Saha Mansion

by Cho Nam-Joo, Iingliana (Translator)

Ada dua kelas masyarakat yang diakui di kota-negara aneh yang disebut Town, yaitu L dan L2. L—yang lebih sering disebut Warga—adalah penduduk resmi yang memiliki status finansial tingkat tertentu, pengetahuan, dan keahlian yang dibutuhkan Town. Sedangkan L2 adalah orang-orang yang tidak bisa digolongkan sebagai penduduk resmi, tetapi memiliki izin tinggal sementara. Lalu, ada Saha, golongan masyarakat yang tidak diakui, yang terdiri atas para imigran gelap, difabel, korban kekerasan, dan kemiskinan yang menghuni Saha Mansion. Apa yang terjadi ketika seorang dokter wanita muda yang terhormat ditemukan tewas dengan tanda-tanda kelebihan dosis, pelecehan seksual, dan satu-satunya tersangka adalah kekasihnya yang berasal dari golongan Saha? Polisi segera menahan si kekasih, tetapi apakah pria itu memang pelakunya? Apa hubungannya dengan orang-orang yang menghilang dari Saha Mansion secara misterius? Apa yang sebenarnya terjadi di dalam tembok Town yang tidak bisa ditembus? Dan siapa sebenarnya ketujuh menteri tanpa wajah yang memimpin kota-negara itu?

Genres: Fiction, Dystopia, Science Fiction, Thriller, Contemporary, Audiobook, Asian Literature

294 pages, Paperback

First published May 28, 2019

About the author

Associated Names:
* 조남주 (Korean)
* Cho Nam-Joo (English)
* 趙南柱 (Chinese)
* โชนัมจู (Thai)
* チョ・ナムジュ (Japanese)

Cho Nam-joo is a former television scriptwriter. In the writing of Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 she drew partly on her own experience as a woman who quit her job to stay at home after giving birth to a child.

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 is her third novel. It has had a profound impact on gender inequality and discrimination in Korean society, and has been translated into 18 languages.

Reviews

[Jaidee · Rating 1 out of 5]

My review disappeared !!

Rather frustrating!

Oh well I am sticking to my 1.5 stars!

In a nutshell

This started off excellent and then became a

Disappointing Dupey Dystopian Disaster and my inner demon was released

[Rosh ~catching up slowly~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a Nutshell: A character-oriented dystopian story set on a fictional estate named Saha. This is like a montage of disconnected stories that have a partial bearing on each other. The book is not for everyone. Do not compare it with “Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982” – it won’t match up.

Story Synopsis:

A dystopian town known only as ‘Town’ - erstwhile a fishing village but now purchased and run by a capitalist corporation. Town takes care of its assets – the top class citizens (those with qualifications and wealth) with the L status. The second tier citizens, the L2s, function based on residence permits that they need to renew every two years, depending on their working status. And then there are those without any permit, the residents who survive via contractual work, those who have no access to insurance or security. The residents of the illegal Saha housing complex fall in this third category. Through the experiences of some of the Saha residents: siblings Do-Kyung and Jin-Kyung, gentle giant Woomi, one-eyed Sara, the old custodian, and many other such characters, we see life under the totalitarian regime.

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 is one of my absolute favourite books. All these years, it had been the only novel of Cho Nam-Joo to be translated into English. So when I saw that there was finally going to be a second work of hers translated, I grabbed the opportunity to read it. But the premises of the two novels are very different, and as a result, so are my experiences.

The brilliance of the author is visible even this time. Through a complicated series of events that are mostly disconnected but do have a partial bearing on at least one other situation, the author unveils the repercussions of an extremely stifled life under an authoritarian corporation. She creates the atmosphere on the island in such a way that we too begin feeling the hopelessness of their lives. But the citizens of Saha don’t complain because they are accustomed to their situation and know no other option. Their resignation, however, doesn’t mean blind acceptance of every dictate of the state-corporation, but how far can little rebellions go?

As a literary fiction, this novel is slow-paced and greatly character-oriented. Moreover, each of the main characters has a storyline built around them. As such, rather than functioning like one smooth novel, the book is almost like an anthology, making us feel as if we are peeking through each window of the Saha housing complex, and uncovering the backstory of the central characters in that house. The resultant montage is striking, but it is also tricky to grasp. The back-and-forth in the timelines and the house numbers add to the complexity.

With the background of the state-corporation clearly provided towards the start, I had assumed that this would be a resounding slap on the face of extreme capitalism, just as Kim Jiyoung was on the face of patriarchy. However, the execution feels somewhat amoebic this time – simplistic, shapeless, and sedate. There is no direct vitriol against capitalistic behaviour but just a sense of resignation. The oomph is missing. The ending offers the biggest disappointment as it comes out of nowhere and finishes almost before we realise what’s happening! I was perched comfortably on the 3.5 stars position until the ending made me slide two levels down.

A part of me wonders if a poor translation might have impaired my reading experience. Both of Cho Nam-Joo’s novels have been translated to English by Jamie Chung. I had had no issues in the language of Kim Jiyoung but a few of my friends hadn’t been happy with the dry writing style. I have no idea if the author’s writing itself is such or if the translation makes it appear drab.

To those who have read both books, a comparison with Kim Jiyoung is inevitable, given that Kim Jiyoung was almost a trailblazer. But it’s better you not attempt a comparison because there’s no way Saha will rate better. Kim Jiyoung offered a very personal connect to its readers, especially to women readers. While a part of the dystopian premise of Saha is already present in our world, most of it seems distant and disconnected from us. This results in a comparatively lacklustre impact.

I will still read any future translation of Cho Nam-Joo’s other works, because I find her a thinking writer. She doesn’t stop at writing ordinary stories on important themes but also subverts their impact by her unexpected plot choices at the end. Her character detailing is impeccable, and the sense of doom she can incorporate through a deceptively subtle approach is beyond compare.

Saha was mostly a 3.5 star experience for me, but the ending left me very disappointed. Hence, I round my rating down. If I had read it without having experienced the brilliance of Kim Jiyoung, I might have enjoyed it better.

3.5 stars.

My thanks to Liveright, W. W. Norton, and Edelweiss+ for the DRC of “Saha”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

_______________________________________

For my review of Kim Jiyoung Born 1982, please click HERE.

[Meike · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the international bestseller Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 illuminated gender-based discrimination, the dystopian social critique "Saha" now tackles classism: Set in a country called Town that was first overtaken by a corporation and is now said to be ruled by a faceless, anonymous Council (capitalism! authoritarianism! lack of accountability!), the novel tells the story of the inhabitants of the Saha Estates, the disenfranchised underclass of Town. The remote land separates its people in three classes: Citizens (L), workers with 2-year-visas (L2), and the aforementioned Sahas who exist in a dire, inescapable circle of hopelessness, exhaustion and desperation.

Cho Nam-Joo evokes this world by stringing together numerous vignettes focusing on different inhabitants of the Saha Estates, both in the present and the past, that highlight different aspects of this class-based society, mainly posing the question why - except from the historical "butterfly riot" - the people of Town mostly don't stand up to the injustice and cruelty that forms the basis of their state. Slowly, it becomes clear what happened to those who dared to rebel...

Now it's kind of silly to criticize a dystopian novel that aims to fight classism for being crude, because let's face it: 1984 is unbelievably crude, and it's also unbelievably great. But Cho Nam-Joo's text starts to get out of control in the last third, when human experiments come into play and a stand-off in a lab turns farcical: The resolution is just too over the top, it has an upsetting effect on the reader who, during the first half, is inclined to agree with the author regarding the overall message - but this message then warps into a far-feteched hero's tale that doesn't really work.

This is unfortunate, because the destinies of average Sahas who fight a merciless system that does not care whether they live or die is emotionally impactful and resonates with phenomena like the opening gap between rich and poor and the corrosion of societal solidarity (not to talk about authoritarian regimes that, let's say: use slaves to build soccer stadiums etc.). The characters are well-rendered, the atmosphere is effectively bleak, the claustrophobic, oppressive social fabric is palpable.

So I wish Cho Nam-Joo would have been able to maintain the strength the story is build on. Still, an interesting text, and this remains a writer to watch.

[Alwynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

More a series of interlinking sketches than a conventional novel, Cho Nam-Joo’s Saha is set in a fictional land called Town. An island once colonised by a now-defunct corporation then swallowed up by enigmatic foreign investors, Town has morphed into an autonomous city-state, an authoritarian realm ruled by a shadowy council of leaders. Cho focuses on Saha Estates, a crumbling, out of the way complex, whose residents share its name. The Sahas are the lowest of the low, isolated and impoverished, marginalised people taking on the low-paid, dirty work no one else wants. The rest of Town is populated by the Ls and L2s. The prosperous Ls trade skills and knowledge for financial independence and a privileged existence, while the more precarious L2s have temporary visas, open for renewal on a cyclical basis.

Cho opens with the death of Su, a once-prosperous L, who somehow ended up in a relationship with a Saha man, Do-Kyung. Abandoning Su’s body, Do-Kyung flees and his sister Jin-Kyung is left to solve the mystery of Su’s death and her brother’s disappearance. But this puzzle is peripheral to most of what follows. Instead, Cho uses it as a framing device for vignettes through which the history and structure of Town's revealed. Cho apparently drew inspiration from the former Walled City of Kowloon, an area that remained separate when the rest of Hong Kong was handed over to the British. Like that Walled City, Saha Estates is a potentially lawless place but it’s also home to a thriving community with its own rules and close bonds. Cho explores the lives and experiences of a handful of residents, women escaping domestic abuse, a mainland nurse whose mistake forced her into exile, the desperate and often the undocumented.

In interviews Cho’s stressed her interest in exploring themes rather than story, and it’s definitely her themes that stand out. She’s obviously working within traditions of speculative, dystopian fiction so, as always, there are parallels with real world scenarios. The obvious connection is the one between Town and present-day South Korea. Both are marked by rigid social stratification and growing inequality; countries where some lives are accorded far more status and value than others, and those deemed without value are increasingly disposable. Both restrict access to certain forms of education and medical provision to those with money; and chaebol corporations wield enormous power. There are potential similarities here too between Town and the possible futures of Korea’s corporate or metropolitan cities like Uhlsan. But Cho’s oblique commentary on the evils of contemporary capitalism and its disenfranchised underclasses never quite comes together. It reminded me a little of Strange Beasts of China a similarly veiled, if more fantastical, episodic portrait of dystopian society. But Cho’s creation is less richly imagined, less fiercely critical. Even so, this is incredibly readable, smoothly translated and fluid. I was happily absorbed in events and characters; and the issues Cho raises are highly relevant. But the mystery elements are woefully under-developed, the dramatic ending felt tacked on, and the novel as a whole seems closer to draft form than it does a fully realised piece. Translated here by Jamie Chang.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Scribner for an ARC

[Brenda · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Saha Estates housed the poor and destitute in an area called Town. Jin-Kyung and her younger brother Do-Kyung lived together in one of the small apartments and when Do-Kyung and a pediatrician called Su moved in together in the Saha Estates, their apartment was away from Jin-Kyung's. The day that Su's body was discovered in a car, the police, brutal and opportunistic, came searching for Do-Kyung. But he had disappeared...

Saha by Cho Nam-Joo is a strange book. Moving back and forth, and about various different people, I had trouble working out what stage it was at most of the time. I couldn't feel any empathy for the characters, and the cruel brutality of the police was startling. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy Saha and it wasn't for me.

With thanks to Simon & Schuster AU for my uncorrected proof ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

[Emily May]

DNF - 25%

I can't do this one right now. I'm a big fan of the author's Kim Jiyoung but this wacky dystopia is not doing it for me. It reads like a series of vignettes, snapshots of different characters and themes. And I think that last word there is key-- this is a story that focuses more on themes and ideas than on creating memorable characters and an engaging story.

I can see the capitalist critique emerging, which is not uninteresting, but I need something a bit more engaging and immersive at this moment.

[Paul Fulcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this rigid land that outsiders could not access and no one wanted to leave, in this mysterious, reclusive state, the Saha Estates was the only secret passageway.

