Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum
A charming read and a breath of fresh air.
‘Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop’ is full of astute observations of a modern world that moves at an unnatural pace, and the effect of such a pace on individuals. It is about non-romantic relationships, as well as romantic relationships; community and belonging, as well as different life choices.
Filled with characters of all ages trying to shake off social prejudices and ideals, while finding a sense of self in a work and role-centric society. This novel deals with the difficult questions as well as more seemingly mundane ones, giving air-time to all of them like a very understanding and kind friend.
Centred around the comforting atmosphere of a coffee-scented bookshop and written with a soft narration that is entirely readable… I will always recommend this book.
The first read of The Solemniko Book Club
I decided to shortlist this book for the June/July read because of several factors:
It is modern and still relatively new
It is a book where ‘nothing really happened’ and there was no awful or traumatising content
It is about books!
It is set in and by a South Korean author (I’m trying to add more range to shortlists by including international authors and books which were not written in English)
In short: it is the kind of book that I did not have to worry about having NOT read. Some books that come up on these lists I may very well wish I had read before - since a review can only give so much information - but I had no such worries about this one. When it was voted as the June/July title for the book club I was not too surprised. A lot of people had told me it was actually already on their 'to-read’ list; and this was as good an excuse as any to actually read it. Sometimes when a book is popular or getting a lot of attention it doesn’t mean it’s good - but this one definitely deserves all of the accolades heading it’s way.
The Book
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Though perhaps I should not say that. Whenever a book is wildly popular I am always a little skeptical of how good it will actually be - and the reviews of this one on Goodreads were varied but many.
Some said it was too slow. Some said there was no storyline. Some said nothing happened. Other said they lost interest and it was too cosy.
To all of them I say: you missed the point of the book.
‘Welcome to the Hynam-dong Bookshop’ is an astute and accurate mirror of an average person’s life. Day in and day out, their struggles both internal and external, their relationships, their hopes and dreams and questions about direction. The characters were varied, in age and situation; they all struggled with something different be it what to pursue after school, whether to divorce or stay married, what the matter with their child is, how to keep a business running, to admit one’s true feelings or not etc. There was something that everyone reading this book can relate to, whether the age of the character is accurate to them or not.
This book also had the most relatable start of a romantic relationship that I have ever read and - thank Gods - it was not the main focus of the story. It is actually the first adult story I have read in a long time that focuses on friendship and community rather than romantic love; while some readers may feel lost without this all-too-familiar trope I found it a breath of fresh air.
There are themes of divorce, life choices, education and friendship as well as - of course - books and business. It is a clever book that brings the larger world into a microcosm which is understandable. It does deal specifically with social issues in South Korean society, but I feel that these issues can be found in countries around the world, so that is not by any means holding this book back from being internationally popular or read by an international audience.
The ending was lovely, and fitted very well with the format of the whole book. It was satisfying without being a complete conclusion to the story, leaving all of the characters in media res… as indeed we often leave friends in life.
Ratings
Readability || ****
{ Readability: is the book easy to read, does it have simple yet effective language that is accessible and does it have a good flow}
The book was easy to read with no difficult language. There were Korean endearments, as well as Korean characters - but these were either explained, easy to understand or easy to Google the meaning of. I finished the book very quickly and did not find any difficulty in doing so.
Structure || ****
I thought the storyline was well-written and the structure felt very organic. Having read the Author’s Note at the back this comes as no surprise considering Hwang Bo-Reum wrote it without a plan and let the characters introduce themselves and sort their own stories out, (a much better way of writing in my opinion with - as witnessed here - a more enjoyable book at the end of it ). The flow of the story was generally good although I did feel that the romantic relationship was introduced in a way that felt a bit jarring compared to the rest of the book - to be honest I did not feel that it was needed and the book would have been just as good without it.
Decadence || *****
This book was VERY decadent. I loved it, and will definitely be reading it annually. The plot, the characters, even the description of daily routines like cutting and eating fruit - everything was decadent, pleasant and enjoyable with a wonderful spattering of book and film recommendations throughout.
Review Accuracy || *
I did not find any of the reviews very accurate. In fact I think the majority I have read were either patronising towards the plot or totally missed the point of the book altogether. This book is charming, it is astute, it is sophisticated and deep, dealing with social issues entrenched in South Korean society but also wider more general issues that I feel are very applicable to individuals across the modern world no matter the country they live in.