Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982

by Cho Nam-joo

Hardcover

Published Aug. 23, 2020 by Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W. W. Norton & Company.

ISBN:: 978-1-63149-670-7

(23 reviews)

A fierce international bestseller that launched Korea’s new feminist movement, Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 follows one woman’s psychic deterioration in the face of rigid misogyny.

Truly, flawlessly, completely, she became that person.

In a small, tidy apartment on the outskirts of the frenzied metropolis of Seoul lives Kim Jiyoung. A thirtysomething-year-old “millennial everywoman,” she has recently left her white-collar desk job—in order to care for her newborn daughter full-time—as so many Korean women are expected to do. But she quickly begins to exhibit strange symptoms that alarm her husband, parents, and in-laws: Jiyoung impersonates the voices of other women—alive and even dead, both known and unknown to her. As she plunges deeper into this psychosis, her discomfited husband sends her to a male psychiatrist.

A fierce international bestseller that launched Korea’s new feminist movement, Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 follows one woman’s psychic deterioration in the face of rigid misogyny.

Truly, flawlessly, completely, she became that person.

In a chilling, eerily truncated third-person voice, Jiyoung’s entire life is recounted to the psychiatrist—a narrative infused with disparate elements of frustration, perseverance, and submission. Born in 1982 and given the most common name for Korean baby girls, Jiyoung quickly becomes the unfavored sister to her princeling little brother. Always, her behavior is policed by the male figures around her—from the elementary school teachers who enforce strict uniforms for girls, to the coworkers who install a hidden camera in the women’s restroom and post their photos online. In her father’s eyes, it is Jiyoung’s fault that men harass her late at night; in her husband’s eyes, it is Jiyoung’s duty to forsake her career to take care of him and their child—to put them first.

Jiyoung’s painfully common life is juxtaposed against a backdrop of an advancing Korea, as it abandons “family planning” birth control policies and passes new legislation against gender discrimination. But can her doctor flawlessly, completely cure her, or even discover what truly ails her?

Rendered in minimalist yet lacerating prose, Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 sits at the center of our global #MeToo movement and announces the arrival of writer of international significance.

5 editions

Lily reviewed Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-joo

Review of 'Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Honestly this was a pretty difficult read - it was infuriating which I'm sure was intended but didn't make for an enjoyable reading experience. However I recognise the value it has in bringing everyday sexism to light, even though in my case it was preaching to the choir. The end was pretty gut-wrenching and left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. Again I realise this was intended, but that still doesn't make it fun! All in all it was 3.5 stars for me.

Erin reviewed Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-joo

Review of 'Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

This is one where I can see its significance in Korea - given the description here on Goodreads - so I went with 3 stars. But it was a very meh reading experience.

This is largely a litany of sexist experiences the average woman in Korea is likely to have. It’s very didactic - intentionally so, but that makes it a less interesting read.

I much prefer reads that are subtler with their message. A book that is similar in style but more effective (to me) is The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani. It has a similar restrained style with a lot of summarizing in between snippets of scenes. But it handles its themes of race, gender, and class in less on the nose ways. It’s also just more interesting overall as a narrative because there’s a mystery, a story!

I think Cho probably felt the need to be super …

bab reviewed Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-joo

Review of 'Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

The life of Kim Jiyoung as she faces constant misogyny, weirdly it cites many of the examples it uses.

hanghuhn reviewed Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-joo

Review of 'Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982' on 'Storygraph'

3 stars

I don't know anything about Asian, especially Korean culture. I knew that women are treated differently, but I didn't know to what extend. It's not that misogyny, sexual harassment etc. at the work place (or in other situations) doesn't exist in the western world. Or that some men view women as less equal or that women don't get paid as much as men even if they do the same job. But in my world family members aren't sad or disappointed if the newborn is a girl (at least I've never experienced it or heard of it in the same amount I read in the book; it still is possible. In every culture there are people with old views). So, what I meant to say is, that the book is an eye-opener and discusses a very important topic.
Why the three stars then? The writing style is what bothers me. It's felt like a non-fiction (well, I think it's not entirely fiction, because the topic is real and not imagined). But every now and then there are facts about women or society in Korea which were cited with footnotes, like in an academic article. It felt out of place for me.
At the end, I didn't know what exactly happened to Jiyoung. The book left me confused.

Axl reviewed Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-joo

Review of 'Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

It's a short fiction novel, that reads like a biography about a Korean woman's experiences with society's treatment of women, mysoginistic and sexist behaviors, (complete with some statistics and articles).
I really enjoyed it for what it was and found it so interesting, everyone should read it.

Court reviewed Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-joo

Review of 'Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Brutal and honest.

hill_valley reviewed Kim Ji-young, nacida en 1982 by Cho Nam-joo

Review of 'Kim Ji-young, nacida en 1982' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

Es aceptable porque es una lectura bastante amena, pero centrarse en unas situaciones concretas sin mostrar correctamente el contexto histórico lo único que consigue es que busques en otras fuentes para complementar, y a la vez hace que cuestiones la finalidad del libro. Ya que aunque es ficción, se hace para mostrar algo real que es pasado y, por ahora, presente.

mario reviewed Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-joo

Review of 'Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This is a short but very powerful novella.

One of the top selling books in S Korea this century, it brutally lays bare gender inequality and prevailing attitudes. Told from a dispassionate 3rd person perspective, I found the statistics and footnotes initially odd in a novel, but as it goes on they become strangely compelling.