Publication
Penguin Books (2005), Edition: New Ed, 368 p.
Original publication date
2004
Collections
Subjects
Description
Barbara Halliwell, on a grant at Oxford, receives an unexpected package-a centuries-old memoir by a Korean crown princess. An appropriate gift indeed for her impending trip to Seoul, but Barbara doesn't know who sent it. On the plane, she avidly reads the memoir, a story of great intrigue as well as tragedy. The Crown Princess Hyegyong recounts in extraordinary detail the ways of the Korean court and confesses the family dramas that left her childless and her husband dead by his own hand. When a Korean man Barbara meets at her hotel offers to guide her to some of the haunts of the crown princess, Barbara tours the royal courts and develops a strong affinity for everything related to the princess and her mysterious life. Barbara's time in Korea goes quickly, but captivated by her experience and wanting to know more about the princess, she wonders if her life can ever be the way it was before.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member thorold
The starting point for this novel is a real historical text: the memoirs of an 18th century Korean princess. The novel brings her together with Dr Babs Halliwell, a modern British academic attending a conference in Korea. As one might expect, there turn out to be parallels between their experiences
Instead of the conventional device of letting the modern protagonist stumble on a previously-unknown manuscript, the first section of the novel lets the Crown Princess speak for herself, not from the 18th century, but anachronistically from a present-day viewpoint. This device gives the author carte blanche to introduce cultural references that would not have been accessible to the princess in her own time. It's a strange idea that takes a bit of getting used to, but it works. The point is not to achieve an accurate reconstruction of the details of palace life in 18th century Korea, but to analyse the events of the princess's life with the freedom of a novelist's imagination. After all, we are free to go to the original text and its academic interpreters (Drabble supplies a reading list) if we want a scholarly view.
The princess is allowed to tell her story in full before we meet Dr Halliwell in the second section of the book. There is a clear stylistic differentiation between the two narratives. The princess writes conventionally in the first person and the past tense, albeit with a rather donnish precision (every ambiguity is picked up and analysed, every fact tied to a source). The modern narrative, by contrast, is written with a mildly ironic detachment in the third person and uses the present tense throughout. Since the setting is an academic conference, this could well be a deliberate dig at the Bradbury/Lodge style of campus fiction, although Drabble is no stranger to ironic detachment herself. Certainly, if we took this second part in isolation, the events and characters could have stepped straight out of Small World, the ultimate conference novel. The difference here is of course in their resonance with the princess's narrative, which Dr Halliwell has read on the plane. Halliwell's research, and the subject of the conference, is concerned with "problems of medical ethics in the context of globalisation". Ethical issues and cross-cultural collisions are discussed and appear practically in Halliwell's life and in her strange relationship with the princess -- problems of illness and treatment, madness and sanity, placebo effects, heredity and epidemic diseases, suicide and euthanasia -- but the book is not about answering such questions. Drabble's point seems to be rather about the universality of such human problems, and about the power of human relationships, especially between parents and children.
The colour red runs as a linking theme (what's called a rode draad in Dutch) through the two narratives -- a red skirt, a red silk shirt, red socks and finally a red party dress. Drabble never explicitly mentions Lewis Carroll, but the title of the novel can only be an Alice reference. The princess herself never makes it to the eighth square, but the court at Seoul is very much a looking-glass world where she is an adept at dealing with arbitrary and contradictory rules of etiquette: like Carroll's Red Queen she is very much in control of things in this world where you have to run very fast to stay in the same place, and would expect young girls to curtsey to her while thinking what to say.
This is a very English novel: if you come to it expecting a novel about Korea, you could be disappointed. Like Charles Ryder's paintings of the jungle, you may well find it to be a case of "simple, creamy English charm, playing tigers." On the other hand, if you enjoy Drabble's ironic tone and like to be made to think a little bit, it is probably worth the effort.
Show More
in different times and cultures. However, Drabble is adamant that she is not writing an historical novel, going so far as to include an explanatory preface that points this out.Instead of the conventional device of letting the modern protagonist stumble on a previously-unknown manuscript, the first section of the novel lets the Crown Princess speak for herself, not from the 18th century, but anachronistically from a present-day viewpoint. This device gives the author carte blanche to introduce cultural references that would not have been accessible to the princess in her own time. It's a strange idea that takes a bit of getting used to, but it works. The point is not to achieve an accurate reconstruction of the details of palace life in 18th century Korea, but to analyse the events of the princess's life with the freedom of a novelist's imagination. After all, we are free to go to the original text and its academic interpreters (Drabble supplies a reading list) if we want a scholarly view.
