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Book Review of The Island of Sea Women

The Island of Sea Women
The Island of Sea Women
Author: Lisa See
Genre: Literature & Fiction
Book Type: Paperback
maura853 avatar reviewed on + 542 more book reviews


Abandoned at page 75.

I really can't stick with this book a minute longer. I get it, this is a fascinating subject, and one that would be well-worth reading about. But ... how I wish Lisa See had written it as a straight history, rather than as a novel, because as a novel, it's like fingernails on a blackboard for me. (I know from my book club that I'm in the minority here, Hey ho.)

See's writing is clunky: completely uninspired and uninspiring. Short, choppy sentences are, I suspect, meant to convey the honest, down-to-earthedness of the "haenyeo" (the "sea women" of the Jeju island province of Korea). She has never seen a cliche that she doesn't like. Her characters have no inner life, they-- mothers, children, friends -- talk like they're addressing an anthropology lecture, ploddingly telling each other things that they already know.

Perhaps I should give it more credit --I know that many people have read it, and enjoyed it and hopefully come away with a better understanding of the history of these women, and their island, and the recent history of Korea. Sadly, not me ...