밖에 있는 누구도 나가려 하지 않는 비밀스럽고 폐쇄적인 국가에서 사하맨션은 유일한 통로 혹은 비상구 같은 곳이다.

Saha is Jamie Chang's 2022 translation of the 2019 Korean novel 사하맨션 ('Saha Mansion') by 조남주 (Cho Nam-Joo). This was the author's first novel published (*) since her best-selling and highly influential 2016 novel 82년생 김지영, translated into English, again by Jamie Chang, as Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982: my review.

(* although the original manuscript of 사하맨션 predates 82년생 김지영)

Saha is set in a privatised city-state Town.

The country that did not accept citizens without capital, skills, or expertise. The country with the most comprehensive semiconductor core technology, handheld devices, and displays, the greatest number of patents in the field of vaccines, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices, and the largest, most advanced biotech research center staffed with the brightest team. The only country to adopt a Council of seven co-ministers for its government. The country entirely run by seven ministers lording over the puppet Parliament, who never revealed their identities, much less engaged with the public. The country that did not belong to any international organization or regional union. The smallest, strangest country, which went by the name of Town.

But security in Town is strict, with sedition punishable by execution. And life is not prosperous for everyone who lives there. The former residents of the area were not automatically granted citizenship in Town, or even a permanent right-to-remain, and there are officially two, and unofficially three, classes of people, based on economic utility:

There were two classes of people in Town: L and L2. The ones with Town citizenship were referred to as Ls, or Citizens. These were people above a certain level of financial status who had knowledge or skills that Town required. Underage residents were recognized as Citizens only if they had parents or legal sponsors who were Citizens. L2 visas were issued to those without citizenship qualifications who had a clean criminal record. Applicants went through a brief interview and physical examination. They were referred to around Town as L2, and their visas were good for two years. Two years were all they got. They were welcome to look for work in all areas during those two years without fear of deportation, but most workplaces that sought L2 labor were construction sites, warehouses, cleaning companies, and other hard labor for little pay. When the two years were up, L2s had to go through another round of interviews and physical exams to extend their visas. Most L2s were natives who put themselves through the degradation because they didn’t have the qualifications to make Citizen and simply couldn’t leave their hometowns. When the L2s had children they couldn’t afford to raise, those children became L2s as well.

Jin-kyung wasn’t even an L2, but a Saha—she wasn’t anyone or anything deserving of a category. Saha was what they were called even if they didn’t live in Saha Estates, which Jin-kyung assumed the name came from. The term seemed to say, This is as far as you get.

Saha is an abandoned large blocks of flats which is now home to a community of those on the society's fringes, some L2s but also those who have lost even their L2 visa but don't want to leave the area for the mainland, those shunned by others due to their sexuality or disability, the young and orphaned and the very old. Saha receives only basic services from Town, and is run by an informal residents' association, and whenever trouble strikes in Town, the police's first thought is to round up those in Saha for questioning.

The author explained in an interview that her inspiration for the Saha came from two sources:

1) the Sakha region of Russia, from which the name is adapted, a particularly remote and inhospitable (although inhabited) area of the country, subject to extreme temperature swings.

and more directly, although on a much smaller scale:

2) the former Kowloon Walled City, itself a largely self-governed enclave in a city state, which Wikipedia describes as:

An ungoverned and densely populated de jure Chinese enclave within the boundaries of Kowloon City, British Hong Kong. Originally a Chinese military fort, the walled city became an enclave after the New Territories were leased to the United Kingdom by China in 1898. Its population increased dramatically following the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong during World War II. By 1990, the walled city contained 50,000 residents within its 2.6-hectare (6.4-acre) borders. From the 1950s to the 1970s, it was controlled by local triads and had high rates of prostitution, gambling, and drug abuse.

The novel's main story focuses on Jin-kyung and her younger brother Do-Kyoung (both around 30).

The sight of her brother covered in blood and shivering brought to mind the old Estates over in Town. Jin-kyung thought of the small Town-country somewhere down south that had become independent decades ago. The country that built a tall, impenetrable wall between it and the rest of the world. And the Saha Estates was a secluded island within the isolated country. Where in the world could they find a more perfect hideout?

The novel opens with Do-kyung waking up, disorientated, in a car, to find his fellow passenger, Su, his girlfriend, lifeless, beside him. He flees the scene, and the police launch a murder hunt with Do-Kyoung the prime suspect. Su was a fully-fledged L from Town, a paediatrician, but who offered her services for free to the families of Saha, and, having fallen for Do-kyung, did the unthinkable for a Citizen and moved into the building.

And while Jin-kyung is convinced of her brother's innocence - he loved Su and they were in a relationship whereas the police, unable to conceive of a Citizen and a Saha being together, label him a stalker and accuse him of murder as well as sexual assault - she does harbour a dark secret of her own. As the quote above hints, the siblings took the unusual step of moving from the mainland into Town (and Saha) because of an incident in their former home, when Do-kyung took bloody and murderous revenge on an exploitive boss that he blamed for the suicide of their mother.

But the novel also features the stories of many other residents of Saha, including some from 30 years previously, giving insight into the circumstances that brought them there, which is the more social-commentary aspect to the novel, including a side-story about one character which, in term of the fate of the Saha's, tips this (as perceptively pointed out in Korean Literature Now review of the Indonesian translation) firmly into the territory of Achille Mbembe's concept of Necropolitics.

Kim Ji-Young, Born 1982 read at times almost like an academic study, complete with footnotes (albeit there was an explanation for this within the novel's closing pages) and she is generally known for a rather forensic style. In the interview linked above she explained that for her the theme of the novel is more important than the enjoyment of the story, or the literary form:

그는 또 이야기 재미나 형식적 완성도, 문학 자체의 예술적 성취보다는 주제의식 전달에 중점을 둔다고 밝혔다

"내가 가진 질문을 세상 사람들에게 하고 싶어요. 다른 사람들도 이런 질문을 가졌는지 궁금한 것 같고, 그게 내가 소설을 쓰도록 만들어요. 소설의 형식, 장르에 대한 생각, 이 소설이 어떻게 읽힐지, 기술적으로 어떻게 진행할까 하는 생각보다 어떤 이야기를 전하고 싶은지가 저에게 우선이에요. 저는 읽히는 재미보다는 어떤 이야기를 전할 것인가에 중점을 두고 소설을 쓰는 작가인 것 같아요."