The princess is allowed to tell her story in full before we meet Dr Halliwell in the second section of the book. There is a clear stylistic differentiation between the two narratives. The princess writes conventionally in the first person and the past tense, albeit with a rather donnish precision (every ambiguity is picked up and analysed, every fact tied to a source). The modern narrative, by contrast, is written with a mildly ironic detachment in the third person and uses the present tense throughout. Since the setting is an academic conference, this could well be a deliberate dig at the Bradbury/Lodge style of campus fiction, although Drabble is no stranger to ironic detachment herself. Certainly, if we took this second part in isolation, the events and characters could have stepped straight out of Small World, the ultimate conference novel. The difference here is of course in their resonance with the princess's narrative, which Dr Halliwell has read on the plane. Halliwell's research, and the subject of the conference, is concerned with "problems of medical ethics in the context of globalisation". Ethical issues and cross-cultural collisions are discussed and appear practically in Halliwell's life and in her strange relationship with the princess -- problems of illness and treatment, madness and sanity, placebo effects, heredity and epidemic diseases, suicide and euthanasia -- but the book is not about answering such questions. Drabble's point seems to be rather about the universality of such human problems, and about the power of human relationships, especially between parents and children.
The colour red runs as a linking theme (what's called a rode draad in Dutch) through the two narratives -- a red skirt, a red silk shirt, red socks and finally a red party dress. Drabble never explicitly mentions Lewis Carroll, but the title of the novel can only be an Alice reference. The princess herself never makes it to the eighth square, but the court at Seoul is very much a looking-glass world where she is an adept at dealing with arbitrary and contradictory rules of etiquette: like Carroll's Red Queen she is very much in control of things in this world where you have to run very fast to stay in the same place, and would expect young girls to curtsey to her while thinking what to say.
This is a very English novel: if you come to it expecting a novel about Korea, you could be disappointed. Like Charles Ryder's paintings of the jungle, you may well find it to be a case of "simple, creamy English charm, playing tigers." On the other hand, if you enjoy Drabble's ironic tone and like to be made to think a little bit, it is probably worth the effort.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Nickelini
I picked this up for fifty cents at a library sale a few years ago because it was on the 1001 Books list. But it was removed from later versions of the list, and has received many negative comments here on LT. The professional reviews printed around its publication weren't all that enthusiastic
Surprise, surprise: I really liked this novel! The first half is narrated by a two-hundred year old ghost of a Korean Crown Princess, Lady Hyegyong, who watches her young husband's decline into madness. Not just anti-modern, talking-to-plants Prince Charles crazy, but let's-cut-up-all-my-clothes and kill-my-friends-and-servants crazy. Although the tone of this section was quite chilly, and the lack of chapters or visual breaks was tedious, overall it was fascinating.
The second half of the book is the ghost channeling a British academic, who reads the Crown Princess's memoirs on a flight from London to Seoul. During her stay in Korea, she becomes obsessed with the life of Lady Hyegyong. There are many parallels between the two women, and Drabble weaves a scarlet thread through the book that connects them.
I really enjoyed the postmodern elements to the story and found it very readable. Although the characters were not always likeable, I still found them interesting. I know others see it as silly, indulgent and culturally lazy, but maybe because of my low expectations, I happily forgave it its faults. I almost gave the book 4.5 stars, but I did think it dragged a little near the very improbable ending.
Definitely will be reading some more Margaret Drabble in the future--if this is one of her "meh" books, then I expect to find some prize novels.
Recommended for: Well, since many intelligent people have dissed this book, all I can say is that if it sounds at all interesting to you, give it a try.
Show More
either. Further, I had very little interest in the book's description. You can understand then that I expected to read a few pages and release the book to the charity donation box. Ah, not so fast . . . .Surprise, surprise: I really liked this novel! The first half is narrated by a two-hundred year old ghost of a Korean Crown Princess, Lady Hyegyong, who watches her young husband's decline into madness. Not just anti-modern, talking-to-plants Prince Charles crazy, but let's-cut-up-all-my-clothes and kill-my-friends-and-servants crazy. Although the tone of this section was quite chilly, and the lack of chapters or visual breaks was tedious, overall it was fascinating.
The second half of the book is the ghost channeling a British academic, who reads the Crown Princess's memoirs on a flight from London to Seoul. During her stay in Korea, she becomes obsessed with the life of Lady Hyegyong. There are many parallels between the two women, and Drabble weaves a scarlet thread through the book that connects them.
I really enjoyed the postmodern elements to the story and found it very readable. Although the characters were not always likeable, I still found them interesting. I know others see it as silly, indulgent and culturally lazy, but maybe because of my low expectations, I happily forgave it its faults. I almost gave the book 4.5 stars, but I did think it dragged a little near the very improbable ending.
Definitely will be reading some more Margaret Drabble in the future--if this is one of her "meh" books, then I expect to find some prize novels.
Recommended for: Well, since many intelligent people have dissed this book, all I can say is that if it sounds at all interesting to you, give it a try.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Smiler69
I loved the first part of the book, which is told in the voice of Lady Hyegyong, who was married to Prince Sado, heir to the throne in 1744 when they were both nine year old children, and who managed to survive court intrigues, murders and political upheavals into old age and saw her son become
The biographical details of Lady Hyegyong's life growing up in a Confucian society ruled by a demanding monarch; being forced to learn the strict and perilously fraught traditions of court etiquette; her account of a marriage to Prince Sado who descended into madness and murderous compulsions, causing so much havoc his father, with whom relations had always been fraught felt he was forced to order the murder of his son, which was carried out in a scandalously horrific manner; her story all the overtones of a Shakespearean drama. I found this account so fascinating I felt a strong desire to read her memoirs first-hand and immediately made a purchase suggestion to the National Library, which I am glad to say they quickly responded to are now in the process of fulfilling.
