For a short time during my final high-school years, I´ve met a girl who was obsessed with Axl Rose. It was before the time of the Facebook and Instagram and Internet in general, therefore all her information she got was from BRAVO. Her obsession was sickening, ending up being sure that she was talking with him and he was waiting for her and he was meant to be her one and only. I have no idea what happened with this girl, but I am more than convinced that at the time, if she would have the option to take a transatlantic flight to meet him and wait to propose, she would have done it without second thoughts.
The unnamed 29 yo woman protagonist of Esther Yi´s novel Y/N fell in love overnight with a K-pop star named Moon - in a band where the members do wear names of the planets from the solar system - and following his mysterious decision of disappearing from public eyes´ she takes a flight to Seoul to find him.
After reading some stories about the over emotional realm surrounding K-pop bands, particularly the male protagonists, and being familiar with at least one case of star addiction, However, questioning every single line the sanity of this whole world comes as ´normal´. People may do many things out of boredom, and falling in love with a K-pop star is one of the less dangerous enterprises. No more ´screen emptiness´, but a bit of human - ´normal´ - excitement, as falling in love.
Questioning emotions and their limits - ´Was love for Moon an universal human emotion?´ - although may sound very basic is the counter of a world without emotions, lost in the technical being and the fake realm of emotions. We are emotionally displaced those days and sometimes it is a wonder that we still can call ourselves humans. Social media - the Instagram lives, for instance - dissipate the distance between us and stars, makes us feel part of their world in a comfortable way. Why not think about falling in love with someone whose messages you like or comment on social media?
In addition to the very beautiful writing, the novel - which I had access to in audiobook format, read by actress Greta Jung of Modern Family and Chicago Med - also has an extraordinary black-and-white cover. Born and educated in the US, Esther Yi currently lives in Berlin.
Rating: 3.5 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment