Something of a noir-ish read. Our narrator is French-Korean and something of an anomaly in Sokcho, a dreary fishing town in South Korea very near the border with North Korea. Though a graduate, she works as a bit of a dogsbody in a run-down hotel, occasionally helping her mother who cooks, and runs a fish stall. Despite often seeing her mother and her would-be-a-model boyfriend, she seems isolated, disliking herself and her body. Then a French guest comes along, a comic-book illustrator. They step warily round each other, neither liking to admit their interest.

We never get under the skin of any of these characters. But this distance, this cold, this feeling of the characters being trapped in their self-appointed roles, these vivid descriptions of an unwelcoming chilly town, overshadowed by its proximity to North Korea is what gives this book its power. A short, unsettling, provocative read. ( )

(Read in French) Moody book that does a great job depicting the desolation of resort towns in the off season. The feeling that nothing is happening where you are and everything is happening somewhere else. Weakened inhibitions that come with depression and fatigue. Thoughts intruding through cracks in the mind. The confusion you feel when you aren’t sure if you are attracted to someone or simply trying to fill a hole inside you. Does the narrator want a lover? A teacher? A father? The ambiguity is its own kind of burden, purgatory.

The English translation of this book won an award - I can imagine the challenge; every page had a word or turn of phrase that sent me searching my French dictionary. ( )

This was such a bittersweet and cozy little novella that I was able to fly through in one sitting. I love stories that are simultaneously about everything and nothing all at once. I’m very eager to read more from Dusapin. ( )

This is another one that I really wanted to like but ended up being underwhelming. In fact, I eagerly paid way too much for this when I spotted it in the flesh for the first time at a bookstore in Korea, then read it in one day while on the trip. The story was a bit too streamlined for me, and certain parts felt like they were trying to be more dramatic than they were. Maybe it's better in the original French. It's another one of those books that I wouldn't recommend to anyone, but I also wouldn't actively campaign against. ( )

4.5 stars.

Challenging in all the right ways. Following this unnamed character's very personal life was so precious! ( )