In Drabble's narrative, the Crown Princess is seeking a 21st century candidate to spread her work and her fame, and in the second part of the novel, we are introduced to the noted scholar Professor Barbara Halliwell who is on her way from Oxford, England to a conference in Korea, where a famous oft-published academic is also slated to deliver a presentation. Having mysteriously been sent The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong anonymously, which comes in an Amazon box but strangely doesn't carry an ISBN number, Halliwell reads the memoirs on the long flight to Seoul and is so strongly impressed with the memoirs that she feels strangely affected and compelled to learn more about her times and life. This book will lead her to a romantic relationship and have repercussions on big life decisions to follow.
The two parts of the book don't feel quite connected, but having been forewarned of this by other reviewers, I was still able to enjoy it as a whole in what was my first exposure to Margaret Drabble's skills as a writer. I would certainly have been much happier if the novel had wholly focused on a retelling of Lady Hyegyong's life, yet I feel I understand the author's strong compulsion to tell her story as she did, which was her way of describing to the reader how strongly the voice of Lady Hyegyong affected her. A very interesting read which I feel has greatly enriched my reading life.
Show More
King Chongjo, against all odds. Margaret Drabble undertook the writing of this book after she was introduced to a translation of The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong and fell under the spell of the Crown Princess's voice, which by all accounts transcends time and space. The biographical details of Lady Hyegyong's life growing up in a Confucian society ruled by a demanding monarch; being forced to learn the strict and perilously fraught traditions of court etiquette; her account of a marriage to Prince Sado who descended into madness and murderous compulsions, causing so much havoc his father, with whom relations had always been fraught felt he was forced to order the murder of his son, which was carried out in a scandalously horrific manner; her story all the overtones of a Shakespearean drama. I found this account so fascinating I felt a strong desire to read her memoirs first-hand and immediately made a purchase suggestion to the National Library, which I am glad to say they quickly responded to are now in the process of fulfilling.
In Drabble's narrative, the Crown Princess is seeking a 21st century candidate to spread her work and her fame, and in the second part of the novel, we are introduced to the noted scholar Professor Barbara Halliwell who is on her way from Oxford, England to a conference in Korea, where a famous oft-published academic is also slated to deliver a presentation. Having mysteriously been sent The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong anonymously, which comes in an Amazon box but strangely doesn't carry an ISBN number, Halliwell reads the memoirs on the long flight to Seoul and is so strongly impressed with the memoirs that she feels strangely affected and compelled to learn more about her times and life. This book will lead her to a romantic relationship and have repercussions on big life decisions to follow.
The two parts of the book don't feel quite connected, but having been forewarned of this by other reviewers, I was still able to enjoy it as a whole in what was my first exposure to Margaret Drabble's skills as a writer. I would certainly have been much happier if the novel had wholly focused on a retelling of Lady Hyegyong's life, yet I feel I understand the author's strong compulsion to tell her story as she did, which was her way of describing to the reader how strongly the voice of Lady Hyegyong affected her. A very interesting read which I feel has greatly enriched my reading life.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Oh_Carolyn
The back jacket of The Red Queen claims that it's "a rich and playful novel about love, about personal and public history, and what it means to be remembered." Readers may recall my feelings about unattributed jacket copy, and I do think that this is better than most, with one slight problem.
It is, however, excellent. What's playful about the novel is its structure. In the first part, our narrator is the woman known, inaccurately, she tells us, as Lady Hong, a Korean princess of the eighteenth century. The Korean Crown Princess is known in Korea (less so in the rest of the world) for her memoirs, written for different audiences over a period of some time. The version of the princess that Ms. Drabble presents is an unreliable narrator, to be sure, sometimes blinded by her own interests or those of her family. She drifts into long digressions, circles around issues, leaves out salient details. She's also dead, knows she's dead, and has the advantage, with some limitations, of looking over history to fill out her own story. What she wants is to be remembered, to reach a wider audience (she won me over -- I have to find those memoirs!).
In the second part of the novel, she succeeds. We switch gears entirely to follow Dr Barbara Halliwell in the present day as she attends an academic conference, makes a friend, and embarks on an affair in Seoul. Throughout her time in Korea, she's drawn to the tale of the Crown Princess, unsure who gave her the memoirs and what she should be taking away from her visit, her affair, her very life. I'll stop here, because you know I never offer spoilers. Let's just say that the story keeps spiraling outward and inward, and the last few pages are a treat, so very clever. It's a novel I'd be pleased to have on my shelf, and I hope you and A.S. Byatt will read it too.