Although she comments later that this novel was less logically planned and the story grew more organically.

And if anything, while it makes for a less dry read, this less planned nature is the main issue here - to me the novel couldn't decide if this was a story about Jin-Kyung's quest to exonerate her brother, or more a collection of stories illustrating the author's Necropolitical dystopian view of modern society. It seems mainly the latter until in the novel's closing quarter it suddenly takes on a more thrillerish aspect, which was less satisfying for me, and we discover a secret at Town's heart.

Overall, I'm afraid this was a disappointment against the author/translator's previous work. That said the sheer length of my review is testament to it's effect on my thinking. 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

Thanks to the publisher via Netgalley for the ARC.

[Leo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Saha was a interesting read and got very invested in some parts. However it did not evoke any lasting emotions on me and I don't remember anything specific after finished the book. But might reread Cho Nam-Joo fist book in 2023

[Kate O'Shea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well if you read the blurb for Saha you'd be expecting a thrilling, action-packed, roller coaster ride of a book. Saha is none of those things but I found it compelling all the same.

We are given a country where there are 3 sections of population - the most privileged Ls, the middle/working class L2s and finally the people on the edge of society - the ones who live in the Saha Mansions. They are the dispossessed, the ones for whom life will be hard, a struggle and more than likely short. Presiding over all of them is a Council of Ministers - a shady, secretive group of men who make the rules.

In Saha we meet the various residents whose lives intersect with Jin-kyung and her brother, Do-kyung. The pair constantly try to better their lives and to understand what the world around them means; what future they have. Jin's answer is work and Do falls in love with a doctor, Su. However Su, in her quest to do something good for the vulnerable of Saha, falls foul of the authorities. Do's life is turned upside down when he wakes cold and afraid next to the body of Su. Has he killed her? He goes on the run.

Jin is devastated by this and begins to try to unravel what has happened but this means trying to find out how her world is run. We meet the various inhabitants of Saha and it is their stories and their part in the history of Saha that leads to Jin's final confrontation at the Council of Ministers.

As I said it is not a murder mystery in the conventional sense but it is oddly compelling. I found myself returning to it more often than I expected when I first began the book. It is bleak and it smacks of Orwell's 1984 but is none the worse for that.

I did not read Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 but it's going back on the list as this author intrigues me. If you like a good, perplexing dystopian novel then this is for you.

I received an advance copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Lady Clementina ffinch-ffarowmore · Rating 3 out of 5]

My thanks to Simon and Schuster, UK for a review copy of this book via NetGalley.

Having read the powerful and hard-hitting Kim Ji-Young, Born 1982 by author Cho Nam-Joo, when I found another of her works had been translated, of course, I had to read it.

Saha (first published in 2019, and in translation here by Jamie Chang in 2022) is a dystopian tale albeit not a futuristic one. The book is set in and around an autonomous state, ‘Town’ which had fallen into the control of a large corporation, and is now run by a group of seven ministers whom no one has ever seen. The people of Town are divided according to their wealth and education; under the ‘L’ category are ‘proper’ citizens, living in Town with access to every facility and lives of privilege; ‘L2s’ who are the next degree, able to live in Town so long as they hold employment (usually 2-year contracts which may or may not be renewed), and the lowest rung, the status-less Saha pushed out to the fringes—the ‘Saha Estates’ where they lead precarious existences, in houses in states of disrepair and decay, employment only for short periods and never making them enough to live, and no hope of any change. For the Saha,

Each time they paused to take stock of their lives, they found themselves unfailingly worse off than before; Saha residents thus grew more childish, petty and simpleminded.

Yet the Saha Estates are also a sanctuary, a space where those who have nowhere else can find shelter and can find help—abandoned babies or babies left orphaned, people escaping worse fates in Town or even elsewhere. But the grimness and challenges of life leave many of the Saha wishing for something different, something more.

In this background, Saha opens with the murder of Su, a paediatrician, one who had ‘L’ status but seems to have lost it after she fell in love with Do-Kyung, a Saha. Do-Kyung is instantly a suspect (‘Town’ narratives painting him out to be a stalker and criminal, even when witnesses and evidence testify otherwise) and flees, leaving his older sister Jun-Kyung, who has looked after him since childhood, and is now his only family, to solve the puzzle. But from here, rather than tracing the ‘mystery’ to be solved, the book tells the story of the Saha Estates and its residents, each facing problems of their own—disability, abandonment, violence, and even crimes or mistakes in their pasts—besides the bitter reality of no possible escape from the lives they lead.

Saha is structured rather like another of my recent reads, Café Shira, with the Saha Estates being the factor that ties together the lives of the various residents we follow—each chapter focused on a different person (usually identified by the unit they occupy in the complex), and telling us their story. In the process we move between past and present—how some of these came to live in Saha, how some tried to escape but could never do so or had to eventually return, and what their lives are like in the present.

While these stories may unfold in a dystopian setting, the issues they throw up are ones being witnessed in present-day society—disproportionately rising corporate power, poverty, disenfranchisement (in various forms)—uncomfortably close to lives actually being lived, perhaps across the globe.

Where the book fell short for me was, for one, in the way the thread that the book stated with, the murder of Su was resolved. Although we do get an answer of sorts to the death itself, the explanation is lacking which made it feel unsatisfactory. Again, when Jun-Kyung decides to take certain matters in her hands and face up to the authorities, explanations seem incomplete and while there is a ray of hope in the ending, at the same time, the situation continues to feel irredeemable.

I very much liked the book’s structure as a means to explore the stories of the Saha residents, each of which hold one’s interest and evoke sympathy, yet a number of threads, be it the murder or the fate of certain characters, are never fully explained, leaving the book feeling somewhat unfinished and the reader unsatisfied.

