This Part Is Silent: A Life Between Cultures

by S.J. Kim

A searing essay collection that explores displacement and loss, creativity and change, institutional power and progress

Born in Korea, raised in the American South, and trying her best to survive British academia, SJ Kim probes her experiences as a writer, scholar, and daughter to confront the silences she finds in the world. With curiosity and sensitivity, she writes letters to the institutions that simultaneously support and fail her, intimate accounts of immigration, and interrogations of rising anti-Black and anti-Asian racism. She considers the silences between generations―especially within the Asian diaspora in the West―as she finds her way back to her own family during the pandemic lockdown. Embracing the possibilities and impossibilities of language, Kim rejoices in the similes of Korean, her mother tongue, and draws inspiration from K-dramas and writers who sustain her, including Yusef Komunyakaa, Don Mee Choi, Toni Morrison, and Theresa Hak Kyung Cha.

Genres: Memoir, Essays, Nonfiction, Biography, Biography Memoir, Audiobook

Paperback

Published May 9, 2025

Reviews

[Rachel Louise Atkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did not expect to enjoy this so much! This is about a Korean academic who is working at an English university and is becoming more and more disillusioned with her job, her work and identity. The book is told in a mixture of Korean language and English and shows the real struggle the narrator is having with-in herself in trying to marry these two worlds and the other conflicts she has inside herself. The way this is structured is super unique and almost feels like poetry at times - this makes it very easy to read and dip in and out of as it's very accessible.

Really recommend this if you like books about academia as it is very much a university/campus type novel but one that's a lot more introspective which I absolutely loved.

[Paul Fulcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

These walks soften the edges of the homesickness I am waiting to be named. I feel I would give anything to walk the red dirt of home. I feel I would give anything. I know you know I mean it when I say it is this sickness that is my slow dying. I know you know that the home I am sick for was never, home was never. And, so, home is forever, too. What I mean is, once I wrote a poem for my father, who has only ever read stilted and broken birthday cards from me, some years reading 셍일 and 사랑해, others reading 생일 and 사랑헤

(from a longer extract at Lit Hub)

This Part is Silent: A Life Between Culture is a collection of essays by S.J. Kim, the name she writes under; she is an Associate Professor, teaching Contemporary Literature & Literary Theory at Warwick University as Jodie Kim with a PhD in the New Southern Gothic; and signs two letters in this book 김수진 - which all speaks to her 'life between cultures' which is at the centre of this novel, having been born in Korea and raised in the American South before coming to the UK.

I read the And Other Stories edition copy - which is not yet added to Goodreads (and a completely different book has incorrectly has been added with the same ISBN) - the And Other Stories house style working brilliantly here to showcase the 한글 that occurs frequently in the text:



This is one of two ways the author makes the text I think deliberately destabilising: this use of 한글 may present issues for some readers - for example in my opening quote, the 에 vs. 애 confusion in spelling birthday as 셍일 rather than 생일 and love as 사랑헤 not 사랑해.

At one point, in the essay [한년 (WOAMN, WHITE], previously published separately, she simply quotes an untranslated passage from 배수아 (Bae Suah)'s 뱀과 물 (Snakes and Water):

배수아 writes in <뱀과 물> (2017):

전혀 피곤하지 않았지만 이상하게도 나는 어느새 잠이 들었다. 그리고 내가 잠이 들자마자, 여자 심리학자가 와서 나를 흔들어 깨웠으므로 나는 아무런 꿈도꾸지못한채다시눈을떴다.창 밖은 여전히 어두웠다. 여자 심리학자 는방을나가기전과똑같이두건이달 린 검은 외투 차림이었다.

“지금 떠나야 해.” 여자 심리학자가 서둘렀다.
“지금 널 태우고 갈 트럭이 밖에서 기다리고 있어.”
“이제 꿈이 시작되는 건가요?” “바보 같은 소리 하지 마라.”

The other - which I've seen if anything more comment on in reviews - is how one has to piece together the author's background as one reads, the book very much opening in media res with the second piece 나무아미타불 관세음보살 [Forgive Me My Eyeballs], after an opening poem, written in Korean, dedicating the work to her parents (the opening lines of which are on the UK cover).

But for me the heart of this work is the piece 정 (Mother's Tongue), 정 a key concept to the novel (hence it's privileged place on the cover art of the UK edition), which not only touches on her mother and their relationship but also the power and racial dynamics in British academia, and the key literary influences, mainly poetry that inform this work, notably: Theresa 학경 Cha's Dictee; the poems of 김혜순(Kim Hyesoon) translated by Don-Mee Choi; Don-Mee Choi's own writing; Mary Jean Chan's Flèche and, perhaps most significantly, Yusef Komunyakaa's Neon Vernacular: New and Selected Poems.

An extract can be found at Wasafari

A fascinating collection. The author is, or at least, was working on a novel, which I await with interest.

[Briann · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

I was really confused for the first part of the book. The author interjects with family stories and memories with no introduction or background information. It makes it very hard to tell what is going on for the first part of the book.

