Banned Book Club

by Kim Hyun Sook

Other authorsRyan Estrada (Author), Hyung-Ju Ko (Illustrator)

Paperback, 2020

Status

Available

Genres

Graphic Novels and Comics

Comics

Graphic Novels

Collection

Children's Circulating

Publication

Iron Circus Comics (2020), Edition: Illustrated, 192 pages

Description

When Kim Hyun Sook started college in 1983 she was ready for her world to open up. After acing her exams and sort-of convincing her traditional mother that it was a good idea for a woman to go to college, she looked forward to soaking up the ideas of Western Literature far from the drudgery she was promised at her family's restaurant. But literature class would prove to be just the start of a massive turning point, still focused on reading but with life-or-death stakes she never could have imagined. This was during South Korea's Fifth Republic, a military regime that entrenched its power through censorship, torture, and the murder of protestors. In this charged political climate, with Molotov cocktails flying and fellow students disappearing for hours and returning with bruises, Hyun Sook sought refuge in the comfort of books. When the handsome young editor of the school newspaper invited her to his reading group, she expected to pop into the cafeteria to talk about Moby Dick, Hamlet, and The Scarlet Letter. Instead she found herself hiding in a basement as the youngest member of an underground banned book club. And as Hyun Sook soon discovered, in a totalitarian regime, the delights of discovering great works of illicit literature are quickly overshadowed by fear and violence as the walls close in.… (more)

Media reviews

Publishers Weekly

Hyun Sook’s irresistible memoir conveys her political (and social) awakening with equal measures of hilarity and comedy alongside moments of sheer terror as her eyes are opened to the brutal nature of the regime.

User reviews

LibraryThing member oldandnewbooksmell

In 1983, Kim Hyun Sook is starting college in South Korea during the Fifth Republic, a military regime that have heavy censorship, torture, and murders of protestors on its hands. When a fellow student invited Hyun Sook to his reading group, she expected to find others who found their escape in the

pages. Instead, she becomes the youngest member of an underground banned book club. In Banned Book Club, Hyun Sook shares a true story of living during the Fifth Republic of South Korea in 1983.

I had hardly any knowledge of South Korea before reading this book (and only a few things mentioned by my coworker here and there). Most of the history I learned in school revolved around North Korea. This book gives a good insight on what was happening just under 40 years ago.

I wasn't a massive fan of the illustration, it sometimes got a bit muddy looking, but I think it might have been done on purpose? It didn't stop me from reading the novel though.

This is an important graphic novel that shows a part of world history that most people don't realize even happened.

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LibraryThing member LibrarianRyan

What a lovely way to experience history. This book takes multiple real life stories to give the reader a fictionalized “true” version of the protests in 1983 lead by college students. Most of it is the story of the author, but for privacy reason has changed many names and consolidated some

stories.

It all starts with the government banning certain literature. Particularly Western literature. Kim wants to read these stories. She wants to study literature. But her mother is not happy. She should be working and finding a husband. If anyone is going to go to school it should be her brother. But with help from dad, Kim goes to classes, and learns about things outside her little home world. While she loves to read she never realized that people could be thrown in jail for what they read. And for what they right. No one pressures her to join any resistance movement, they just say “hey why don’t you read what those in power don’t want us to read”. It’s eye opening. And while trying to stay neutral, she actually ends up joining protests, and helping lead more people to this literature that the government says is bad for people.

I have to give snaps to the author for the ending. We never get a clear picture of what all happen. We follow Kim though her getting involved, and then jump to 2017 where she reunites with her friends in modern protest for their land and their government. The reader gets snippets of what the characters when through, like jail time, being teachers, evening staying involved in politics to make their world a better place.

Overall I really enjoyed this story and learned quite a bit. There are parts that are a bit confusing, but I think that is from taking a long and varied history and converting it to graphic novel form. I think this book isn’t only interesting to read, but to discuss. I think it should appear on banned book lists, even if it itself has not been banned. It opens up a wider discussion on why people and governments police what others read.

#BBRC #AuthenticVoice
#ReaderHarder #journalism
#GondorGirlGNChallenge.

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LibraryThing member drmom62

Powerful story of South Korean struggle for democracy at the end of the 20th century.

LibraryThing member villemezbrown

The art and storytelling is clunky, but the importance of the topic carries the day for me. I do love me a triumph over censorship story.

