Almond by Won Pyung Son is a novel about the life of a young boy named Yunjae who has a special condition called alexithymia because he has smaller amygdalas (or “almonds”) than normal people. He is not able to feel intense emotions, including happiness, anger, and especially fear. Yunjae’s life is peaceful; his mother and grandmother all take care of him. However, on Christmas Eve and Yunjae’s birthday, his mom and grandmother are stabbed by a strange man, leaving Yunjae losing both pillars of his life support. As he learns to stabilize his life again, Yunjae encounters new people and events that force him to change his life view.
I don't really remember how I picked up this book. Maybe it because I wanted to connect more with Korea as I did with Han Kang and Kim Ji Young Born 1982, or maybe it was because I had seen a photo of BTS members holding the book, but when I picked up the book in Barnes and Nobles, it felt that it was waiting for me at the book shelf. I don't regret buying the book that day and I wish I could rediscover it once again.
Although the book is very simple, I really loved the simplicity and unique perspective of the story. Yunjae’s struggles, although simple and emotionless, left me hoping more for Yunjae. When he bonds with his classmate, the rowdy, bad-boy Gon, there is a pleasant and complicated dynamic between two foil characters. It was touching seeing Gon struggle in his humanity with his vulnerability as well as see Yunjae grow with a greater and more thoughtful person on the experiences of other people. And even though the ending seemed a little unrealistic, Yunjae achieved the meaning of why humans live.
In the future, I do want to read the book in Korean. Although the translation was straightforward and easy to understand, I felt that the style of the English translation lost the nuance that was in the Korean version. I could sort of guess what some phrases were in Korean, but some of the character and distinct color in the dialogue and thoughts seemed a bit hazy. When I picked up the Almond, I took Deborah Smith’s translation of Han Kang’s work for granted and thought that the English would be as magical as Human Acts and The Vegetarian (sorry!). To read the book in Korean, though, will require more training and mental perseverance (aka asking my mom about vocabulary on every single page of the book).
Overall, I would recommend the book to anyone who wants a simple but heartfelt read. It only took me a few hours to finish the book, so I believe many would truly enjoy it on a good beach day or a day off.
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