The second part of the book had more structure and clarity for me.

While I was confused for most of the book, I recognize that this book was probably not written for me as an audience. However, I do think the author could have made things a little clearer. I think most people who read this book will not know the author personally or her family history and will find some of her stories confusing.

Overall, though, a very good first novel. I look forward to reading it again someday and seeing if I can come away with more appreciation.

[Liviu · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5)

[Mollie Spalding · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning. Intelligent and thought provoking. Raw and vulnerable. Melissa Febos meets Crying in H Mart.

[Alejo Alvarez || babblewithale · Rating 5 out of 5]

I still don't think I've yet come to understand how truly meaningful this book was for me.

(I also found this book at Livraria Lello, so shout out to Porto 🗣)

I'm probably gonna botch this summary, but this book touches on a variety of subjects, such as sexual assault, literary analyses, the author's dynamic relationship with her parents, her trauma and experiences in academia, the realities of race and Black and foreign identities in the United States, and ~ what I overwhelming consider to be the necessary tether in connecting this memoir ~ her experience growing up as a TCK/TCA (Third Culture Kid/Adult)

(Note: this isn't a phrase that she actually uses in her novel, but a phrase that I consider is an important framework in contextualising several of her life experiences in relation to people who have grown up in similar ways)

When I started off this novel, I think I was immediately drawn in with how her writing style wasn't originally presented as being 'traditional' — especially since the storytelling was non-linear, slightly abstract, and jumped between story plots in order to reinforce her main thematic points, or also just present how our minds keep jumping between different tangents as a way to truly process the full fledged image behind our story telling.

In relation, there's so many things I want to talk about, but I'm honestly shocked at how much of her academic trauma I can find relatable in my own lived experiences of academia. When she mentioned a white professor's 'liberal' (bs 😒) use of the N-word, it so viscerally reminded me of two of the worst, academically abusive professors I had in undergrad. The way she wrote about the debilitating and opressive white academic spaces, the white noise, she had to work through was just another reminder of how isolated, alienated, or erased I felt in very similar environments growing up throughout middle school and high school. AND! I was just as shocked to learn that so much of the physical toll and emotional drainage she had to go through with her research and publications, (reminder: at a PhD level!) felt comparable for me at an undergrad level ⁉️ Like, how can that be possible, how have these academic systems completely changed from what we've been previously told we need to do in university?

(Important Note: yes, fuck the marketisation of our universities, especially research universities. Make teaching valuable and respected again)

I may honestly revisit this book to write a longer review somewhere else in the future, but the last thought I want to leave off with is that this book, at least for me, shared a very nunaced, authentic, and poetic portrayal of a TCA mind and the unique experiences that a TCK/TCA faces growing up in different cultures and countries that aren't commonly shown in our media or are framed in very individual aspects—such as a static immigrant or foreigner identity—in which intersectional analyses aren't being used to show how interconnected these lived realities are in the context of the TCK experience.

And I saw this through the author's stories of her unique command of a 'broken' and self-formed language in Korean, her difficulties in finding a therapist that doesn't overtly analyse the semantic content of her language and the experiences she's sharing, the undeserved disrespect she received from a bus driver who scolded her for holding out money with both hands, the need to have a white, male friend to be with her when with an agent in order to find an apartment in London, the disconnection you build with your parents by being raised in such different social and political contexts, how the oppressive ideology behind race specifically in America shapes our psyche around belonging in a global context, what foods we are shamed to bring to the school cafeteria, the uncomfortable conversations we have when someone thinks or knows we are foreign on a land even if we aren't, and so so so so so much more.

I'm not sure when I'll truly understand it, but I do know how much this book means to me. And how much it'll mean to me in the future I'll build. So I give an insurmountable thank you to the author who wrote this and shared something that really made me feel seen and continues to show me who I want to grow into 🙏

[Shauna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Title: This Part is Silent: A Life Between Cultures
Author: SJ Kim
Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️3.5
GENRE: memoir, non-fiction

📚SUMMARY & THOUGHTS📚
Kim, shares in a poetic prose about her life. Slightly disjointed, sliding around the timeline, she delves into her inner thoughts about her family’s immigration to America, her own immigration to Britain, race relations, her professional academic life and seeing herself in Korean Dramas.
Often writing with abstract and philosophical views, she writes sometimes as if speaking to herself and other times as if speaking to the reader. The book is in English while also containing words, phrases, and Korean quotes without a translation. As someone who is multi-lingual but does not know Korean, I appreciated the need to express certain concepts in only one language. I did not find the lack of translation interfering with my overall understanding but it did makes me feel like I was missing a deeper meaning.

📚JOYS📚
For over a decade, I have intentionally been reading more about culture, race, and immigration experiences. I was intrigued when I first saw this book title and excited when I received it as a Goodreads Giveaway. (Thank you!) I appreciated reading about SJ Kim’s experience and her perspectives on race.

