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Sonia F. (Freehold, NJ)
Heartbreak and resilience in The Stone Home
Historical fiction lovers like me will rush to discover more about reformatory institutions in South Korea in the years leading to the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
In this novel, Crystal Hana Kim emotionally reveals a dark chapter in South Korea history; state sanctioned brutality, abuses, coverups, and just plain human rights abuse.
" It is only by knowing our past that we can guard against the future ".
This searing novel shows humanity's capacity for evil. But some can be evil and some can be good as discovered in these pages ; a mother and daughter bond and two brothers whose bond is put to the ultimate test.
Through
…more alternating time lines and inmates point of view , we meet Eunju in 2011 who opens her door to a woman bearing a familiar knife that she remembered from 30 years ago.
In 1980 Eunju and her mother are homeless, living on the street and is scooped up by the police and sent to the reformatory center.
The characters in this novel are determined and resilient. Kim deserves praise for this exploration of violence and how if we as humans want to we can rise from the ashes, the brokenness, the darkness into light with acts of friendship and devotion.
Thrilling and tragic —this is not a novel for the faint of heart but I hasten to add, human rights atrocities should not be ignored in order for these horrific events never be repeated. (less)The Stone Home takes us into a world that few of us could imagine. We are introduced to a relationship between mother and daughter that feels familiar and familial, and then we are taken to a place that brings our their best and worst selves. We know of concentration camps with warring nations, but to see a place like The Stone Home being administered by their own government is maddening and frightening. The stories introduces to two main voices, but so many more personalities, with twists and turns - some foreseeable and the most important one and unfolding surprise. This is a perfect book club read that will
…more stimulate a great amount of discussion. (less)It is hard for us to fathom the existance of such institutions, past or present. How does one find the strength to survive? Eunju and her mother, Umma, are imprisoned in a Korean reformatory which is actually a place of forced labor and terror. A fellow prisoner, a young man named Sangchul, is captured with his brother. We witness him do things to others, just to survive. Loyalties are tested and betrayals common. We see Eunju find strength against all odds. Then there is Narae, a living memory from the past. She's come to Eunju to learn the story of her past, and find out who she really is. The story is
…more definitely thought-provoking and a deep read. (less)I wouldn't say this is for everyone—it is grim and brutal throughout. That said, I kept reading to the end because Kim was unspooling a story that I wanted to finish. This is historical fiction about a time and place in South Korea that I have not explored, and I am glad to have some exposure.
I will not be looking for more about these "reformatory centers."
That said, I found Kim's writing carried me along. If this was written by a less skillful writer, I would not have finished the book. This is what earned the 4 stars.
Randi H. (Bronx, NY)
Difficult but worthwhile
The Stone Home is a difficult read about an unknown (to me at least) piece of history. A story about a mother and daughter in South Korea who are swept up by authorities attempting to "clean" the country of undesirables, mostly the poor and those on the fringes of society. Kept locked up against their will, The Stone Home tells of their life in a reform facility and the people with whom they come in contact and eventually form a family of sorts. The book does not gloss over the violence in this life, making it at times a difficult read. However, overall I was grateful to learn about this overlooked historical event.
Linda H. (Manitowoc, WI)
The Stone Home Was Not a Home
Crystal Hana Kim's historical novel, The Stone Home, introduces us to a Korean "Home" for a wide range of people: men housed in the Big House and women, housed in the Little House. In 1980, they have been taken off the street for a wide range of reasons. Most have been homeless. It was a Korean state -sanctioned reformatory, not a home in the usual sense, to make them "good citizens." They weren't criminal in the usual sense, just living outside the norms. Kim reveals the reality slowly.
It's Eunju and Sanchul who narrate the novel, and their fates are connected in unexpected ways.
The novel begins with a young
…more woman, Narae, knocking on Eunju's door, holding a knife. She believes she has found her mother, Eunju.
Her father, Sanchul, has died, and he told her to take the knife to Eunju. Eunju was shocked, but she decides to tell Narae how she and her father meet, and under what painful circumstances.
Eunju was taken with her mother from the street to this place where they would be "reformed." Sanchul was "arrested" on the street with his brother. Both are young when they found themselves at Stone Home, and it took a while for them to understand the perimeters of their spaces.
They were closely supervised by other inmates who had been promoted to Keepers. The Keepers were supervised by Teacher, a man without mercy, should they fail in their assignments of getting the most work out of the group they supervised. Ironically, The Chapel was the name of the place where the offenders were punished. The priest was also the Warden. Ugly public punishments were one of the methods of control.
The women were in a gentler environment, and they were responsible for cooking for the institution. They ate last, but at least they had some more freedom. The boys were forced to provide large quotas of products for the state, and the violence they endured was memorable.
The results of the environment were lasting. Narae wants to expose The Stone House but Eunju is more hesitant. It would mean dredging the whole painful experience again.
It's not an easy read by any means, but exposing this reality is important lest we forget what we have done and still do to one another. Readers interested in social justice and government mistreatment of its citizens would appreciate it.
I did wish for a glossary of Korean words in the back. (less)
Jill
The Stone Home
Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow Books for the ARC ebook.
A coming-of-age, historical fiction/family drama with timelines of 1980’s and 2011. Inspired by real events told through two perspectives and timelines.
I had a difficult time trying to read this. I felt things were disjointed at times and found I had to keep going back and rereading. I would try looking up many of the Korean words and couldn’t find definitions. Many baffling metaphors in her writing style. This wasn’t a good fit for me, but many others did enjoy this book.
A dark time in South Korea’s history. Government wanted all vagrants,
…more beggars, and other people sent to detention centers to rehabilitate them to be returned to society. They were physically abused as well as psychologically abused. Many died or disappeared.
I never felt connected to any character even with all the abuse that was happening.
I would consider reading another book by the author. (less)I found The Stone Home a hard book to get into, with its undefined Korean words, disconnected events, several names and titles for a number of characters, and magical realism that, to me, often felt clumsy and forced.
All that said, this is an important book. The Stone Home is based on a historical phenomenon that I had never before encountered: South Korean state-sanctioned communities, utilized in the 1970's and 1980's, and billed as rehabilitation centers. In truth, they more closely resembled concentration camps.
What happens in the book is appalling, some of it stomach-turning. But these places did exist. And
…more as I googled for more information, I read about the Brothers' Home, which featured slave labor, torture, and rape.
In conclusion, I thank Crystal Hana Kim for opening my eyes to a part of history I had never known. I only wish her book had been less of a struggle to read. (less)
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