The first book of the year for me is Saha by Choo Nam Joo. She is a korean writer who is known for her Kim Ji Young Born 1982 which was fairly a global phenomenon. Saha is one of her newest novel published in 2022 with Orwellian and Dystopian set which could bother our psyche and questioning the real meaning of freedom, identity, and our social hierarchies.
Set in a fictional place called Town, which simply a fishing village turned into a country known as Town. It is a mix of corporatocracy and plutocracy society where social hierarchy is used a tool to oppress its citizen. The citizenship of its country is divided into L, L2 and the Sahas who are non-citizens and live on the fringes of society. The Sahas are the marginalized individuals living in an apartment they called “Saha Mansion”. The story started to take its beginning when a doctor called Su is found dead. She was having a relationship with a saha called Do-Kyeong which raises even more suspicion behind her death. The whole story delves into Do-kyeong and other characters in the novel with their struggles, background stories and resilience against the oppression of the regime and the prejudice that comes as being simply an immigrant or a non-citizen.
With the cover that resembled the story of Sweet Home, it was a novel that taken me into an exploration of the what if Chaebols, the richest of South Korea actually govern a place. Just imagine Elon Musk being the president and an owner of a country with ministries that are faceless and hidden from the rest of the citizen. This novel serves as a critique to the South Korea’s huge corporate influence, housing crises as well as the economic inequality. It is not surprising given that Choo Nam Joo is known to write books that are reflecting and critiquing the South Korean’s society.
For those who are also taking extra interest in South Korean culture and society, the story reflected in the novel is not something new. It was a tone that is often portrayed across dystopian setting film and series all over. The way it presents the social and economic inequality wrapped in a thriller made the story even more intriguing that it would keep us on our toes.
I initially didn’t lay my eyes on this novel but because it was written by Choo Nam Jo, I was intrigued since her previous novel was such a good critique. In Saha, or Saha Mansion as translated locally here, it was such a story that I even spent time highlighting and re-read all over again even after finishing it.
It was a world that felt like slow burn an well-built. While I read the book in Bahasa Indonesia, I need to get its English copy as I felt like some words and idioms would have different meaning and interpretation in another language.
This book is for those who enjoys reading dystopian stories and for those intrigued with South Korean society and wanting to read the what if, chaebols and corporation runs a country.
 | 𝘔𝘢𝘤 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘢 & 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘳 . 𝘈 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨, 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯! 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘱𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘈 𝘳𝘦-𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰. |
Great review my friend! Saha sounds like an interesting book about power and inequality. I think I should check it out.
It's a great book for sure! I hope it's available online.
Alright then, will check for it, I hope I get it.
The idea of a country ruled by chaebols is really disturbing and relevant today. I will definitely add it to my reading list. thanks for the recommendation!
In South Korea, apparently it's a thing where these corporation rules. There are some ultra capitalistic society that could be headed that way. One corporation to rule them all haha
Just imagine Elon Musk being the president and an owner of a country with ministries that are faceless and hidden from the rest of the citizen.
Oh well this is definetely a juicy idea to think about. I think that the new corporation that rules the world is social media. It engulfs the creativity of the human spirit, making people consumers instead of creators
hahahaha right? I think it's going to be the problem down the line and South Korea's society and this story could be a warning tale. Imagine Elon Musk is having power over our social media, internet, power, and the way we move. He's not that far from that and it's something to think about for sure.
Isn't it strange how novels that had a science fiction plot become almost a reality? I think that we are not far from the novel actually and that can be a scary thought
You can tell it's an intriguing book because of the dystopian outline. South Korean culture has always caught my attention. Especially the fact of transformation by its economic model after the 1953 armistice.
The more I watch series, read documentaries and learn about their culture, it honestly is intriguing how they rose to power and belong to OECD countries. Their social system can be so rigid as well and even things like homosexuality and such can be a taboo in some areas. It's like they are society who accelerates faster but in terms of cultural norms, they're still pretty traditional. I hope you get the chance to read this book.
It is one of the most intriguing unknowns that every person who loves their culture wonders about. The indicators it has in the OECD is one of the best, plus its innovation system is the best, even on par with markets like Israel. One aspect that may have helped is the rigid culture and the way they conceptualize life and work. Homosexuality, being a single mother or a divorced woman is frowned upon.
I agree that it is a fast paced society, but as you argue they strongly retain the identity of their culture. It is something that few civilizations possess. Something that has always struck me is that there is civilization within the timeline of the transformation they have undergone. I look forward to reading it. : )
It's always a delight to find someone who shares the same tastes.
I’m intrigued by this review and hope to find an English version of the book as I’m really interested in South Korean story; its government and the society at large. Thanks for sharing. Have a good one
I hope you get the chance to look at this piece. Have you also read Kim Ji Young Born in 1982?
No I don’t think I’ve read any South Korean work. Now you’ve suggested I’ll check it out. I hope I find it on oceans pdf
This post has been manually curated by @steemflow from Indiaunited community. Join us on our Discord Server.
Do you know that you can earn a passive income by delegating to @indiaunited. We share more than 100 % of the curation rewards with the delegators in the form of IUC tokens. HP delegators and IUC token holders also get upto 20% additional vote weight.
Here are some handy links for delegations: 100HP, 250HP, 500HP, 1000HP.
100% of the rewards from this comment goes to the curator for their manual curation efforts. Please encourage the curator @steemflow by upvoting this comment and support the community by voting the posts made by @indiaunited.
@macchiata, you're rewarding 5 replies from this discussion thread.