Show More
"Playful" implies that the novel is funny, or piquant. It is not.It is, however, excellent. What's playful about the novel is its structure. In the first part, our narrator is the woman known, inaccurately, she tells us, as Lady Hong, a Korean princess of the eighteenth century. The Korean Crown Princess is known in Korea (less so in the rest of the world) for her memoirs, written for different audiences over a period of some time. The version of the princess that Ms. Drabble presents is an unreliable narrator, to be sure, sometimes blinded by her own interests or those of her family. She drifts into long digressions, circles around issues, leaves out salient details. She's also dead, knows she's dead, and has the advantage, with some limitations, of looking over history to fill out her own story. What she wants is to be remembered, to reach a wider audience (she won me over -- I have to find those memoirs!).
In the second part of the novel, she succeeds. We switch gears entirely to follow Dr Barbara Halliwell in the present day as she attends an academic conference, makes a friend, and embarks on an affair in Seoul. Throughout her time in Korea, she's drawn to the tale of the Crown Princess, unsure who gave her the memoirs and what she should be taking away from her visit, her affair, her very life. I'll stop here, because you know I never offer spoilers. Let's just say that the story keeps spiraling outward and inward, and the last few pages are a treat, so very clever. It's a novel I'd be pleased to have on my shelf, and I hope you and A.S. Byatt will read it too.
Show Less
LibraryThing member jolerie
None of us has full access to even our own stories. Page 7
The Red Queen is written in two distinct parts. The first half is a fictionalized memoir of the Crown Princess of Korea and her account of the tragic and tumultuous relationship between her husband the Crown Prince Sado and his father, King
I absolutely loved the first half of the book. The Asian court politics, the palace intrigue, and the complicated interactions between the government and the royal family could rival its counterparts across the pond in Europe. Thoroughly fascinating and riveting. My problem was with the second half of the book which I found not nearly as interesting. If Drabble had chosen to expand the first half of the book and kept it as purely a fictionalized memoir, The Red Queen would have been a winner.
The Red Queen is written in two distinct parts. The first half is a fictionalized memoir of the Crown Princess of Korea and her account of the tragic and tumultuous relationship between her husband the Crown Prince Sado and his father, King
Show More
Yongjo of Korea. The second half of the book takes place in present day and although it continues to be narrated by the Crown Princess, the arc of the story follows the journey of Dr. Babs Haliwell and the unfortunate parallels that run through both women's lives, even though they are separated by hundreds of years.I absolutely loved the first half of the book. The Asian court politics, the palace intrigue, and the complicated interactions between the government and the royal family could rival its counterparts across the pond in Europe. Thoroughly fascinating and riveting. My problem was with the second half of the book which I found not nearly as interesting. If Drabble had chosen to expand the first half of the book and kept it as purely a fictionalized memoir, The Red Queen would have been a winner.
Show Less
LibraryThing member bookmoocher
Abysmal. Read any of the available translations of Lady Hyegong's autobiography instead of wasting your time with this verbose, yet substanceless, dreck.
LibraryThing member miyurose
In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll first say that I didn’t actually finish this novel. However, I did invest a lot of time (and a book club meeting) in it, so I’m counting it.
This novel is written in two parts, both narrated by the "ghost" of Queen Heongyeong, an 18th century Korean
I really enjoyed the first part of the novel. The Queen’s story is based on fact, and it was a turbulent time in Korean history. In a time when there was no way to diagnose, or even treat, mental illness, I found Prince Sado’s progression into madness to be really interesting. The Queen gets a bit repetitive, but the story still pulled me through. And sent me to Wikipedia afterwards, which for me is a sign of good historical fiction. I hardly knew anything about Korean history, and now I know a little bit more.
It was the second half of the book that lost me. Babs Halliwell isn’t in a good place in her life, and also has a mentally ill husband. We are supposed to see her as a modern-day parallel to the Queen, but I just didn’t find her to be a very interesting character. It’s at this point that the books starts to feel really indulgent. I think Drabble fancied herself as the voice of the Queen, and Dr. Halliwell is supposed to be an avatar of her. Because Drabble loves the Queen’s story, we are expected to love it too.
I think this would have been a much better novel if she had taken the Queen’s story and fleshed it out more completely. Her story was interesting enough to carry a novel all on its own.
This novel is written in two parts, both narrated by the "ghost" of Queen Heongyeong, an 18th century Korean
Show More
crown princess. The first part is about the Queen’s life, with a heavy focus on the actions of her husband, Prince Sado, who was mentally ill and came to an unfortunate end. The second part is about Dr. Babs Halliwell, who is attending a conference in Korea and mysteriously receives a copy of the Queen’s memoir that she reads on the plane.I really enjoyed the first part of the novel. The Queen’s story is based on fact, and it was a turbulent time in Korean history. In a time when there was no way to diagnose, or even treat, mental illness, I found Prince Sado’s progression into madness to be really interesting. The Queen gets a bit repetitive, but the story still pulled me through. And sent me to Wikipedia afterwards, which for me is a sign of good historical fiction. I hardly knew anything about Korean history, and now I know a little bit more.
It was the second half of the book that lost me. Babs Halliwell isn’t in a good place in her life, and also has a mentally ill husband. We are supposed to see her as a modern-day parallel to the Queen, but I just didn’t find her to be a very interesting character. It’s at this point that the books starts to feel really indulgent. I think Drabble fancied herself as the voice of the Queen, and Dr. Halliwell is supposed to be an avatar of her. Because Drabble loves the Queen’s story, we are expected to love it too.
