Upon reading this novel, I found it to be a highly impactful and emotionally charged experience. While the plotline was incredibly powerful, there were moments that were also quite unsettling and even uncomfortable. However, despite this, I found the novel to be incredibly thought-provoking and engaging, and I appreciated the author's ability to tackle complex themes and issues with such skill and sensitivity. By the end of the novel, I was left with a deep sense of reflection and introspection, and I couldn't help but feel a little bereft as I contemplated the profound impact of the story on my own life.

"Another Person" by Kang Hwagil is a thought-provoking exploration of identity and introspection. This introspective novel takes readers on a journey of self-discovery and personal growth. It delves into the complexities of the human mind and the search for meaning.

Jina, riding out a horrific social media attack after an abusive relationship returns to the town where she went to university. There she must confront her past behaviour as well as learn more about her friends; all of whom are silently carrying their own battle scars.

This was a powerful novel; at times a little uncomfortable. A very interesting and thought provoking novel that left me feeling a little bereft.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review

"Another Person" by Kang Hwagil presents a contemplative exploration. The poems touch on diverse emotions, reflecting moments of introspection. Kang's writing is evocative, although the themes can feel repetitive. The book offers a mix of reflections and insights, making for a thought-provoking yet occasionally monotonous read.

A translated read at times was difficult to flow. I enjoyed the read. However deals with alot of difficult subjects

Reading translated fiction can always be a challenge as you don’t know whether or not the translator has done the author any justice. I’m not sure the translator did a great job on this one. At times it felt stilted and the prose unnatural and forced, which took you out of the novel.

Although the subject matter was important and the novel dealt with themes of sexual violence and assault, misogyny and cultural attitudes towards women, the writing let it down.

I found that it was overly ambitious and got too caught up on the “gossip” elements rather than the important parts: the effects of sexual violence and how it is dealt with in Korea. It could sometimes be glossed over in favour of interactions between characters being catty towards one another instead.

This one was worth sticking with as initially I was not sure about this one.

Online commentary, sexual assault, harassment in the workplace, toxic masculinity and relentless anxiety. This novel may be South Korean but the themes are universally familiar. It took me a while to get used to this style of writing but once I did and more and more layers were added to this story , I was hooked. This was brash, tense and from the half way point I was all in. I really liked the characters and how this story built and unfolded. It made me fearful, full of rage and anger, confused and ultimately weirdly optimistic. Definitely one worth sticking with if initially, like me, it doesn't engage you. A unique telling of an all too familiar story.

3.5- 4 star

Personally I don't think this book is good enough to recommend to someone. I like work in translation and I have lived in Korea. I just don't think this is that good.

Kang Hwagil (Hwa-gil) is considered one of a “new wave” of South Korean, feminist writers and her award-winning novel, first published in 2017, works well as a companion piece to books like Kim Yijoung, Born 1982. Kang opens in Seoul with Jina who is flailing from the aftermath of an abusive relationship with an older, more senior colleague. Jina’s decision to publicise her experiences has made her the focus of a virulent, online hate campaign and harassment from former managers and co-workers. But for Jina one comment in particular stands out, posted as an anonymous tweet it’s a potent reminder of incidents from her past as an undergraduate at a provincial university. Incidents which revolved around another student Ha Yuri, who’s now dead, a woman who reached out to Jina for help which Jina failed to provide.

Presented in a variety of styles and from a number of different perspectives, Kang’s narrative can be a little bewildering at times, interweaving Jina’s present with Jina’s attempts to work out what happened to Ha Yuri and why she died - just as Jina has to piece together fragments of the past so do Kang’s readers. At first Jina, Yuri, and the other women, who surface in the novel appear to represent individual trauma resulting from emotional, physical and/or sexual abuse but as this unfolds it’s clear it’s actually a broader exploration of a damaged and damaging society. One in which violence against women – and sometimes against men – has become systemic. Deeply hierarchical, patriarchal social structures - from education to law to corporations – social inequalities, and a fiercely competitive environment all serve to foster an underlying culture of toxic masculinity and, often, internalised misogyny.

