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5 verk 199 medlemmar 14 recensioner

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I had heard about the Comfort Women who were abducted into forced prostitution by the Japanese army during WWII although only in the context of the Japanese occupation of China, so I was unaware that a huge number of Korean women were also enslaved. Therefore, the book was educational in that respect and also in the reasons for the Korean War and why the country is split to the present day. The way the whole issue was covered up to avoid political or trade conflicts with Japan after the war is also disgraceful, and this was portrayed in the more recent parts of the main character's story.

Where I'm not so keen on the book is the emphasis on grisly descriptions of violence against women rather than on the characters of the women and how they survive and, in some cases, support each other. The attitudes of the Geishas is also left unexplored; they seem callous towards the slaves because they are not Japanese. It isn't clear exactly what role they performed given that most of the 'servicing' was done by the prisoners: mainly, they just seem to sit around watching. It also didn't quite gell that this is written by a man from the West whose only connection to Korea is that he adopted a child from the country.

The emphasis on the comb and its meaning is also rather odd, serving to make the main character artificially special rather than representative of the women who suffered. The present day framing only serves to make it less credible that the character can recall sixty year old events in such minute detail, and I found those present day parts to be much weaker. Her granddaughter isn't really developed as a character and it isn't convincing that her adoptive father would let her go off alone in a foreign country to meet a woman who claimed to be her grandmother given the real life instances of abduction and trafficking. Due to these considerations, I can only rate this as a 3 star read and hope that a book on the subject will be written one day by someone with a Korean ethnic and cultural background.
… (mer)
 
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kitsune_reader | 12 andra recensioner | Nov 23, 2023 |
This book is historical fiction of the life of a "comfort woman," a euphemism for a sex slave, to the Japanese military during WWII. The main character tells her story to her granddaughter, who had been adopted at birth by an American family, and had travelled to Korea to seek her birth mother. I read it quickly, and found it compelling. I wondered if a grandmother would tell her story in such detail to her granddaughter, but dismissed it as a plot device. I had known of the existence of these women but had never internalized that it meant forced sexual slavery for many thousands of Asian women. I also learned a bit about Korean history. As you may expect from the subject matter, this book is not for children or for anyone triggered by descriptions of rape or battery.… (mer)
 
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Castlelass | 12 andra recensioner | Oct 30, 2022 |
Gone With The Kimchi. This book has the depth and emotion of Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind, but it is set beginning in 1930s Korea and continuing through the major events of the Korean people from then to now. Never overly graphic, yet conveying the appropriate gravitas regardless, this book highlights so many of the horrors of the Imperial Japanese government during this period - and how being a part of it came to haunt one (fictional) man. Ultimately a story of undying love and an undying belief that we are all truly one people, this is a book that cannot be missed. And if you happen to read Jeremy Robinson's Island 731 before or after, you'll have an even better sense of the true tragedy conveyed in this tale. Very much recommended.… (mer)
 
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BookAnonJeff | Jul 11, 2021 |
Twenty years ago, Anna was born in Korea and adopted by an American couple. Upon the death of her adoptive mother, Anna travels to Korea to meet her birth mother. Instead, she meets her maternal grandmother, who tells Anna her own difficult story as well as the story of Anna's birth mother's life and death.

When the book starts, Anna is the narrator, and she speaks to the audience in a young, conversational tone. Then the flashback begins, and the past is revealed through Anna's grandmother's voice, which gives the writing a smoother, more formal tone that made it easier for me to lose myself in the story.

This isn't a book for the faint of heart. These girls were called "comfort women"--a euphemism for sex slaves, and they suffered horribly at the hands of their captors. I felt my stomach knot up at times, and I wanted to reach into the book and pull them out of their pain. However, I do think the author was a bit heavy-handed at times when it just wasn't necessary to be that detailed. Truly, though, it's amazing how cruel humans can be, but also what humans can survive, as well.

At any rate, if you're looking for a book that's going to make you feel strong emotions, Daughters of the Dragon definitely will. This is a terrible piece of history being repeated right now in lands under ISIS control, and as hard as it to read about, it must be unimaginable to survive. Rape is still a weapon of war. I guess, no matter how terrible they are, some things never change.
… (mer)
 
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MadMaudie | 12 andra recensioner | Sep 5, 2020 |

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Statistik

Verk
5
Medlemmar
199
Popularitet
#110,457
Betyg
4.2
Recensioner
14
ISBN
61
Språk
1

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