You finish it humbled, not by grandeur, but by clarity: a writer, a country, and the words that made them both.
Few books manage to shift both personal perspective and institutional conversation. This is exhaustively researched and sharply written.
It does precisely what every good overview of a society’s story should — it challenges, it expands, and it doesn’t give easy answers.
Shriver balances sharp humour with serious critique, managing to make you laugh one moment and squirm the next.
Sometimes powerful books aren’t the loudest. Kim Ji-young, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-joo is one of those: slim in size, but enormous in impact.