Through her characters Kang constructs a portrait of a world pervaded by anxiety. One in which fear of social stigma or social isolation prevents frank discussions or debates about widespread forms of abuse. A place which provides the perfect breeding ground for myriad forms of coercion and violence, further fuelled by generational divides and backlash anti-feminist movements. All of which in turn contribute to Korea’s high rate of death by suicide. Although overall I thought this was flawed and frequently overly ambitious, it could also be tense, atmospheric and unexpectedly moving, a powerful plea for solidarity and collective action. Translated by Clare Richards.

Thanks ever so much to @pushkin_press for sharing this title with me on @netgalley!

Another Person by Kang Hwagil

Rather regrettably, I have very little to say about this one, which is a huge shame, given how pressing its main themes are, especially within South Korean society. Looking through other people's reviews, I am relieved to see I am not alone in my opinion. One labels this book as 'relentless' and I am struck by how accurate that is. Ultimately, the shifting narrations drag on and, like others have pointed out, it veered on pure gossip for most of the text. Lots of 'he said, she said,' lots of internal monologue and rhetorical questions, but very little plot advancement.

It's fascinating to learn more about the treatment and mishandling of sexual harassment in South Korean society, especially within an academic setting, but I did find myself actively searching for some light relief, which never came. All of the characters were deeply flawed and I would go as far as to say they were actively horrible to each other. 300+ pages of this left me feeling deflated and desperate for a better world, truly hoping victims in real life can find the support they truly need, when they need it, before it's too late.

2.5/5

I’m sure the translation is great, but it was often tough to keep being engaged. While I do wish some parts were less gossipy, this is an interesting book that underlines how unkind the (online and offline) world is when it comes to a specific gender (= women). There’s just something about men getting away with assaulting women, no matter which country you’re from.

As a fan of translated fiction this novel caught my eye. I was also interested on a South Korean perspective on the #MeToo movement, and in trying some feminist fiction in translation.

The story focuses on a protagonist who is caught up in the past, going over arguments and seemingly finding it hard to let go of friend dramas from her university days. Much of the novel was an internal monologue with a lot of rhetorical questions being asked - whether this was a direct translation of the original text or the translators choice I can't say, but the text sometimes felt jilted and awkward. Either way, the combination of this didn't make for an engaging story and the novel failed to keep my interest.

This felt a bit relentless in its look at gendered violence. It made for hard reading for this reason. However, I did think the journey we take with the main character and the shifting perspectives in narrative were done masterfully. 3.5 stars.

"A strange post caught my eye. I read it slowly. My hand began to tremble.

"김진아는 거짓말 쟁이다. 진공청소기 같은 년."

“Kim Jina is a liar. Vacuum cleaner bitch.”"

Another Person (2023) is Clare Richard’s translation of 다른 사람 by 강화길 (Kang Hwagil), a leading feminist author in Korea, but who has previously only had shorter works translated, notably the wonderful Demons.

The novel opens with our main narrator, Jina, at home is Seoul, scrolling through social media posts about her.

"I haven’t left my flat in three months.
*
Stupid woman.

Today, too, people hated me. I was spending today, like every other day, alone at home, reading articles and comments written about me."

She had been in an abusive relationship with a coworker, who regularly hit and sexually assaulted her.

"I remembered that feeling every time he gripped me like a wrinkled mound of clothes. He clearly loved me. He’d just changed a little. Surely he can change again? Surely he can go back to how he was before? Maybe he’s just tired. Maybe he’s a bit depressed, finding it difficult to cope with the stress. Could I have made him feel lonely? Then maybe it’s my fault. I didn’t read the situation; I didn’t pick up on it first—it’s my fault. I’ll try harder. If I treat him better, if I remind him of how he used to feel about me, we can go back to being happy, like we were at the beginning. ‘I’m an affectionate person. You’re just not bringing it out in me. Can’t you help me show my affectionate side?’

