The realities of Kim Jiyoung's life and how her environment suffocated her in every way makes the theme itself important, but many of her stylistic choices were quite questionable.

This was a quick, but necessary read about how women are viewed in Korean culture. The sexism is real in how it affects women and the clear inequality between men and women, especially in the workplace. This is a recommended read.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy. Great book. I love to read about other cultures and this book was no disappointment. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to understand being a young woman in South Korea. I learned a lot and that is a sign of a good read.

This was both a chilling and gut-wrenching read. It was interesting to see how beauty standards in other places put women in the same situation that we're known them to be when it comes to beauty.

The general and overall theme of Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 is universal, unfortunately. The exact circumstances may differ but the basics are always present. women the world over can relate to what Jiyoung, and every other female character, go through. What they must go through to endure. I don't use the word survive on purpose as we can see from the book that these women clearly endure this life, they may survivevit for abtime but at great cost. Author Cho Nam-Joo has really captured what life can be and is like for many women. We all experience similar attitudes and situations, it is just a matter of degrees. How sad that this is something we woman share worldwide even now in 2020 but how wonderful that some things are changing for the better. The progress may be slow and it may not be happening everywhere but there is hope. With novels like this, more people are aware; with authors who write about it this well, all people, regardless of gender, may be compelled to help change things.

The writing style is a little odd in parts, but ultimately I enjoyed the journey throughout Jiyoung’s life and the portrait of femalehood in Korea that this book provided.

This made for a really interesting read so shortly after I finished Kawakami’s BREASTS AND EGGS—both grapple with female identity, and have some interesting nation-specific commentary (Japan in that text, and South Korea in Nam-Joo's narrative) around feminism and motherhood and career and how these interest with gender discrimination and expectations.

One aspect in this narrative that I found particularly striking was the the use of footnotes—they gave the narrative and the issues raised the feel of reading facts rather, than fiction.

This was a strange and intense book that follows the life of one woman throughout her life. It is a little bit weird a lot infuriating because of everything Jiyoung has to go through. This story is definitely worth dedicating some time to.

An interesting character study about modern day feminism in Korea. I like how Cho Nam-Joo shows how it's the little things, the passive aggressive aggressions, that build up over time and just need an excuse to explode. At times the language felt a little dry which at first I attributed to the translation but the ending ties everything together nicely. And wow, what an ending!

Thank you to

W. W. Norton & Company and Netgalley for an advanced read in exchange for this review.  

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 is a fascinating read.  Feminism, misogyny, and sacrifice are all explored here, and it's shocking to read about what women endure at the expense of men.  This would be a good book club book!

“Kim Jiyoung is thirty-three years old, thirty-four Korean age. She got married three years ago and had a daughter last year. […] Jiyoung’s abnormal behavior was first detected on 8 September.”

So begins Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982, Cho Nam-Joo’s daring excavation of a young woman crumbling under the strain of unrelenting misogyny, which has sold over a million copies in its native South Korea. Jiyoung (the Korean naming convention places a person’s family name before their given name), an average, unremarkable woman, one day begins to imitate the voices of other women she has known throughout her life—a phenomenon neither she nor her husband can explain, which prompts them to visit a psychiatrist.

Full review on BookBrowse

A novella that blends fact and fiction to create a sketch of the patriarchal structures of Korean society, following Kim Jiyoung from childhood through adulthood. As I'm familiar with East Asian culture, this book wasn't revelational, but it was validating to see the gender inequalities articulated and with stats to back it up. Yes, fiction with stats!

The writing style was unique from anything else I've read, and that may have to do with the fact that this is a translated work and I don't read very many translated works. It was a very direct sort of writing, packing a punch in less 200 pages. Some may find it dry or distant, but I found it efficient. It wasn't subtle about the everyday inequalities, which are often subtle and internalised from years of tradition. It didn't guide you through HOW Jiyoung experiences the world differently than her male counterparts, but simply THAT Jiyoung experiences the world differently than her male counterparts.

The novella begins with Jiyoung at 33, and we learn that she is afflicted with a strange psychosis in which she impersonates voices of other women. Then the novella takes you to back to her childhood and proceeds chronologically until we are back where we started. I thought the mystery about Jiyoung's psychosis would be a bigger part of the novella and carry most of its suspense, but this is not a plot-driven mystery novel (as you might suspect from reading the official blurb).

KIM JIYOUNG , BORN 1982 follows the life of Kim Jiyoung - an ordinary woman who lives on the outskirts of Seoul with her infant daughter and husband. One day, Jiyoung begins to impersonate the voices of women who were part of her life.

This book portrays women situation in South Korea society - through Kim Jiyoung's life, we see a systemic misogyny that affects all stages of her life. From family, school, workplace to mother/wife, she was constantly disrespected and treated unfairly, worsened by the Eastern patriarchal culture.
Nam-Joo writes with precision the sad reality of Korean (Asian) women - I often felt powerless and I was indignant. This institutionalised sexism not only occurs in South Korea, but is also recurrent globally. The parts regarding pregnancy and motherhood were totally relatable.
Despite the simplistic writing, the subject matter was utterly relevant and I flew through the pages. While the statistics may feel like a textbook for some readers, it was very informative and only drew my attention to the gender inequality.

I wholeheartedly appreciate the message behind this book and it once again accentuates the urgency of fighting the women oppression.

Kim Jiyoung is just your average woman. That is, until she starts speaking with the voice and memories of random women - some she knows and some she doesn't, some not even alive anymore. When her husband takes her to a psychologist, he uncovers a long history of sexism and microaggressions from birth to adulthood. And although her current problem is unique, the sexist society that raised her looks pretty familiar.

The hook for this story is SO GOOD, right? It's so good that, honestly, the whole book didn't live up to the first chapter. Obviously this book struck a nerve in Korea, where it was first published and started a very important conversation. That being said, I would have liked to see some more back-and-forth between the plotlines, perhaps more closure at the end. But it was definitely an engaging read, and one that I'm pleased to see published in the U.S.!