The Healing Season of Pottery by Yeon Somin translated by Claire Richards

 

Feel-good stories may differ from one language to another because such feelings are usually culturally defined. I am reading and reviewing many books belonging to this genre, however the authors and stories do belong to the European/North American realm. This week though, I decided to make a difference by discovering a raising star of the Korean literature Yeon Somin, whose local bestseller The Healing Season of Pottery was translated into English by Claire Richards. 

After an extended amount of time - count months - of inactivity following her unemployment, the scriptwriter Jungmin discovers accidentaly Soyo Studio, a pottery workshop. Intrigued, she is starting a year-long experience of learning to use clay and build her own pottery, while reconnecting with and revisiting episodes from her professional and personal past life.

Jungmin is often ´basking in her loneliness´ and and the healing - hers but also of other participants - is slow, as slow as the process of learning to properly use the clay. The reactions between the characters, and how their small community is building is by far the most important part of the story, as it opens up to a very different dynamics compared to what I am used with. 

My knowledge about the innner and social life in South Korea - was confirmed again after reading this book - is extremely limited hence my difficulties in grasping some interactions, including of Romantic interest - between characters. 

From the point of view of the book construction, I had the feeling more than once that the characters are lacking any complexity. It is understandable that they were limited by the choice of location - the pottery workshop - and their own loneliness, but did not see any reason why they are lacking any depth as humans.

Clearly I need more information and contacts with the Korean culture, and the feel-good novels may be a direct way to get to know the people and their wishes. I will be back hopefully with more topics soon and The Healing Season of Pottery, despite its shortcomings, opened up an interesting door for me.

Rating: 3.5 stars