📚CHALLENGES📚
Kim shared a lot of sharp emotions about Christianity, America and White people. As a Christian white American it certainly brought up a lot of topics I would love to discuss further.
However, as mentioned throughout the book, there is a poignant opposition to having discussion or shared dialogue about these issues with White people. From my understanding, as a white reader, I am asked to simply listen and hold the emotion and trauma without a response. I find this challenging but it will not deter me from continuing to read on this topic and search for understanding and build towards unity.

📚TOPIC & LANGUAGE CONSIDERATIONS📚
Adult language, SA, racism, occult,

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

On page 167 the author says: "Writing can reassure and writing can upset, writing can disrupt" - alas, for this reader the book did none of those.

I picked up the book because I wanted to understand better what it feels like to be a (young) South Korean immigrating to the "West" ... but the book's structure, and the intellectual cacophony of its emoting narrative that meanders from one idea to another (aggravated by the intermittent use of Korean words, left unexplained), in the end act more to further isolate the author in her cocoon of cultural nostalgia than it does to invite the reader to understand it by living it, with and through the author.

If you are considering this book, you will perhaps get more out of it [unlike this reader] "if you have only ever lived with one country to call home" (p167). Despite her protestations to the contrary, the author does quite a good job of "explain(ing) that kind of dark to you" - if not explaining it, at least describing it. The unquenchable "wish I felt more at home anywhere".

This reader did enjoy (and empathise with, from experience) the acerbic critique of the absurd self-referential modus operandi of the academic world .... culminating in the terrifying new questions added to the author's departmental "mandatory research productivity form" (p168) which make 1984 seem like child's play.

Finally, on page 165, the author writes that "There will never come a day when I look back on the words I wrote here ..... and feel shame for so exposing my own desperation" -- that may be so, but exposing your desperation this way is more helpful as surrogate therapy for the author than it is to generate novel insights for a reader who is not a teenager.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to W. W. Norton & Company and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
SJ Kim’s This Part is Silent: A Life Between Cultures is an essay collection that reflects on the challenges and progress involved in academia, anti-racism, and being a writer and part of an immigrant family before and during the pandemic. The common theme that unites these topics is silence and how Kim finds these moments to be an opportunity to reflect and understand her perspective on the world both in the present and during her time as a doctoral student. Kim references notable Korean and American writers as well as significant people in her life–her parents, colleagues, and former students¬–to navigate the events she witnesses and her emotions. The collection’s structure feels disjointed and purposely conveys a feeling of disconnection between chapters; this reflects how people revisit their memories from the in a non-linear fashion to make sense of their lives and what is important to them. Kim's work encapsulates a very personal journey to find a sense of belonging.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book as part of my subscription to
“And Other Stories,” an independent not-for-profit publisher. (I highly recommend a subscription). Fitting with the type of works that are published, this memoir refuses to fit a standard template, and creatively meanders across time, from the author’s immigration to the US south from Korea, to graduate school and a faculty position in the UK. It’s an interesting look at racism, life, and family. The first part orients the reader to the writer, the middle part kind of felt like an essay with many quotes from writers and history (this part seemed a little much, with less written connection to the memoir-ish-ness of this book), then the last part settles in nicely to bring things together. It takes a bit of effort to read (google translate on my phone helped me to catch the Korean details, which were fun), but worth it. Interesting for sure.

[Taina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Etelä-Koreassa syntynyt, Yhdysvalloissa kasvanut SJ Kim kirjoittaa omaelämäkerrallisia esseitä kulttuurien välissä kasvamisesta ja elämisestä. Teemoina ovat hiljaisuus, luovuus, rasismi, valta. Kimin kirjoitustyyli on runollisen kaunis. Kokonaisuus jätti kuitenkin jollain tavalla kylmäksi - tarttumapintaa oli vaikea löytää.

[Peacefulbookery · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The student longs for a body of water. She longs for a body." (p.128)

Poetic, succinctly-written memoir of social and cultural trauma and alienation (including gendered and academic ostracisation).

A personal, unsentimental look at the many ways in which oppressive power structures benignly crush minority groups.

[Faiqa Mansab · Rating 5 out of 5]

A searing indictment of racism in academia and life in general. A brilliant collection of essays that takes on painful memories and painful issues. An insightful and heartbreaking collection of essays that is somehow still life-affirming, gentle and brave but also sharp and unapologetic. Wonderful!

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by a Korean academic who is working at an English university and is increasingly disillusioned with her job, her work and identity. A slightly challenging read as it can feel a bit disjointed, especially at the beginning, but once I became more accustomed to the pacing, it became very engrossing and almost poetic.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely genius: brilliantly informed and intersectional and gorgeously written! If I was teaching this would be required reading. Put it on your must read list now. An author to watch, a true original.

[Ellen Beardsworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book as an honest insight into the author's experiences as an immigrant academic and treatment in British society.
but as other reviews have said, I struggled a bit with the disjointed narrative, especially at the beginning.

[Skylar Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found it very academic but 4 stars for the beautiful ending, I was so touched