{"product_id":"friend-9780231195614","title":"Friend","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaek Nam-nyong’s \u003ci\u003eFriend\u003c\/i\u003e is a tale of marital intrigue, abuse, and divorce in North Korea. This groundbreaking translation of one of North Korea’s most popular writers offers English-language readers a page-turner full of psychological tension as well as a revealing portrait of a society that is typically seen as closed to the outside world.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNamed a Best Book of World Literature of 2020 * Library Journal *\u003cbr\u003eIn its candid examination of domestic conflict and female ambition, \u003ci\u003eFriend\u003c\/i\u003e unsettles expectations of North Korean life . . . [it] offers a beguiling introduction to the everyday, with none of the rockets and military parades that the words “North Korea” often bring to mind. * New York Times Book Review *\u003cbr\u003eThis tender, witty novel is indeed a page-turner. Neither a searing indictment of the regime nor a propaganda screed,\u003ci\u003e Friend\u003c\/i\u003e illuminates the personal rather than the political, the daily trials of workplace conflicts and marital woes. In doing so, it sharpens our ability to see the fragility and messy humanity in lives too often obscured by state agendas. * The Guardian *\u003cbr\u003eWith still so little known about the North Korean people beyond mostly tortuous escapee narratives, Kim enables a rare, welcome glimpse into 'a messy world of human emotions and relationships that is at once entirely alien and eerily familiar.' * Booklist, Starred Review *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eFriend\u003c\/i\u003e is both a good read and a rare inside look into North Korean culture. * Book Riot *\u003cbr\u003eA layered story of family obligations stretched to breaking point . . . Reading \u003ci\u003eFriend\u003c\/i\u003e is like sifting through a black box for clues into a sealed culture. * Times Literary Supplement *\u003cbr\u003ePaek weaves themes of greed, corruption, and self-sacrifice into a subtle, restrained narrative . . . A rare glimpse into an insular world. * Kirkus Reviews *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eFriend\u003c\/i\u003e offers an astute psychological exploration of marriage, the work that goes into such a partnership, and the many ways it could fail us. * Minneapolis Star Tribune *\u003cbr\u003eReading \u003ci\u003eFriend\u003c\/i\u003e is like meeting a new person when you’re blindfolded. You touch their face, tracing their features with your fingertips. You can’t quite picture them, but you feel the warmth and texture of their skin. * New York Review of Books *\u003cbr\u003ePaek's focus on individuals and family, and his willingness to acknowledge failings, make for a novel that manages to be engaging, and even quite moving, even beyond its context. * Complete Review *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eFriend\u003c\/i\u003e offers a fascinating glimpse into the realities of North Korean life. It reminds us that the people of that country may face hardships, but they also experience the same domestic challenges that afflict humans everywhere. * New York Journal of Books *\u003cbr\u003eA North Korean version of \u003ci\u003eMarriage Story\u003c\/i\u003e. . .This novel is so fascinating. * Paperback Paris *\u003cbr\u003eThe language in\u003ci\u003e Friend \u003c\/i\u003eis spare and unadorned and refreshingly clear. * CounterPunch *\u003cbr\u003e[This book] is fascinating for the demands it makes on readers. \u003ci\u003eFriend\u003c\/i\u003e is not a breezy work, though it’s extremely easy to read, and Kim’s translation is lucid and graceful. But not even the clarity of its narrative can make the workings of Paek Nam-nyong’s story seem close to the kind of novelistic story we are used to hearing and telling in English. . . Paek’s novel [is] the most “foreign” one to enter English in many years. * Mumbai Mirror *\u003cbr\u003eThe American publication of \u003ci\u003eFriend\u003c\/i\u003e is a monumental achievement and the novel, quite literally, is beyond compare. * Asia Media International *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eFriend\u003c\/i\u003e, in this able and very readable translation by Immanuel Kim, is a salutary antidote to the many tomes that purport to explain the DPRK. The North Korea of the novel is—like everywhere else—filled with real people . . . In North Korea, again like everywhere else, life can be a half-empty, half-full proposition. Of course, in our better moments, we know this, but it helps to be reminded. * Asian Review of Books *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eFriend\u003c\/i\u003e depicts daily life in North Korean society. The psychology of human relationships evoked in this fascinating novel shows that North Koreans, far from being brainwashed robots, are as fragile as people everywhere—that they too simply want to be happy together, and suffer intensely when things go wrong. -- Brother Anthony, Sogang University\u003cbr\u003eThe publication of Immanuel Kim’s painstaking translation of Paek Nam-nyong’s \u003ci\u003eFriend \u003c\/i\u003eis a significant event. It promises to shift the focus away from those texts that simply confirm our preconceived notions about the DPRK toward a subtler and more informed consideration of literary practices there. -- Travis Workman, University of Minnesota\u003cbr\u003eThis publication is welcome both in its own right and for the brief but informative afterword by the translator that gives an overview of North Korean literature. * London Korean Links *\u003cbr\u003eA well-drawn study of a society that is shut-off from the Western world but whose emotional troubles are universal. * 24stories *\u003cbr\u003eAn expert at storytelling and craft, Paek shows the family as a small unit that helps preserve the moral fabric of society. . .Readers may be surprised to see how much the characters and their preoccupations resemble novels from other countries, and throughout the book, the equality between genders is striking. * The Japan Times *\u003cbr\u003eThis is a rare find; a full, contemporary North Korean novel. . . The story itself is clever, with current topics, and modern, colloquial-sounding dialogue. * Korean Quarterly *\u003cbr\u003e[This] story transcends politics, social strictures and unwritten codes with its universal appeal. It can be done, a tale from out of North Korea whose joys and sufferings are readily recognisable. It is to the enormous credit of the author that he can duck and dive what one assumes was censorship of however limited a kind and yet not spoil his tale. * RTÉ *\u003cbr\u003e[In] its portrait of everyday existence, we catch glimpses of life outside of surveillance—squabbles, gossip, divorce. These characters might be under suspicion, and might live in fear, but \u003ci\u003eFriend\u003c\/i\u003e captures something more—most notably, people who are subject to the boredoms, pleasures, and frustrations of life. * Bookforum *\u003cbr\u003eIn reading \u003ci\u003eFriend\u003c\/i\u003e, one identifies with its characters and such empathy inoculates readers from ‘us versus them’ refrains. * S\/N Korean Humanities *\u003cbr\u003ePaek Nam-nyong reminds us that the local and interpersonal elements of our lives are just as real as the ideological and political, and certainly tell more about what it means to be human. * Full Stop *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eFriend\u003c\/i\u003e is an important novel for all of us outside of North Korea. It not only provides an insider glimpse into a country we have limited access to, but it also reminds us that everyone is human and that these people are deserving of our compassion. * Humankind Zine *\u003cbr\u003eA compassionate account of characters caught up in marital strife and disappointed by their spouses . . . this novel’s power is in its depiction of ordinary lives. * The Economist *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eFriend\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfterword","brand":"Columbia University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48864261079383,"sku":"9780231195614","price":15.29,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780231195614.jpg?v=1722271121","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/friend-9780231195614","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}