I think this would have been a much better novel if she had taken the Queen’s story and fleshed it out more completely. Her story was interesting enough to carry a novel all on its own.
Show Less
LibraryThing member whitreidtan
I like Margaret Drabble's work. I know next to nothing about Korean history. And I have a ridiculous fascination with royalty. So Drabble's The Red Queen easily caught my interest with only the barest minimum of jacket copy. Taking a fairly unknown, at least in the West, account written by a Crown
Show More
Princess in eighteenth century Korea and weaving it into a novel, Drabble has written a completely engrossing story in three sections. The first section, narrated by the Crown Princess' ghost, tells the outline of her life. She married the Crown Prince as a child, long before his later mental illness became not only evident but increasingly dangerous and uncontrollable. She tells of her everyday life, sequestered in the palace, surrounded by political enemies and a few friends. Her account of a priviledged woman's life would be interesting enough without her marriage to the Crown Prince but the manueverings that his illness caused the court and his father the King to emply were also terribly interesting. The second section of the book, once the Western reader is conversant in the Crown Princess' life, focuses on Barbara Halliwell, an English academic travelling to South Korea for a conference, and the chosen "emissary" for the Crown Princess' story. Babs reads the princess' diary on her way to the conference and her interest is so piqued that she spends much of her down time (and a bit of the conference time as well) exploring the places connected to the princess. She is accompanied by a Korean doctor she meets and the pre-eminent speaker from her conference, with whom she embarks on a brief affair. The third section shows Babs after the conference is over and all the momentous events of it are long concluded and it details how the Crown Princess' story will be passed along into the future because it is a story that deserves to be told. There is a neat convention that strikes me as particularly Drabble-esque in this last part of the book but you'll have to read it yourself to see what it is. As always in Drabble's novels, the writing is precise and tight and very well done. The links between the three sections are strong and pull the reader along happily. I am thoroughly glad I took the time to read this one last month and recommend it to others who like depth and thoughtful reading in their lives. Show Less
LibraryThing member drpeff
I got hooked & attached to the crown princess. Good book.
LibraryThing member tjopp
There are many threads to tie together before you trace the links that connect the present with the past.
LibraryThing member carmelitasita29
I expected greater things from this book than what I received. How can a book about the tumultuous life of a Crown Princess in Korea centuries ago be boring? And yet, it was. For one thing, let us not underestimate the importance of chapters. They are a way for the reader to take a break from the
Show More
story for reflection and pondering. It seemed as if the first part of the book just kept going on and on and by the time it came to an end it was already fuzzy in my mind. They were so many interesting experiences that got lost in the writing. The second part was better because it didn't try to span an entire life, just a section of a life. Whatever was missing from the first part (indepth descriptions, dialogue, fleshed out experiences) was present in the second, which made the book not an entire waste of time. Show Less
LibraryThing member CynWetzel
Loved the first half, POV the Crown Princess... but after only a few pages of the second half I quit. The third-person POV is very awkward... the idea, I think, is that it is the Princess's ghost observing. Didn't work for me. :(
LibraryThing member the_awesome_opossum
The Red Queen is a two-part novel that offers itself as a transhistorical 'women's experience' - the first half is a memoir of the Korean Crown Princess Kyegyong, and the second half is a conference memoir of a British scholar who is traveling through modern day Korea. the entire novel is framed in
Unfortunately, for a novel that purporteldy aims to raise consciousness of Korean literary history to the Western world, this certainly was an English novel. The scenario of the conference novel finds Barb interacting with other Western scholars and musing about how the princess fits into their existing scholarship; and even as the princess tells her own story, I felt like its modern 'relatibility' points or adjustments could erase readers' respect for her cultural difference. It is a difficult balance to strike, looking for universal truths or experiences while also respecting, rather than hegemonically flattening, inevitable Otherness. But The Red Queen actually does its princess a disservice, by putting her story in the shadow of a bland and unlikeable modern Western scholar, thereby diffusing the 'remarkableness' of the princess's story.
Show More
a conceit of the princess, beyond the grave, attempting to put her story in the hands of someone who will make it known in the modern day.Unfortunately, for a novel that purporteldy aims to raise consciousness of Korean literary history to the Western world, this certainly was an English novel. The scenario of the conference novel finds Barb interacting with other Western scholars and musing about how the princess fits into their existing scholarship; and even as the princess tells her own story, I felt like its modern 'relatibility' points or adjustments could erase readers' respect for her cultural difference. It is a difficult balance to strike, looking for universal truths or experiences while also respecting, rather than hegemonically flattening, inevitable Otherness. But The Red Queen actually does its princess a disservice, by putting her story in the shadow of a bland and unlikeable modern Western scholar, thereby diffusing the 'remarkableness' of the princess's story.
Show Less
LibraryThing member katkat50
This book is on the list of "1001 Books To Read Before You Die," and I chose to read it now for that reason. I hadn't read any books by Margaret Drabble prior to this, but now I want to read everything she's written. In "The Red Queen," Drabble tells the story of Barbara Halliwell, a university
I will not reveal even a hint of what happens next, except to say that Halliwell's "encounter" with the Crown Princess by way of the pages of her memoir changes
her life in ways that are both surprising, and deeply moving.
