Almond: A Heartfelt Novel and Poignant Tale of Resilience and Hope, Experience the Power of Friendship
A BTS fan favorite! A WALL STREET JOURNAL STORIES THAT CAN TAKE YOU ANYWHERE PICK * ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY'S STAY HOME AND READ PICK * SALON'S BEST AND BOLDEST * BUSTLE'S MOST ANTICIPATED
The Emissary meets The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime in this poignant and triumphant coming-of-age story about how love, friendship, and persistence can change a life forever.
This story is, in short, about a monster meeting another monster.
One of the monsters is me.
Yunjae was born with a brain condition called Alexithymia that makes it hard for him to feel emotions like fear or anger. He does not have friends—the two almond-shaped neurons located deep in his brain have seen to that—but his devoted mother and grandmother provide him with a safe and content life. Their little home above his mother’s used bookstore is decorated with colorful Post-it notes that remind him when to smile, when to say "thank you," and when to laugh.
Then on Christmas Eve—Yunjae’s sixteenth birthday—everything changes. A shocking act of random violence shatters his world, leaving him alone and on his own. Struggling to cope with his loss, Yunjae retreats into silent isolation, until troubled teenager Gon arrives at his school, and they develop a surprising, unlikely friendship.
As Yunjae begins to open his life to new people—including a girl at school—something slowly changes inside him. And when Gon suddenly finds his life at risk, Yunjae will have the chance to step outside of every comfort zone he has created to perhaps become the hero he never thought he would be.
Readers of Wonder by R.J. Palaccio and Ginny Moon by Benjamin Ludwig will appreciate this "resonant" story of finding connection that "gives Yunjae the courage to claim an entirely different story." (Booklist, starred review)
Translated from the Korean by Sandy Joosun Lee.
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Readers say *Almond* is a fast-paced, emotionally stirring novel with a unique protagonist whose unusual brain condition challenges conventional feeli...
Almond gira em torno da história de vida de Yunjae, que é um rapaz que nasceu com uma doença cerebral muito invulgar, denominada de Alexitimia. Alexitimia é um termo médico que diz respeito à marcante dificuldade em descrever emoções, sentimentos e sensações corporais. Fui pesquisar, e como gosto de palavras e da sua etimologia, tenho a dizer que esta palavra estranha provém do grego, onde A- indica ausência, -lexis é palavra e -timia, emoção. Assim, Yunjae não tem propriamente dificuldade em sentir, mas em expressar o que sente ou a associar essas sensações ao seu significado, como uma pessoa normal consegue fazê-lo. Um dos principais sintomas é a confusão entre sensações e sentimentos. Outro, reside na grande dificuldade em expressar os sentimentos através de palavras. E à medida que a história se desenrola, é possível perceber como a autora tenta retratar este tipo de condição como algo muito pouco compreendido na sociedade, podendo levar ao preconceito e à discriminação. Yunjae foi injustamente rotulado como “monstro”, tendo sido excluído entre os seus amigos pela sua incapacidade de sentir da mesma forma que a maioria das pessoas sente. Mas Yunjae sente, e é engraçado como ele sente até muito, e vamos acompanhando o processo da sua adolescência que é quando existem experiências e sensações novas, como por exemplo apaixonar-se pela primeira vez.
Podem ler mais no meu blog: https://sandradasilva.blogs.sapo.pt/como-estamos-na-epoca-da-colheita-das-33854
I really wanted to read it in the original Korean, so I recently reread the Korean and English versions side by side, alternating between each chapter, to notice any differences and to appreciate the story more deeply. I think the main character Yunjae’s narrative is a lot colder and emotionless in the original Korean, which makes more sense considering his condition. But the translator still did such a fantastic job at creating the English version of this extraordinary novel.
This story is about emotions, and the important human behaviors that stem from them, such as friendship, empathy, and compassion. It is also largely about the necessity of love in a child’s life. The colorful cover can be misleading, because it’s a shockingly dark and violent story. Somehow this short book is still able to address a plethora of important topics, including single motherhood, school violence, puberty and coming of age, child kidnapping, poverty, and mental health.
ALMOND shot to extreme popularity after members of BTS were seen reading it. It’s really impressive for a debut novel, and thanks to BTS there’s practically a whole new generation of very enthusiastic readers and fans of K-literature! Although it’s not the happiest portrayal of Korean society, I’m still so amazed and grateful for the boom in interest in Korean literature, specifically translated fiction, thanks to this book (and also thanks to BTS
been for that ending. The writing is beautiful and
Yunjae's journey engrossing but tropes where
characters are miracously healed from their disorders
are not my thing at all.
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