그가 나를 구겨진 옷더미처럼 대할 때마다 그 감정을 기억했다. 그는 나를 분명 사랑했다. 그는 단지 조금 달라졌을 뿐이다. 그렇다면 또 달라질 수 있지 않을까. 이전처럼 돌아올 수 있지 않을까. 어쩌면 그는 조금 피곤한 건지도 모른다. 감당하기 힘든 스트레스 탓에 조금 우울해진 걸지도 모른다. 내가 그를 외롭게 한 건 아닐까. 그러면 내 잘못일지도 모른다. 내가 그걸 헤아리지 못했으니, 먼저 알아채지 못했으니, 잘못한 것이다. 노력하자. 내가 그에게 잘한다면, 그가 나를 보고 느꼈던 감정을 다시 느끼게 한다면 우리는 처음처럼 행복해질 것이다. 나를 세 번째로 때린 날, 그는 내게 말했다. “나는 다정한 사람이야. 네가 내 안의 다정함을 끌어내지 못하는 거야. 내가 다정해질 수 있도록 도와줄 수는 없겠어?"

She eventually decided to take action, going to the police and making her allegations public, only to find that, after a protracted period when he wasn’t even suspended from his job, he was given a just a small fine at the trial and instead her case is discussed both by her coworkers and also in public forums, with many blaming her for what happened.

But then one particular post - see the opening quote - rings some unwelcome bells and takes her back to her university days in Anjin, a provincial town in North Jeolla:

"It’s that memory of Yuri—the girl they called vacuum cleaner—driving the words into my chest. How they treated her, the way people talked—I remember it all clearly. Calling me a liar. And why drag the dead into it? My whole body turned hot. Whoever wrote this definitely knows me. For sure. Me, twelve years ago. Twenty year-old Kim Jina. Someone who knew Yuri. Pulling me into memories of that time; shaming me. Because back then, Yuri had been our department’s vacuum cleaner, and I the liar."

(Yes, you guessed it, Yuri was called that because "she’d suck anything")

Most of the novel then unfolds in Anjin, as Jina travels back there, trying to find who might have sent the post, untangling Yuri's story (who died when they were at university in a hit and run accident, but had been suicidal in the run up to her death) and uncovering some present day, related, cases of sexual harassment.

The narration switches between a number of first and close third person perspectives, and this is a novel where most of the characters are flawed. For example there is female professor, Lee Kanghyun, who has a reputation as a feminist and is the first place most female students turn to if they have been harassed or assaulted, but who, while showing sympathy, is actually calculating how she can use the situation to her advantage within the university hierarchy.

In literary terms Jane Eyre is referenced as well as the rape of Marianne which is at the heart of Joyce Carol Oates’s We Were the Mulvaneys.

And this should all add up to a fascinating novel. Ultimately though I'm afraid it didn't work for me - the discussions of the character's college days take up much of the text and all get a bit "A claimed that B is secretly hooking up with C while dating D, as A would like to date D instead of E", and the more interesting (for me) angle of workplace harrassment, with which the novel begins, was never really explored. And compared to my expectations from Demons, this was a rather conventional story.

A rather reluctant 2.5 stars. Thanks to the publisher via Netgalley for the ARC.

This is the first book by Kang Hwagil and I am impressed. It is about issues we are facing everyday. The protagonist has spoken about allegation of sexual assault in workplace but an anonymous comment challenges that and this affaects her hugely because of the hate campaign she daces online, and this makes her to quit her job. This is about how toxic the internet has become and how badly it ruins our mental health. Kudos to the author and the translator.

An interesting story, that gets better as we add more layers with the back story.
It had my feelings towards Jina changing a few times.
As the book progresses though this becomes other people's stories, most of which intermingle.
Enjoyable.