3.5 stars

[Karen·]

A smoke and mirrors kind of book, deceptive and tricksy.
At first it comes over as a murder mystery set in some kind of dystopian future, but what happened to Su (or why) fades away as it turns into something more like a collection of biographies of the people living in the Saha Estates, but then it shimmers and transforms again and my impression at the end was that it might be a script for a TV series, you know, one of those that doesn't worry too much about psychological authenticity, sacrificing all claims to reason and motivation for the astonishing twist! Wow! Didn't see that coming! Well how would you, that's the point of a twist isn't it? Unexpected.
Sort of fun, but not.

[Rachel Yuska · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still have a lot of questions

[Rachel Louise Atkin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I honestly hated this and I'm so sad because I adored the authors other book. It's a really generalised dystopia and the premise promises that there's going to be like an investigation and uncovering of all this disturbing stuff but it's more like a bunch of skits and short stories put together, and it felt all over the place. The structure was just absolutely off and it once it started wandering it didn't grip you in the slightest. Half the time I had no idea who we were following or why. I think Nam-Joo really tried to make a statement with this book but unfortunately for me it didn't work. Will still be reading her future books because as I said I loved her debut but this book was just a hot mess.

[lisa (fc hollywood's version) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you W. W. Norton & Company and NetGalley for this e-ARC

I truly don't know how to express my thoughts about Saha

First of all, the worldbuilding is good, wish it was more atmpospheric but the tone is set. The commentary on capitalism is there.

But for most part this book has so much potential but the execution is not it. I feel like the author had a common thread to tie everything together, but the result is very underwhelming.

The thing is, the snippets of different characters are good, great even, but the way they are put together is very disconnected. Some characters overshadow the others but at the same time, many side characters have their back stories told in vivid details, but never shown again. Overall, very confusing.

[Phoenix2 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Saha is a sci-fi dystopian short story by Cho Nam Joo.

The story takes place in the Saha estate, an apartment complex that is occupied by outcasts and those who can't get a citizen status or a visa to stay in the Town legally, and it is prompted by the death of a citizen in the beginning. From there, the story introduces slowly many characters, jumping from one timeline to another, masterfully building a web of relationships, connections, and a motif that, in the end, will explain what is happening in the world of the Town.

However, when the time comes for the story to finally reach its climax and move forward, explain who is behind everything, and give an ending, the book just ends. If this was just an anthology of stories that take place under the umbrella of the Saha estate and the dystopian world of the Town, it would have been fine, but, the book wasn't that, so what was the point of this story? The foundation was there, some of the stories were interesting, even emotional, but the progress was messy and the ending was open. And yes, I could pin down the social critic, but, at least for me, this isn't enough.

[Tracey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Appalling. I only finished it because it was my book club’s selection for this month and I’d paid $33 for a copy. The prose is dull and often silly. While something may have been lost in translation, I’m not convinced it would be significantly better in the original language. The blurb tells us the book is about the main character’s quest to uncover the truth about her brother’s disappearance and his girlfriend’s murder. It is definitely not about that. There’s not a lot going on plot-wise. It’s more like a collection of boring short stories where the only common feature is the characters have a connection to the Saha estates. Characters are given whole chapters then dropped. I couldn’t have cared less about any of them. As for the ending - what was that about? This is probably the worst book I’ve ever read.

[Queralt✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Saha is a dystopian novel by the author of Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982, Cho Nam-joo. It’s about a place called the ‘Town’ that employs three kinds of people: the Town’s citizens, L2s*, and ‘the rest’. In this society, each member gets a job and residence according to their citizenship category: citizens have proper jobs; L2s have a visa system that allows them to work on contact; and all the others are basically undocumented and live under awful conditions in the Saha Estates.

(*Am I the only one who saw L2 and expected someone named Kaidan to make a cameo? No? okay.)

Saha is a collection of stories following different characters living in timelines inside the Saha Estates. The stories highlight inequality and strict hierarchies systems that, most of the time, people cannot escape. Something that I found very interesting is how in one story, becoming one of the ‘rest’ was someone’s choice to escape what was happening to them, so it showed how being one of the lower people is not always bad.

I found this book kind of meh. While providing very interesting social commentary, the whole pandemic situation and people needing boosters and so forth, was a bit on the face. I’ve read somewhere that this was written before Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982, but it still felt very familiar to COVID and I keep encountering books with pandemics just like it but with different names, it feels boring to encounter it time and time again. Other than that, I just couldn’t quite connect with most characters, and some stories didn’t really provide any strong message - not that a strong one is needed every single time, but they were sort of dull and had nothing to chew on after.

The only exception for me was Wan’s chapter. It was so touching and it almost made me cry. I cannot even explain why because, in retrospect, I’m not sure it was that sad, but emotions are weird. That story was a 5/5 for me, the rest are sadly forgettable.

[Zelviaaa Aris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Saha mansion failed me. I mean, please read the blurb on the back of the book. What do you expect? I was expecting a story about a murder investigation or what happened on that building, or what was wrong with the people on that building, but instead I got:

1. Saha Mansion was only a collection of short stories that had one thing in common, namely the location of the incident (Saha Mansion itself). I think each story has a clue to the murder, but no dear. There is no clue.

2. I am waiting patiently to see who is the murderer. Who killed Su? Why does she/he murder Su? Whose blood is on Do-Kyeong's shirt? Has Su been killed or has she killed herself?

3. One of the characters named Yi-Ah was gone. But until the end of the book, I didn't get the answer. Where was he gone? Why is he gone? 

4. The ending Oh my god, this is the worst. What does Jin-Kyeong want by breaking through that building? She wants to be a badass. No dear, I didn't find it badass. It looks more like a silly scene.

That's it. I am done. I can't. Sorry.

