Almond by Korean author Won-pyung Sohn is a touching story about two vastly different boys that grow closer by talking. A book about being different but still making something of your life with the support of others.
Almond synopsis
This story is, in short, about a monster meeting another monster.
One of the monsters is me.
Yunjae was born with a brain condition called Alexithymia that makes it hard for him to feel emotions like fear or anger. He does not have friends—the two almond-shaped neurons located deep in his brain have seen to that—but his devoted mother and grandmother aren’t fazed by his condition. Their little home above his mother’s used bookstore is decorated with colorful post-it notes that remind him when to smile, when to say “thank you,” and when to laugh. Yunjae grows up content, even happy, with his small family in this quiet, peaceful space.
Then on Christmas Eve—Yunjae’s sixteenth birthday—everything changes. A shocking act of random violence shatters his world, leaving him alone and on his own. Struggling to cope with his loss, Yunjae retreats into silent isolation, until troubled teenager Gon arrives at his school and begins to bully Yunjae.
Against all odds, tormentor and victim learn they have more in common than they realized. Gon is stumped by Yunjae’s impassive calm, while Yunjae thinks if he gets to know the hotheaded Gon, he might learn how to experience true feelings. Drawn by curiosity, the two strike up a surprising friendship. As Yunjae begins to open his life to new people—including a girl at school—something slowly changes inside him. And when Gon suddenly finds his life in danger, it is Yunjae who will step outside of every comfort zone he has created to perhaps become a most unlikely hero.
The Emissary meets The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime in this poignant and triumphant story about how love, friendship, and persistence can change a life forever.
Book review
“Lastly, and I know it sounds like an excuse, but neither you nor I nor anyone can ever really know whether a story is happy or tragic.” And then the book starts after this strong sentence that ends the prologue.
Meet Yunjae, a boy whose almonds (amygdalae) don’t work very well: he doesn’t experience emotions because his almonds don’t send the right signals to his brain. His narrative is easy to read and follow despite his being ‘different’. It sounds like he is making his case without trying to: he’s just describing what’s normal to him and just like that he seems normal to us readers.
There is a big contrast between the lives of Yunjae and Gon: one grows up receiving lots of love and care while the other is being left to his own devices. Nature versus nurture. The people around you matter, especially their willingness to give you a chance and their sincere hope for you to flourish. Almond is about being different but still making something of your life with the support of others.
Won-pyung Sohn wrote a touching story. Especially the part where the main character takes his first step towards Gon is beautiful. Their conversations are the most interesting part of the book. What the main character lacks in feeling, you as a reader make up for by feeling for him. He is a distant narrator, but the way he questions himself and ponders what he should do makes him just as full of life as anyone else. He is more aware of himself and seems older than he is. Life isn’t easy, but he is doing alright.
I really liked Almond, especially the first half of the book. It loses its strength and flow in the second part of the book, though. Dora, a girl from school, appears out of nowhere and seems to exist solely to make him feel. If the author would have focused more on Yunjae and Gon, it would have been a more subtle and deeper story. Their relationship and conversations could have turned many times more intense… it had potential. But that must be the YA genre influence: the second half of the book feels much lighter and not as touching. It somehow turns into a high school drama.
Translated from Korean by Joosun Lee.
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I just finished it a few days ago and I’m quite pleased with it. I agree with your assessment that Yunjae and Gon’s relationship may be deeper. I wish the author had gone deeper into Gon’s past so we could understand why he was still able to keep his good side despite going in and out of juvenile facilities.