Show More
professor in London who gets pulled into the life of Crown Princess Hyegyong, an 18th century Korean princess, after reading her memoirs -- sent to her by a mysterious someone who is never identified -- on an airplane taking her to a conference in Seoul. When she arrives in Korea, she finds that she cannot stop thinking about this extraordinary woman, dead for 200 years, and feels inexorably drawn to find out more about her. I will not reveal even a hint of what happens next, except to say that Halliwell's "encounter" with the Crown Princess by way of the pages of her memoir changes
her life in ways that are both surprising, and deeply moving.
Show Less
LibraryThing member amerynth
I'm surprised Margaret Drabble's "The Red Queen" is on the 2006 list of 1,001 Books to Read Before You Die... I really didn't find the book particularly interesting or unique. In fact, I really didn't enjoy the book much at all.
Plot-wise, the first half the book is at least somewhat interesting. It
I really detested the second half of the book, which fairly jarringly turns to third-person narration as (what I assume is the Red Queen) tells the story of a researcher named Barbara Halliwell, who reads the Red Queen's memoirs while on a trip to Korea. I disliked the narration (and endless paragraphs with questions) and the story itself, which was rather boring. Despite the parallels between the Red Queen and Halliwell, I didn't feel the two stories really melded together well.
Usually, even if I don't enjoy a book on the 1,001... list, I can at least understand why it is on the list. That's not the case with this book.
Plot-wise, the first half the book is at least somewhat interesting. It
Show More
tells the story of a Korean crown princess, forced into a marriage with a madman who is in line to become king. While her tale is interesting, I found it difficult to become really immersed in the story -- It felt much more like a lecture or a history lesson.I really detested the second half of the book, which fairly jarringly turns to third-person narration as (what I assume is the Red Queen) tells the story of a researcher named Barbara Halliwell, who reads the Red Queen's memoirs while on a trip to Korea. I disliked the narration (and endless paragraphs with questions) and the story itself, which was rather boring. Despite the parallels between the Red Queen and Halliwell, I didn't feel the two stories really melded together well.
Usually, even if I don't enjoy a book on the 1,001... list, I can at least understand why it is on the list. That's not the case with this book.
Show Less
LibraryThing member jmoncton
The Red Queen is two separate stories about 2 women separated by ethnicity, occupation and time. The first story is about the narrator of this book, a young girl who is chosen to be the bride of the mentally ill Crown Prince of Korea. Set 200 years ago, this part of the book provides a captivating
The second story - still narrated by the ghost of the Red Queen - is about a British academic, Dr. Barbara Halliwell, who is attending a conference in Seoul about health policy. Much of this part of the story is about her sightseeing in Korea as well as a very brief fling with one of the keynote speakers at the conference. Although Barbara is fascinated by the tragedy of the Red Queen, what really ties these two women together is that Barbara also has had a tragic life with the loss of a child and a husband who is insane. So interesting to see how these two women had similar circumstances, but had completely different choices in their lives.
Show More
description of court life in 19th century Korea. Lady Hyegyong is fortunate to be selected to marry the Crown Prince. But as the story unfolds, the Crown Prince becomes more and more deranged, behaving erratically and committing many crimes including the murder of members of the Royal Court. The second story - still narrated by the ghost of the Red Queen - is about a British academic, Dr. Barbara Halliwell, who is attending a conference in Seoul about health policy. Much of this part of the story is about her sightseeing in Korea as well as a very brief fling with one of the keynote speakers at the conference. Although Barbara is fascinated by the tragedy of the Red Queen, what really ties these two women together is that Barbara also has had a tragic life with the loss of a child and a husband who is insane. So interesting to see how these two women had similar circumstances, but had completely different choices in their lives.
Show Less
LibraryThing member cockburnj
My copy from McLelland and Stewart was full of typos. Not Drabble's best. The first half of the book about the Korean queen was boring.
LibraryThing member LDVoorberg
Not super captivating, but interesting more for its writing style and cultural window. The first part is narrated by a 200 yr old "ghost", a Crown Princess of Korea who tells her story with modern day hindsight. Her story is interesting enough, but the amazing part that it is written almost as one
The second part of the novel follows a contemporary academic who is interested in the story retold in the first half. The narration now is third person but almost as the spirits and ghosts who follow the woman. Strange, but eventually I got used to the third person present tense voice. Her story is less interesting, though it has enough to pull it along. There are some breaks in this text, which was convenient.
Perhaps worthwhile if you want some light Korean history, but otherwise it may come across as boring.
Show More
full train of thought. There is sentencing and paragraphing, but no chapter divisions or other editorial gaps. The story just naturally transitions across topics and time. Amazing!The second part of the novel follows a contemporary academic who is interested in the story retold in the first half. The narration now is third person but almost as the spirits and ghosts who follow the woman. Strange, but eventually I got used to the third person present tense voice. Her story is less interesting, though it has enough to pull it along. There are some breaks in this text, which was convenient.