1.5/5⭐

[Fahri Rasihan · Rating 2 out of 5]

• Judul : Saha Mansion
• Penulis : Cho Nam-Joo
• Penerjemah : Iingliana
• Penyunting : Juliana Tan
• Penerbit : Gramedia Pustaka Utama
• Terbit : 22 Maret 2021
• Harga : Rp 95.000,-
• Tebal : 296 halaman
• Ukuran : 14 × 20 cm
• Cover : Soft cover
• ISBN : 9786020650661

"𝘒𝘪𝘵𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘬 𝘣𝘪𝘴𝘢 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘱 𝘥𝘪 𝘥𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘬 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘺𝘢 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘬 𝘱𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘪 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘱𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘩, 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘵, 𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘶 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘺𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘶. 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘩𝘪𝘭." (hal. 103-104)

Diceritakan terdapat sebuah negara kota bernama Town yang pada awalnya dikelola oleh perusahaan swasta. Namun, pada akhirnya Town memiliki beberapa menteri di berbagai sektor pemerintahan. Anehnya, menteri-menteri tersebut tidak boleh diketahui identitasnya oleh siapa pun. Selain itu, Town juga memiliki beberapa jenis atau kelas dalam masyarakatnya. Pertama ada Warga atau level L yang memiliki status paling tinggi di Town. L2 yang berada di tengah-tengah dengan status kependudukan yang serba tidak pasti. Serta terakhir ada Saha, masyarakat kelas paling bawah yang paling tidak diperhatikan oleh pemerintah Town. Para Saha ini tinggal dan berkumpul di sebuah rumah susun bernama Saha Mansion. Para penghuni Saha Mansion kebanyakan adalah orang buangan yang memiliki rahasia masing-masing dalam kehidupan mereka. Akan tetapi, bisa dibilang para penghuni Saha Mansion dapat bekerja sama dengan baik membentuk sebuah komunitas yang cukup solid. Di antara para penghuni Saha Mansion tersebut, terdapat sepasang kakak beradik, Jin-kyeong dan Do-kyeong. Mereka mencoba untuk kabur serta menghindar dari masa lalu yang mengancam.

Sayangnya, pelarian dan kehidupan baru yang coba dibangun oleh Jin-kyeong, harus hancur berantakan saat Do-kyeong dituduh membunuh seorang dokter muda bernama Su. Su ditemukan sudah tidak bernyawa di dalam mobilnya. Sementara itu, Do-kyeong sendiri masih menjadi buronan polisi. Di tengah itu semua, Jin-kyeong harus berusaha menemukan keberadaan adiknya. Tidak hanya menceritakan perihal Jin-kyeong dan Do-kyeong, Saha Mansion pun memiliki para penghuni lainnya yang tidak kalah bermasalah. Di antaranya adalah Nenek Konnim dan Woo-mi. Kedua wanita beda generasi itu dipertemukan takdir, sehingga bisa hidup bersama di Saha Mansion. Akan tetapi, Woo-mi harus menjalani serangkaian pemeriksaan dan perawatan, karena dirinya dinyatakan tidak sehat. Seiring bergulirnya waktu, Woo-mi menyadari ada keanehan pada perawatan yang ia jalani. Kecurigaan Woo-mi tepat, karena disinyalir Woo-mi hanya dijadikan alat, alih-alih menyembuhkan penyakitnya. Para penghuni Saha Mansion ini berusaha untuk keluar dari jerat kehidupan yang muncul dan mengancam nyawa mereka. Bisakah Jin-kyeong menemukan keberadaan Do-kyeong? Apa yang akan dilakukan Woo-mi setelah mengetahui fakta yang sesungguhnya?

"𝘒𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘱𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘥𝘢 𝘢𝘬𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘯𝘺𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘶 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘶𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘥𝘢 𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨-𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘺𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘢?" (hal. 131)

Nama seorang Cho Nam-Joo banyak dibicarakan saat bukunya yang berjudul Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 berhasil menarik perhatian pembaca dari seluruh dunia. Dua tahun berselang setelah Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 terbit, Nam-Joo kembali mengeluarkan karya terbarunya yang berjudul Saha Mansion. Berbeda dengan buku sebelumnya, Nam-Joo mencoba untuk mengeksplor kemampuan menulisnya ke dalam 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘳𝘦 misteri dan distopia. Dan, Gramedia Pustaka Utama cukup cekatan untuk segera menerbitkan bukunya ke dalam Bahasa Indonesia. Dilihat dari 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 buku versi Bahasa Indonesia karya Martin Dima, nuansa suram dan kelam dari Saha Mansion cukup terasa. Ilustrasi sebuah gedung berbentuk huruf U memperlihatkan visualisasi dari Saha Mansion. Pemilihan warna hijau lumut yang berpadu dengan gradasi warna kuning seakan menunjukkan betapa kotor dan busuknya Saha Mansion itu sendiri. Letak judul buku dan nama penulis pun dibuat cukup presisi. Namun, entah kenapa, saya pribadi tidak terlalu menyukai 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 bukunya ini. Kesannya terlihat terlalu biasa dan sederhana, sehingga kurang memunculkan rasa penasaran saya terhadap buku ini.

Berbeda jauh dengan Kim Jiyoung Born 1982 yang mengangkat isu tentang feminisme, Saha Mansion lebih berfokus pada ketimpangan sosial. Hanya saja, kali ini Nam-Joo menambahkan sedikit unsur distopia dan misteri ke dalam ceritanya. Di sini pembaca akan dibawa ke dalam sebuah negara bernama Town yang memiliki beberapa kelas dalam masyarakatnya, yaitu Warga, L2, dan Saha. Di antara ketiga kelas masyarakat tersebut, Saha menjadi kelas masyarakat yang paling bawah. Mereka semua tinggal dan berkumpul di Saha Mansion. Cerita akan lebih banyak tertuju pada para penghuni Saha Mansion beserta masa lalu mereka. Walaupun Nam-Joo berusaha untuk menawarkan perpaduan antara misteri dan distopia, tapi sayangnya itu semua seperti tempelan belaka. Saha Mansion seakan terlalu berusaha untuk memasukan berbagai macam isu ke dalam ceritanya. Salah satunya adalah tentang kesenjangan sosial. Isu-isu ini sesungguhnya sudah tersampaikan dengan baik di sini, tapi amat sangat disayangkan karena kekuatan ceritanya sendiri malah menjadi lemah dan tidak jelas mau dibawa ke mana.

