... a perfect slice of Koreana; a touching, somewhat depressive narrative full of nostalgia that shows the underbelly of a nation through the life of characters inhabiting society's bottom rung ... suffused with a subdued sense of nihilism that comes from being poor and having no viable options ... Sok-yong brilliantly shows the ennui young South Koreans are forced into by the system ... a superb look at South Korea filtered through a variety of lenses ... By offering such an array of narratives and framing them within the politics and culture of Korea, Sok-yong proves once again that fiction can be the best way to tell devastating truths.
A regretful, bittersweet exploration of modernisation, which picks away at the country’s past and present, slowly becoming a moving reflection of what we gain and lose as individuals and a society in the name of progress ... Sora Kim-Russell’s translation becomes a real virtue as the build-up of anecdotes and memories from Minwoo’s past gradually layer into a powerful yet modest and profound meditation on personal responsibility and what a fulfilled life might mean ... never trips over into nostalgia or sentimentality ... [Sok-yong's] writing is laced with the hard-won wisdom of a man with plenty left to say.
... indelibly, adroitly anglophoned by Seoul-based Kim-Russell ... A piercing modern tale about all we can never know about our loved ones and ourselves.