Perhaps worthwhile if you want some light Korean history, but otherwise it may come across as boring.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Kristelh
This novel is called a transcultural novel. It is like a story in a story. It starts with the story of a long sense dead Korean girl. She is telling the story from the other side. The second story is the story of the female who is reading the story of the Queen. She goes to Korea to a conference
Show More
and she seeks to experience the history and cultural of this Korean girl. She comes home to England after the man she shares time with passes away. She finds his wife and helps her adopt a Chinese girl that he had planned to adopt for his wife. Show Less
LibraryThing member janeajones
Perhaps my least favorite book by Margaret Drabble. It's an odd amalgam of two stories told by a dead 18th century Korean princess, Lady Hyegyong -- her own recounting of her life with her mad husband and the account of an academic, Barbara Halliwell, who is given a copy of Lady Hyegyong's memoirs
Drabble must have been fascinated with the English translation of the Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong by JaHyun Kim Haboush which was first published in 1996. However, her rendition of Lady Hyegyong's life story is flat and curiously uninteresting. The second half of the book is much more typical Drabble with its sharp look at a contemporary woman's attempt to navigate personal and academic waters.
The novel has made me want to search out Haboush's translation of the original memoirs.
Show More
just as she is about to depart for a conference in Seoul.Drabble must have been fascinated with the English translation of the Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong by JaHyun Kim Haboush which was first published in 1996. However, her rendition of Lady Hyegyong's life story is flat and curiously uninteresting. The second half of the book is much more typical Drabble with its sharp look at a contemporary woman's attempt to navigate personal and academic waters.
The novel has made me want to search out Haboush's translation of the original memoirs.
Show Less
LibraryThing member VictoriaNH
Interesting book. Part historical fiction about a princess, prince and a King in Korea in the 18th century. The other part about a researcher in the present day who is led to study the forgotten princess and also go on a personal adventure of her own.
LibraryThing member gypsysmom
This book is on the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list. I try to knock 10 a year off the list but since I am never going to live long enough to read all the books (This is #244) I try to concentrate on ones I am pretty sure I will enjoy. I did enjoy this and I'm glad I read it.
The Red Queen of
I don't personally believe in spirits or at least not in the sense that they survive after death and have messages for the living. However, I have read some books that seem to speak to me and which I credit for having changed my life. Grass, Sky, Song by Trevor Herriot about the birds found on the prairies and the effects of grassland destruction on them made me conscious in a whole new way about bird life and the environment.
The Red Queen of
Show More
the title was never actually a queen. As a ten year old child she was married to the Crown Prince of Korea, Prince Sado. Sado went insane probably of paranoid schizophrenia. The marriage was consummated when the Prince and Princess turned 15 and they had children. The first died in infancy but the surviving son lived to become King. The royal family lived in a huge palace with hundreds of retainers and servants. The palace was a fertile ground for rumour and intrigue and Prince Sado's exploits, which included beheadings and beatings, were well known. It was obvious that Sado could never be allowed to take the throne. His father condemned him to death by placing him in a small rice chest. The Princess survived and made sure that her son would be accepted as the heir. She lived to a great age and wrote her memoirs which have survived to modern times. This book was sent to Dr. Barbara Halliwell by an anonymous source just before Babs (as she is called by friends) left for a conference in Korea. She read it on the flight to Seoul and was profoundly affected by the Princess's story. In the first part of the book the Princess's spirit indicates that she inhabited the Englishwoman's unconscious and directed her actions thereafter. Certainly Babs had some unusual experiences during her conference and continued to be interested in the story of the Princess upon her return to England. Would she had acted as she did in Seoul if she hadn't read the book? Hard to say but there does seem to be a hand of fate directing her.I don't personally believe in spirits or at least not in the sense that they survive after death and have messages for the living. However, I have read some books that seem to speak to me and which I credit for having changed my life. Grass, Sky, Song by Trevor Herriot about the birds found on the prairies and the effects of grassland destruction on them made me conscious in a whole new way about bird life and the environment.
Show Less
LibraryThing member starbox
"I have been dead now for 200 years"
By sally tarbox on 30 May 2017
Format: Kindle Edition
I have the memoirs of Korea's Lady Hyegyong on my TBR shelf. But this fictionalized account was unputdownable, as the Lady addresses us from beyond the grave, telling us her tragic story of marriage as a child
Speaking as a slightly implausible ghost - dead 200 years but with a modern take on history thanks to the books she's been reading over the centuries- Lady Hyegyong wants her story heard.
And in the second half of the book we meet her 'ghostly envoy' - 21st century academic Dr Babs Halliwell, who is on her way to Seoul to attend a seminar. She has been sent an anonymous gift - the Memoirs - which she takes along for leisure reading, but soon finds the story taking her over and shaping a romantic interlude in Korea. Strong, memorable characters, if perhaps a slightly twee conclusion. But an extremely enjoyable read.
By sally tarbox on 30 May 2017
Format: Kindle Edition
I have the memoirs of Korea's Lady Hyegyong on my TBR shelf. But this fictionalized account was unputdownable, as the Lady addresses us from beyond the grave, telling us her tragic story of marriage as a child
Show More
to the schizophrenic heir to the throne. In a violent world, with a court full of gossip and jealousy and an unpredictable monarch, the Lady faces an uncertain future...Speaking as a slightly implausible ghost - dead 200 years but with a modern take on history thanks to the books she's been reading over the centuries- Lady Hyegyong wants her story heard.
And in the second half of the book we meet her 'ghostly envoy' - 21st century academic Dr Babs Halliwell, who is on her way to Seoul to attend a seminar. She has been sent an anonymous gift - the Memoirs - which she takes along for leisure reading, but soon finds the story taking her over and shaping a romantic interlude in Korea. Strong, memorable characters, if perhaps a slightly twee conclusion. But an extremely enjoyable read.
Show Less
LibraryThing member japaul22
[The Red Queen] by [[Margaret Drabble]]
I went into this book sort of expecting to be bored and confused based on some other reviews I read. Maybe it was my patient attitude because of this, but I actually really liked this!
This is the story of The Crown Princess Hyegong who was a Korean princess
The next section follows current-day Babs Halliway who reads the Crown Princess's memoirs on a plane headed to Korea for a conference. She is immediately drawn to the Princess's voice and identifies with her, having also lost a child and having a husband with mental illness. She explores the Crown Princess's world as a tourist and has some meaningful life events herself while at this conference.
Interwoven in this story rather loosely is the idea that there are spirits, both of the Crown Princess and of another group of spirits that are observing and slightly coordinating events in an effort to have the Princess's story more widely known in modern day. This spirit idea is ever-present but not really explained. I imagine that bothers many readers, but I was able to just accept it. Drabble also uses an odd technique in the Crown Princess's version of events where she has the Princess narrate her life story as a spirit who has witnessed historical events since her death. So she knows about modern-day ideas about mental illness and political events that she would have had no idea about during her life. That was also odd, but I liked it. I think it worked for me because Drabble didn't get bogged down in trying to explain or rationalize it, she just used it.
I was pleasantly surprised by this and read it in just a few days.
I went into this book sort of expecting to be bored and confused based on some other reviews I read. Maybe it was my patient attitude because of this, but I actually really liked this!
This is the story of The Crown Princess Hyegong who was a Korean princess
Show More
in the 1700s. The first section of the novel tells her story in her voice - her marriage to Korean Prince Sado who goes mad and is terribly disposed of by his father, the King. She has children with him, one of whom dies, and leads a fairly traumatic, though long, life. The next section follows current-day Babs Halliway who reads the Crown Princess's memoirs on a plane headed to Korea for a conference. She is immediately drawn to the Princess's voice and identifies with her, having also lost a child and having a husband with mental illness. She explores the Crown Princess's world as a tourist and has some meaningful life events herself while at this conference.
Interwoven in this story rather loosely is the idea that there are spirits, both of the Crown Princess and of another group of spirits that are observing and slightly coordinating events in an effort to have the Princess's story more widely known in modern day. This spirit idea is ever-present but not really explained. I imagine that bothers many readers, but I was able to just accept it. Drabble also uses an odd technique in the Crown Princess's version of events where she has the Princess narrate her life story as a spirit who has witnessed historical events since her death. So she knows about modern-day ideas about mental illness and political events that she would have had no idea about during her life. That was also odd, but I liked it. I think it worked for me because Drabble didn't get bogged down in trying to explain or rationalize it, she just used it.
I was pleasantly surprised by this and read it in just a few days.
Show Less
LibraryThing member jtho
The first half of the book is the "memoirs" of The Red Queen, narrated posthumously. I enjoyed this section of the book very much: the intrigue, secrets, and story were very interesting and the Queen's voice held my interest. The second half of the book follows an intellectual who is captivated by
Show More
the story of the Red Queen and shows how the story ended up being written. Barbara's life was not that interesting and the connections to the first half were few and felt contrived. I would recommend reading the first half of the novel, but the second can be ignored and nothing in the reading would be lost. Show Less
Media reviews
The author's preface claims that she's searching for 'universal transcultural human characteristics'. The trouble with this quest is that you're likely to run with your own culture, amplifying its ethics into universality. Drabble looks at 18th-century Seoul and finds Primrose Hill. She reads a
Show More
terrifying memoir by a woman with no proper name and sees a counselling case. The past ceases to be strange or beautiful and subsides under a dust of explication. Show Less
Despite all Drabble’s efforts with the superglue of her resourceful intelligence, the two halves of this diptych never really cohere. The second half is an entertaining but not all that remarkable novella, part travelogue and part fiction. The first half, on the other hand, as luridly eventful
Show More
and as stylistically rich as any Jacobean tragedy, shows Drabble in brilliant form. Show Less
Behind the literary games is an implausible but gorgeously trashy romance. I lapped that up, too - without anyone being the wiser. Rarely has feminist escapism been so stylishly disguised.
Language
Original language
English
ISBN
9780141018164
Physical description
368 p.; 5.08 inches
Pages
368