WWW Wednesday # 224

Happy midweek everyone! Woah. Today is the last day of the first month of 2024! I can’t believe that we were all able to survive a month. I hope that January has been kind to everyone. I hope that the rest of the year will usher in more blessings and good news for everyone. I hope everyone will be happy and healthy, in body, mind, and spirit.

With the midweek comes a fresh WWW Wednesday update, my first this year. WWW Wednesday is a bookish meme hosted originally by SAM@TAKING ON A WORLD OF WORDS. The mechanics for WWW Wednesday are quite simple, you just have to answer three questions:

What are you currently reading?
What have you finished reading?
What will you read next?

What are you currently reading?

My 2021, 2022, and 2023 reading catch-up is still in full swing. This journey next brought me to yet another unfamiliar name, Stephen Markley. Before 2023, I have not heard of the American writer nor have I encountered any of his works. Late 2023 was our fated encounter when his latest novel, The Deluge was listed by literary pundits and publications as among the best works of the year. I initially shrugged it off but when I encountered the book during a not-so-random trip to the bookstore, my encounter with the book made me reconsider my choice. Without ado, I bought the book and made it part of my reading catch-up journey this January.

I am more than halfway through the story which I even featured in the previous week’s late First Impression Friday (or Monday) update. Spanning several decades, from the contemporary to the future, the novel is an intricate probe into some of the concerns that plague us, chief of which is climate change. We read about environmental politics and how it has been shaping our current social, political, and even cultural landscape. As flooding and other climate-related disasters inundate several states of the USA – it is set in the USA but its message reverberates on a global scale – there arises an urgent call for drastic measures. Characteristic of the typical American novel, the novel was brimming with political messages beyond climate change, including politics related to gender and the body. These are familiar subjects but Markley adds his own personal touch. He deviates from the formulaic story by creating a lush tapestry where Twitter posts, news updates, and even research studies converge. I still have over 300 pages to plow through but I am excited how Markley resolves our current dilemmas.

What have you finished reading?

After three consecutive weeks of high octane reading journey, the past week has been a reprieve. Compared to the first weeks of January, the previous week wasn’t as productive, reading-wise, as I could complete just one book. Nevertheless, I am still proud of how my 2024 reading journey is shaping up; my current read is also rather thick. Anyway, in the past week, I was able to complete reading Juhea Kim’s Beasts of A Little Land. This is the first novel by the Korean American writer I read. It also happens to be her debut novel. In a way, the novel reverberates with similar images of Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko.

I was meant to read the novel last year, but time wasn’t on my side. Regardless, I am happy I was able to finally read it this year. Beasts of A Little Land chronicles the tumultuous history of modern Korea, particularly during the first half of the 20th century. This part of the Korean peninsula’s history was captured through the stories of an eclectic cast of characters, particularly the former courtesan-turned-actress Jade and the street gangster-turned-activist Nam JungHo. They were childhood friends but as fate would have it, their lives converged. As they navigate life, each comes of age. Their eyes were also opened to the realities of life. Each met the different beasts that proliferated the streets of Korea, including Japanese soldiers and abusive patriarchs and men. There is a lot to unpack in the novel as it provides a vivid and compelling portrait of a young nation rising from the ashes of war and colonialism. However, Kim left some gaps. With time leaping forward, important historical touchstones left schisms that the readers are meant to complete. Or perhaps not.