It’s winter in Sokcho, a tourist town on the border between South and North Korea. The cold slows everything down. Bodies are red and raw, the fish turn venomous, beyond the beach guns point out from the North’s watchtowers. A young French Korean woman works as a receptionist in a tired guesthouse. One evening, an unexpected guest arrives: a French cartoonist determined to find inspiration in this desolate landscape.
The two form an uneasy relationship. When she agrees to accompany him on trips to discover an ‘authentic’ Korea, they visit snowy mountaintops and dramatic waterfalls, and cross into North Korea. But he takes no interest in the Sokcho she knows – the gaudy neon lights, the scars of war, the fish market where her mother works. As she’s pulled into his vision and taken in by his drawings, she strikes upon a way to finally be seen.
An exquisitely-crafted debut, which won the Prix Robert Walser, Winter in Sokcho is a novel about shared identities and divided selves, vision and blindness, intimacy and alienation. Elisa Shua Duspain’s voice is distinctive and unmistakable.
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Out of curiosity, could be either due to craft or sheer enjoyment, what are your top favourite books?
Okay lowkey I wrote this post & then tumblr ATE it so here it is a little late!! Rachel's All Time Favourite Books (in no particular order):
Cleanness - Garth Greenwell (litfic, ok but this is actually my fave book & today Garth Greenwell lowkey Acknowledged My Presence SOOOO!!! I've read this 4x since August, it's a craft masterpiece)
What Belongs to You - Garth Greenwell (litfic, the book that comes before Cleanness, I'm not as attached to it but it's still FANTASTIC)
A Hundred Lovers - Richie Hofmann (poetry, my fave poetry collection of all time, ALL my epigraphs come from here)
We Do What We Do in the Dark - Michelle Hart (litfic, AMAZINGGG character study & peak into relationship dynamics)
Big Shadow - Marta Balcewicz (litfic, one of my fave books of all time, FANTASTIC teen protagonist in this bildungsroman)
Physical - Andrew McMillan (poetry, AMAZING queer poetry, lots of epigraphs from here too)
Winter in Sokcho - Elisa Shua Desapin (litfic, probably the best start-to-finish narrative I've ever read in my whole life)
If An Egyptian Cannot Speak English - Noor Naga (litfic, THE BEST litfic ending I've ever read, it's UNEXPECTED and something to be STUDIED)
Undoing Hours - Selina Boan (poetry, I feel so grateful for this book as it really helped me reconnect to my Indigenous identity. I met Selina after a LIFE-CHANGING reading & chatted with her, & that conversation drove me to learn more about my family!)
Bitterblue - Kristen Cashore (YA fantasy, this is LITERARY FICTION TO ME I've re-read this like 6 times)
Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo (YA fantasy, really fun ensemble cast, THE AUDIOBOOK SLAYS)
Intimations - Alexandra Kleeman (litfic short story collection, some of THE BEST short story collections, my work feels adjacent to this dare I say??)
The Marionettes - Katie Wismer (NA paranormal, this series is sooo tropey and fun like I CAN'T WAIT for the last book, I did like book 2 best but this is the first one & I loved it too!)
Demi-Gods - Eliza Robertson (litfic, this was my fave novel before Cleanness & Eliza is my fave writer & from my alma mater! Read my interview with her!)
Monkey Beach - Eden Robinson (litfic, I read this book in a DAY, it's the most impactful novel I've ever read, she's also from my alma mater!)
How to Pronounce Knife - Souvankham Thammavongsa (litfic short story collection, my fave short story collection OF ALL TIME I learned so MUCH about short stories from this!)
The Girls - Emma Cline (litfic, this was MY writing bible for so long lol, I actually ethically hate how this book treats real murders but Emma Cline is an incredible writer & the best parts of this book are the ones that don't casually repurpose history... I have thoughts...)
History of Wolves - Emily Fridlund (litfic, I need to re-read this NOW but wow, the first half of this is chilling...)
Past Lives, Future Bodies - K-Ming Chang (poetry, not sure if you can still buy this but this is one of THE best collections I own)
The Darkest Minds - Alexandra Bracken (YA dystopian, I love AB SOOO MUCH even now hehe, this was a childhood fave & Fostered is a ripoff so <3)
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