Di awal cerita pembaca akan diperkenalkan kepada dua tokoh bernama Jin-kyeong dan Do-kyeong. Namun, Saha Mansion sendiri nyatanya memiliki banyak tokoh yang akan memiliki cerita masing-masing. Jin-kyeong dan Do-kyeong sendiri merupakan kakak adik yang sedang berusaha bersembunyi dan menata ulang hidup mereka di Saha Mansion. Jin-kyeong digambarkan sebagai seseorang yang tangguh, kuat, dan pemberani. Sementara adiknya, Do-kyeong, adalah orang yang sedikit gegabah dan emosional. Sebenarnya pendalaman karakternya sendiri terasa kurang dan hambar. Walaupun menawarkan berbagai kisah dari masing-masing penghuni Saha Mansion, tapi tidak ada satu pun tokoh yang mampu menarik perhatian saya. Semua tokohnya terasa biasa saja dan mungkin tidak akan membekas sama sekali dalam benak pembaca. Padahal, menurut saya, seharusnya Nam-Joo akan jauh lebih efektif jika hanya berfokus pada kisah Jin-kyeong dan Do-kyeong saja. Tapi, sayangnya, Nam-Joo sepertinya ingin mengeksplor semua penghuni Saha Mansion, sehingga harus mengorbankan pendalaman karakter dari setiap tokohnya, khususnya Jin-kyeong dan Do-kyeong.

Saha Mansion sedikit mengingatkan saya dengan School Nurse Ahn Eunyong yang berisi kumpulan cerita pendek. Saha Mansion sendiri tidak bisa dibilang sebuah cerita yang utuh, karena kebanyakan hanya menceritakan setiap penghuni Saha Mansion. Alur ceritanya bagi saya sedikit lambat, karena Nam-Joo ingin memperkenalkan setiap tokoh yang ada. Sudut pandang orang ketiga digunakan untuk menarasikan jalan ceritanya. Setiap penghuni Saha Mansion diberi kesempatan untuk bercerita dalam setiap babnya. Lewat sudut pandang ini saya masih belum bisa menangkap semua maksud dan tujuan dari masing-masing tokoh yang ada. Sementara gaya bercerita dan bahasa dari Nam-Joo tergolong ringan dan mudah dipahami. Setiap penjelasan, khususnya tentang konsep Town dan Saha Mansion, bisa disampaikan secara singkat dan lugas. Hasil terjemahannya mudah dipahami dengan penggunaan kata yang sederhana. Penggunaan Saha Mansion sebagai latar tempat berjalannya cerita mampu dideskripsikan dengan baik. Suram, kelam, dan kumuh adalah nuansa yang bisa saya rasakan dari penggambaran penulis terhadap Saha Mansion.

Terdapat benang merah yang sepertinya ingin dijadikan penghubung dari setiap kisah para tokohnya, yaitu kematian Su. Tapi, sayangnya kasus yang dihadapi Jin-kyeong dan Do-kyeong tersebut malah terlihat tidak nyambung sama sekali dengan setiap kisah yang ada. Saya sendiri merasa bingung dengan konflik ceritanya yang terasa ambigu. Padahal, jika konfliknya tidak diinterupsi dengan potongan-potongan kisah para penghuni Saha Mansion, mungkin akan menciptakan sebuah konflik yang jauh lebih luar biasa. Terlalu banyak hal yang ingin disampaikan, sehingga entah mau dibawa ke arah mana konflik ceritanya. Konflik Jin-kyeong dan Do-kyeong juga tidak terselesaikan dengan jelas, sehingga masih memunculkan tanya di akhir cerita. Eksekusi yang dilakukan oleh Nam-Joo terasa terlalu ambisius, sehingga terlihat keteteran di beberapa bagian ceritanya. Isu tentang kesenjangan sosial dan kritik terhadap pemerintah yang ditunjukkan terasa kuat dan menonjol. Akan tetapi, hal itu justru malah mengorbankan kualitas ceritanya. Padahal potensi ceritanya bisa jauh lebih menarik lagi jika Nam-Joo tidak terlalu banyak menceritakan setiap penghuni Saha Mansion.

Bisa dibilang Saha Mansion adalah cerita misteri dan distopia yang terlalu ambisius. Penulis seperti ingin memasukkan banyak hal ke dalam jalan ceritanya, sehingga terasa kedodoran di beberapa bagian. Isu-isu politik dan kesenjangan sosial yang disuarakan di sini, sebetulnya sudah tersalurkan dengan baik. Hanya saja, akibat dari itu membuat kekuatan dan fokus ceritanya menjadi menurun. Terlalu banyak kisah yang ingin diekspos, malah menciptakan ambiguitas terhadap pembaca. Tadinya saya justru mengharapkan sebuah misteri yang akan diselidiki secara mendalam. Namun ternyata, misteri itu sendiri hanya sebuah pemanis cerita saja. Dunia distopia yang diciptakan Nam-Joo terbilang sudah cukup baik. Akan tetapi, sekali lagi Nam-Joo seperti berusaha terlalu keras untuk memasukkan berbagai unsur, sehingga Town sendiri terasa kurang mengikat. Akhir ceritanya juga masih sangat menggantung dan terlalu membingungkan untuk dicerna. Secara keseluruhan, Saha Mansion adalah sebuah perpaduan misteri dan distopia dengan eksekusi yang terlalu menggebu-gebu.

"𝘛𝘶𝘫𝘶𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘫𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘬𝘭𝘢𝘩 𝘺𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘶 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘬. 𝘒𝘦𝘺𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘫𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘬 𝘢𝘥𝘢 𝘨𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘢." (hal. 230)

"𝘉𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘱𝘶𝘯, 𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘭𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘬𝘬𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨-𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨." (hal. 255)

[Mirai · Rating 3 out of 5]

ที่แห่งนี้เรียกว่า 'ทาวน์' มีเพียงบุคคลผู้มีความสามารถเท่านั้นที่จะได้สิทธิในการเป็นพลเมืองของทาวน์ ส่วนพลเมืองชั้นสองเป็นเพียงแรงงานที่ต้องคอยต่อวีซ่าเพื่อรักษาสถานภาพพลเมืองชั้นสองไปเรื่อยๆ แต่มันจะมีพลเมืองอีกกลุ่ม เป็นพวกคนนอกทาวน์ เป็นพวกคนไร้อนาคต และคนกลุ่มนี้พักอยู่ที่ 'ซาฮาแมนชัน'

