When We Fell Apart
Autor Soon Wileyen Limba Engleză Paperback – 18 apr 2023
Descoperim în When We Fell Apart o interogație dureroasă despre cât de mult putem cunoaște cu adevărat persoana de lângă noi. Miza acestui debut semnat de Soon Wiley nu este doar elucidarea unei morți suspecte, ci explorarea prăpastiei dintre identitatea publică și cea privată. Când Yu-jin, o studentă aparent împlinită din Seul, este găsită moartă, partenerul ei, Min, refuză să accepte verdictul poliției. Călătoria lui prin cotloanele ascunse ale vieții iubitei sale devine, treptat, o oglindă a propriei sale înstrăinări. Suntem de părere că forța acestui roman rezidă în portretizarea lui Min ca un „outsider” permanent: prea coreean pentru America în care a crescut și prea american pentru Coreea unde încearcă să își găsească rostul. Observăm cum autorul folosește structura unui mister pentru a diseca presiunile sociale imense ale Coreei contemporane — de la autoritatea parentală exercitată de tatăl lui Yu-jin, un oficial guvernamental influent, până la dinamica toxică a prieteniilor de fațadă. Ritmul narativ amintește de cel din Searching for Sylvie Lee de Jean Kwok, unde dispariția unei figuri „perfecte” declanșează prăbușirea unor mituri familiale, dar structura lui Wiley este mult mai ancorată în dualitatea culturală a experienței birasiale. Tonul este unul melancolic și atmosferic, capturând perfect singurătatea celor care nu se simt acasă nicăieri.
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Specificații
ISBN-10: 0593185161
Pagini: 384
Dimensiuni: 133 x 202 x 21 mm
Greutate: 0.26 kg
Editura: Penguin Publishing Group
De ce să citești această carte
Recomandăm această carte cititorilor care apreciază proza psihologică ce explorează tema apartenenței. Este o lectură esențială pentru cei interesați de cultura coreeană contemporană, dincolo de strălucirea pop, oferind o privire onestă asupra conflictului dintre tradiție și libertatea individuală. Veți câștiga o perspectivă nuanțată asupra modului în care secretele pot proteja, dar și distruge o relație.
Despre autor
Soon Wiley este un scriitor contemporan a cărui voce s-a impus prin explorarea identității birasiale și a experienței diasporei. Cu un background care împletește cultura americană și cea coreeană, Wiley aduce în literatura de limbă engleză o sensibilitate aparte față de nuanțele culturale ale Seulului. Romanul său de debut a fost primit cu entuziasm de critici, fiind lăudat pentru capacitatea de a îmbina suspansul cu observația socială fină. Stilul său liric și empatic reflectă propria căutare a unui sens al apartenenței într-o lume globalizată.
Notă biografică
Descriere scurtă
A profoundly moving and suspenseful drama that untangles the complicated ties that bind families together—or break them apart—as a young Korean American man’s search for answers about his girlfriend’s mysterious death becomes a soul-searching journey into his own bi-cultural identity
When the Seoul police inform Min that his girlfriend Yu-jin has committed suicide, he’s sure it can't be true. She was successful, ambitious, happy, just on the cusp of graduating from university and claiming the future she’d always dreamed of.
Min, on the other hand, born to an American father and Korean mother, has never felt quite the same certainty as Yu-jin about his life’s path. After growing up in California, where he always felt “too Korean” to fit in, he’s moved to Seoul in the hope that exploring his Korean heritage will help him find a sense of purpose. And when he meets Yu-jin, little does he know that their carefree relationship will set off a chain of events with tragic consequences for them both.
Devastated by Yu-jin’s death, Min throws himself into finding out why she could have secretly wanted to die. Or did she? With a controlling and powerful government official father, and a fraught friendship with her alluring and destructive roommate So-ra, Yu-jin’s life was much more complex than she chose to reveal to Min. And the more he learns about her, the more he begins to doubt he ever really knew her at all.