I have reservations about the veracity of this book as the marketing seems to present it as a memoir. I dislike that the back cover says that this is a "dramatic

true story" while the text buried at the back of the book says the writers took "ingredients" of true stories and "sliced, diced, and blended them into one narrative starring a handful of amalgamated characters at a fictional university." And I found it odd that one of the real people mentioned in the book is called "Noh Moo-hyun," when his expressed (and mostly respected) preference was that his name be written in English as "Roh Moo-hyun."

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LibraryThing member alexlubertozzi

For some reason, I’ve always gravitated toward graphic novel memoirs. So I may be biased, but I thoroughly enjoyed Kim Hyun Sook’s graphic novel about coming of age as a college student in early 1980s South Korea. I was woefully uninformed about the authoritarian regime there in those days and

its history before and after, so part of what made it compelling was learning an important history I didn’t know. And, of course, it couldn’t be more timely. I finished this a day before Barr’s secret police started kidnapping people in Portland, so learning about this latest abuse of power was especially eerie given what I’d just read in Banned Book Club. Of course, the graphic novel isn’t just history or current events. The characters are really well fleshed out, and their personal stories are as gripping as the background of government repression and police abuse and torture. And, ultimately it’s a hopeful story. Things change, but people have to fight for that change, and fight to keep it.

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LibraryThing member msf59

When I first picked this off the library shelf, I automatically thought this graphic memoir was about North Korea. Once I started it, I quickly found out, that it was set in South Korea, during the terrorizing reign of the Fifth Republic. A military regime, which I remember nothing about. This made

it worthwhile. It kicks off with the banned book club but it mostly deals with the author’s involvement in a group of young people rising up and protesting against the totalitarian regime. I will have to read more about this- how democracy took the country back and stayed in place. Recommended.

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LibraryThing member drmom62

Powerful story of South Korean struggle for democracy at the end of the 20th century.

LibraryThing member Briars_Reviews

Yay for another graphic novel to add to my list! One of my 2020 goals was increasing the amount of graphic novels I've read (and have on my shelves) and this book seemed perfect!

Our lead, Kim, goes off to college to learn bright and new things. Suddenly, she's found herself apart of a book club

but not just any book club... it reads banned books, which is quite the scandal in South Korea during the 80s. This political true story is an incredible read and I think it's in the perfect format to tell this story.

Reasons why this book is awesome:
1. The cover is wickedly cool and grabbed my attention.
2. Cartoon-y art style that gave it a fun personality.
3. Banned Book Club = super intriguing premise AND ITS A LEGIT THING SO EVEN COOLER.
4. Non-fiction graphic novels/mangas = THE BOMB. Not literally, the cool 80/90s term everybody always used and suddenly didn't use anymore.
5. I always love a good memoir. Graphic novel form is just way cooler.
6. I learned a lot about South Korea from this book and doing a little research about what was going on at the time. BONUS FOR LEARNING!

Overall, this is a truly marvellous story in a great artistic form. I will definitely want to pick up more books by Kim Hyun Sook in the future.

Four out of five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Iron Circus Comics and Letter Better Publishing Services for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

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LibraryThing member Jenniferforjoy

Recommended: YES
For a history not well known in the US, for a prime example of how graphic novels so well suit memoirs, for a funny and dramatic story

Thoughts:
Graphic novels are so well suited to memoirs and nonfiction. This is a prime example. The art and coloring complements the story perfectly.

With the selective colors it focuses exactly on what needs to be focused on. And again, things that are hard to say in words are sometimes better conveyed in images.

The historical aspect of the story is shocking for me, even though I'm relatively well-versed in 20th century Korean history. It's just so hard to imagine that only 40 years ago, the government was aggressively censoring media, and arresting or torturing or killing protestors against the leaders of the country. It's so recent, really. And compared to the Korea I know today, it's so drastically different. Just a few years ago we saw a series of country-wide protests of millions of people for weeks on end succeed in peacefully removing a president who was corrupt. That's absolutely incredible! This book feels so relevant because, really, Kim Hyun Sook's experience is mirrored in the lifestyle changes seen today.

We're able to see Hyun Sook’s personality and character develop as her understanding of the protesters increases. Through the different activities she ends up joining, we get insight into the way the government works. Her tidy good-girl worldview is shattered and she's forced to make a decision about where she will stand.

I have come to think that graphic novels are particularly well suited for memoirs. What is difficult to capture in words, is much easier to convey in images. Graphic novels combine these two together and create a powerful combination That pulls you deeply into the story. Banned book club is a prime example of that experience.

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