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Stephanie K. (Glendale, AZ)
Hidden Horrors Brought to Light
Crystal Hana Kim's the Stone Home is a poignant fictional account of "reformatory school" atrocities committed in 1980s South Korea. The novel resonates deeply with today's hot-button topics of child abuse and wartime brutality. Anyone with an interest in hidden history and its resolution, not to mention finding solutions to human trafficking and forced birth, will find it both truthful and horrifying in its implications. Although written about a time long ago, the feelings and issues presented are timeless in nature. The book demonstrates, above all, that people are people, no matter what their circumstances, ethnicity or history.
Lynne Z. (San Francisco, CA)
History Continues to Repeat Itself
The Stone Home uncovers yet another story of evil, cruelty and inhumanity inflicted upon innocent victims. It is difficult to read about the atrocities that occurred in the "reformatory" institutions of South Korea, and Crystal Hana Kim does not spare the details. What she does so skillfully, however, is to weave this history, with believable characters and a compelling story that kept my interest to the last page. By rotating chapters with Eunju and Sangchul's points of view, and by going back and forth from 1980 to 2011, Kim was able to reveal bits of information slowly and fully develop her characters. My
…more only criticism is that I was often confused with Korean words, especially terms of address. I highly recommend this book for its fine writing and for uncovering a dark period of history. (less)As hard as it is to acknowledge and accept the reality of recurrent instances of intentional, institutional human to human cruelty and carnage across our world, the talented authors who bring them to light offer a deeper and realistic understanding of these devastating truths along with hope for a future where such actions can never again occur.
In her harrowing but remarkably creative and dynamic new novel The Stone Home, Crystal Hana Kim delivers a rich and detailed story of one such "residential school" in South Korea during the 1980s. With memorable and extraordinary characters, their intense relationships
…more and gut-wrenching actions, Kim delivers a seamless, dual timeline picture of human emotions at their best and worst – hate, fear, anger, love and loyalty amid courage and the determination to survive – all alongside a slowly unraveling mystery. I couldn't put it down – definitely the most sorrowful and best book I've read this year! (less)If you think, by the publisher's description, that this book is just a coming-of-age story in South Korea, you would be mistaken. It is so much more. The Stone Home tells the story of Eunju Oh and her mother who were picked up off the streets in Gunsan and transported to a reform/rehabilitation facility. There they find hard work, impossible demands, discrimination, imprisonment, and ultimately hope and family within a community suffering the same fate. The story of Eunju and her mother becomes intertwined with that of two brothers who have also been brought to the institution.
The novel details this difficult
…more period in South Korea's history through different perspectives and lenses. The beautiful, raw, and often violent prose doesn't tell the complete story but gives a strong voice to the real citizens who suffered the same fate.
While I would strongly recommend The Stone Home to anyone who wants to learn about this tragic time, I would also suggest that this is not a book for sensitive readers. (less)This story takes place in the 1980's. The South Korean government is in turmoil and may be chosen for the 1988 Seoul Olympics. They must collect the orphaned, homeless and disturbed vagrants off the streets.
The story speaks of what they have gone through. It shows our strengths and weaknesses in dealing with evil. How we become stronger together. At times disturbing to read. It is point in history that has been repeated elsewhere and must be read for history repeats itself.
Kay E
The Stone Home
I like books that present situations of which I am unaware. This book had me wondering, "How could this be allowed to happen?" Home should be a place of warmth and comfort. In South Korea where this story unfolds, there is no warmth or comforting. There are friendships, hardships, leaders, and followers. There is loyalty, betrayal, abuse, death and escape. This book is not uplifting, but truly thought provoking. I recommend this book to those who like historical images woven with fiction books.
Linda Z. (Melville, NY)
A Devastating and Traumatic Time
Crystal Hana Kim, the Author, the Author of "The Stone Home" has written a powerful, heart-breaking, memorable and intense novel. The Genres for this Novel are Historical Fiction, Coming of Age, and Adult Fiction. This is a complicated and difficult book to read. The timelines for this story are set in 1981 in South Korea, and 2011. The author vividly describes her characters, and the atrocities and abuse that occurred. In the early 1980's, before the Olympics, the South Korean Government wanted all vagrants, beggars, and other people sent to detention centers to rehabilitate them to be returned to society. What
…more happened instead makes for a nightmare hidden in history. The detention centers were similar to Concentration Camps, but referred to as state-sanctioned reformatories.
Families were often ripped apart, and the children were beaten, physically and psychologically abused. Originally the vagrants were only to be there a year, but many disappeared or died. In this novel, the author discusses the relationship of a mother and daughter, that tried to have hope, and two brothers, who were forced to make difficult choices.
The author does mention how some of the prisoners were kind and showed hope to one another. This is an important book that does shed light on the darkness of a violent and powerful hidden time and agenda. I would recommend this book to shed light on a devastating time. (less)Crystal Han Kim's novel, "The Stone Home," is a vivid expose of the state-sanctioned reformatory system of the 1980's in Korea. Claims that its goal is to rehabilitate and reform its citizens are strikingly similar to the claims for favoring Indian Boarding Schools in the United States. The novel alternates timelines between the 1980's and 2011. The story is told from the alternating perspective of two characters; Eunju, who has been taken from the streets with her mother, and Sangchul, who has been captured with his brother. The reader's attention is captured quickly in the opening pages of the novel as Eunju
…more opens her front door to find a stranger with a knife that Eunju instantly recognizes in her hands. The young woman has been sent by her dying father to learn the story of her birth from Eunju, who seems not pleased at having been given this task. Eunju's story is very clear throughout her telling. Sangchul's, on the other hand, is sometimes confusing. We see some jealousy toward his brother and much guilt over the manner of his brother's death. These haunt him over the course of the novel and his paranoia over what he thinks he may or may not have done is hard to follow sometimes. Kim's prose is almost lyrical at times and her depiction of the reformatory system in Korea is violent and disturbing. I found the book quite enlightening about a period of history of was unaware. (less)
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