As Yu-jin’s story—a fraught exploration of selfhood, coming-of-age, and family expectations—collides with Min’s, the result is an engrossing page-turner that poses powerful, urgent questions about cultural identity, family bonds, secrets, and what it truly means to belong.
"Transportive and poignant." —Susie Yang
"Spellbinding." —Jamie Ford
"A young writer to watch." —Jess Walter
"Unforgettable." —Abi Daré
"The most compelling debut novel I've read in years." —Alexander Chee
"Heart-stopping and exquisitely plotted." —Patricia Engel
"Will stay with me for a long time."—Angie Kim
"Gorgeous." —Julia Phillips
Recenzii
‘Propulsive and deeply felt, Soon Wiley's phenomenal debut When We Fell Apart takes on the friction between family bonds, cultural expectations, and personal desires in a way that feels both urgent and intensely real... truly unforgettable’ Abi Daré, New York Times bestselling author of The Girl with the Louding Voice
‘When We Fell Apart is a marvellous debut novel, moving and suspenseful, a reminder that the greatest mysteries are those of being and belonging. Soon Wiley is a young writer to watch’ Jess Walter, New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Ruins and The Cold Millions
‘A lyrical exposition on what it’s like to be biracial, with one foot firmly planted in two distinct worlds, never completely fitting in, but capable of seeing what others do not. A lonely, heartbreaking, spellbinding story of love, self-discovery, and belonging’ Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
‘Melancholic, atmospheric, and consistently surprising. Like Norwegian Wood, there is a minor key running through this love story played out on the frenetic and lonely streets of Seoul. When We Fell Apart is a transportive and poignant debut’ Susie Yang, New York Times bestselling author of White Ivy
‘When We Fell Apart explores the tender and chaotic intersections of culture, community and the search for self. Rich with philosophical nuance, heart-stopping and exquisitely plotted, this is a novel to get lost in’ Patricia Engel, New York Times bestselling author of Infinite Country
‘This gorgeous debut… explores youth, sexuality, and the freedom to choose your own destiny in a world that keeps insisting on who you should be and how you should love’ Julia Phillips, author of Disappearing Earth
‘A masterful plot that seems to move in two directions at the same time, towards the inexorable, stunning ending – unforgettable’ Alexander Chee, author of Queen of the Night and How to Write an Autobiographical Novel
‘In this gorgeous, poignant meditation on identity, love, and desire, Soon Wiley illuminates the liminal state of being biracial, of belonging but not, of desperately wanting the world to let you be as you are’ Angie Kim, author of Miracle Creek
‘When We Fell Apart dazzles like neon on a rainy night. In lush, perfectly-tuned prose, Soon Wiley leads readers around dark corners and into the heart of a kaleidoscopic city… a magical debut’ Amy Gentry, author of Good as Gone and Bad Habits
‘I loved this novel! An absorbing mystery and poignant love story, When We Fell Apart is profoundly moving, beautifully written and utterly compelling’ Susan Elliot Wright, author of All You Ever Wanted
‘Wiley’s debut novel is poignant and powerful and will leave readers questioning who is and isn't awarded the freedom to be their truest self’ Shondaland
‘Wiley has masterfully woven a story where his two protagonists come from very different experiences and places, yet share the struggle to carve out their own identities. Set in modern-day Seoul, it’s also a love letter to Korea itself, but one that doesn’t pull any punches’ The Asian American Podcast
‘Wiley tells parallel stories in alternating, brief chapters – Min's and Yu-jin's, one a roller-coaster of suspense and suspicion, the other a gradual awakening’ USA Today
‘Emotional and gripping’ Hello
‘Propulsive’ Good Housekeeping
‘Wiley’s tale is a knockout, its assured narrative ebbing and flowing with grace while painting a haunting and anguished portrait of youth in all its quiet desperation’ Booklist
Descriere
A profoundly moving and suspenseful drama surrounding a young Korean American man’s search for answers about his girlfriend’s mysterious death - for fans of Celeste Ng's Everything I Never Told You and Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller.