ALMOND by Won-pyung Sohn

A beautiful Korean novel

When I was in Korea earlier this year, Almond was one of the few books I found that had been translated to English and so I bought it, thinking the story might be interesting. There has been an explosion of Korean and Japanese translations arrive in Australian bookshops lately, and I have seen Almond around. So I knew it was time to read it.

Almond is the story of a young boy, Yunjae. The story is in three parts - Yunjae as a young child, living with his mother and grandmother, Yunjae meeting classmate Gon, and Yunjae meeting Dora, a young athlete at school. Yunjae’s life is marked by tragedy, and how he manages that is dictated in many ways by a condition he has called alexithymia, a condition that sees a person unable to feel fear or anxiety that can be due to underdeveloped amygdalae, which is part of the brain. The underdeveloped amygdalae is colloquially called “almonds” - hence the novel’s title.

Almond is a beautifully written novel. I think it’s unlikely not to be able to feel deep empathy for Yunjae - both the events of his life and the condition he has makes him a complex child but eminently loveable. The translation is strong - it retains the charms of Korean writing while having strong English writing qualities. Amongst the flooding of the market of Korean translations, I think this is a particularly good one. It would be suitable for mature teens and I think could even be a great text for schools.

A terrific holiday read.