เรื่องราวเริ่มต้นจากการพบศพแพทย์หญิงคนหนึ่ง เธอเป็นพลเมืองของทาวน์ แต่กลับถูกพบเป็นศพที่นอกตัวเมือง และ 'โทคยอง' น้องชายของ 'จินคยอง' ที่อาศัยอยู่ในซาฮาแมนชันได้ตกเป็นผู้ต้องสงสัยฆาตกรรมแพทย์หญิงคนนี้ จินคยองจึงเริ่มออกตามหาน้องชายที่หายตัวไป และเริ่มสืบหาความจริงเบื้องหลังของดินแดนแห่งนี้

เล่มนี้เป็นอีกหนึ่งผลงานของ 'โชนัมจู' ผู้เขียนท่านเดียวกับ 'คิมจียอง เกิดปี 82' เป็นหนังสือแนวดิสโทเปียเสียดสีสังคมในโลกสมมติ ในดินแดนห่างไกลแห่งหนึ่งที่เรียกว่า 'ทาวน์'

พอมาอ่านเล่มนี้แล้วให้ความรู้สึกที่แปลกกว่าตอนที่เราอ่านคิมจียองมาก ทั้งที่รู้ว่า ผู้เขียนคงเน้นวิพากษ์วิจารณ์ระบบสังคมเหมือนเดิม แต่กลับให้ความรู้สึกต่างกันโดยสิ้นเชิง

ผู้เขียนเริ่มเรื่องจากคดีฆาตกรรมแพทย์หญิงคนหนึ่ง ที่น้องชายของตัวละครหลักตกเป็นผู้ต้องสงสัย หลังจากนั้นก็เริ่มพาคนอ่านเดินทัวร์ไปทำความรู้จักกับสมาชิกของซาฮาแมนชันแต่ละห้อง พร้อมกับเรื่องราวของพวกเค้าทีละคน โดยเล่าควบคู่ไปกับการถือกำเนินดินแดนอิสระที่เรียกกว่า 'ทาวน์' แห่งนี้

เรื่องราวชีวิตของสมาชิกซาฮาแมนชันแต่ละคนก็สนุกดีค่ะ แต่ถ้าพูดถึงในการสร้างโลกดิสโทเปียขึ้นมา เราว่า การสร้างดินแดนสมมติอย่าง 'ทาวน์' และการกล่าวถึงระบบการปกครอง ที่มาที่ไปของการแยกตัวจนกลายเป็นดินแดนอิสระ หรือการใส่รายละเอียดถึงความไม่เท่าเทียมกัน การเรียกร้องสิทธิเสรีภาพ การต่อสู้เพื่อมนุษยชาติของชาวทาวน์และอดีตพลเมืองเก่า ยังดูไม่ค่อยสมบูรณ์เท่าไหร่ แต่ก็พอเห็นภาพพอเข้าใจอยู่บ้าง

พอเดินเรื่องจนถึงในตอนท้าย เราก็เริ่มสับสนแล้วว่า สรุปแล้วหนังสือต้องการเบนทิศทางเรื่องไปทางไหนกันแน่ ระหว่างบทสรุปของคดีฆาตกรรม หรือจะพุ่งไปที่ประเด็นความไม่แฟร์ของระบบ 'ทาวน์'

เป็นความครึ่งๆ กลางๆ ที่บรรยายความรู้สึกไม่ถูก เหมือนจะกล่าวถึงระบบความเป็น 'ทาวน์' น้อยเกินไป ทำให้รู้สึกไม่ค่อยอินเท่าไหร่ แถมยังมีเส้นเรื่องคดีฆาตกรรมเพิ่มเข้ามาด้วย แม้จะอ่านแล้วไม่ได้ความรู้สึกสืบสวนเลยแม้แต่น้อย เลยยิ่งทำให้เกิดความรู้สึกติดๆ ขัดๆ ตอนอ่านเป็นอย่างยิ่ง

[Barry Welsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Watch my review on YouTube here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts6Mc...

It’s Book Club Wednesday! 📚
For #KoreaBookClub, @barrywelsh will review the dystopian novel 'Saha' by Cho Nam-joo and translated into English by Jamie Chang.
‘Saha’ is Cho’s second novel to be translated into English following the successful ‘Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982’.’
'Saha' explores the damaging effects of capitalism on the individual and inequality and class repression.
To learn more, check out today's show on Youtube (KBS World Radio) or listen to our podcast via the KBS Kong app or the Naver audio clip.🎧
#KBSWORLDRadio #KBS월드라디오 #KBS국제방송 #Korea24 #코리아24 #영어라디오 #영어공부 #영어책 #책스타그램 #북스타그램#사하맨션 #조남주 #한국문학 #문학번역 #82년생김지영http://world.kbs.co.kr/service/progra...

[Roomies' Digest · Rating 3 out of 5]

Saha was an extremely character driven book. It read more like an anthology series about the residents of this apartment complex. I was super invested in some of the characters and couldn’t care less for others overall it did a good job addressing themes of classism but it seemed like some of the impact of the conclusions may have been lost in translation possibly? In the end it just didn’t hit very hard for me hence the rating 💕 -mo

[Brenna M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Saha is the name of a housing project on the outskirts of Town, an island nation owned by a corporate entity and ruled by a shadowy governance board. Town is organized according to the haves (Ls), who are white-collar laborers who can participate in the high-profit sectors of Town like the bio-tech and IT industries, and have full-citizenship; and the have-nots (L2) who are blue-collar laborers that fill the remaining roles in this small economy and are only legally in Town via 2-year work visas, despite many of them predating the establishment of the Town nation-state. In Town, as in every country, there also exists members of the community who are not present "legally" - called "Sahas" for the name of the housing project where many of them live. This book follows some residents of the Saha Estates.

The premise of this book is brilliant, I mean just reading that synopsis I was like YES this is a dystopian novel about capitalist-governance and its very real consequences for average people. The book starts off strong, introducing us to some core characters but, more importantly, introducing us to Town, its structure, its genesis, etc. A corporate bio-tech government that takes power in a very simple but completely realistic way - haven't you read stories in the news about massive corporations moving into town, buying up all viable property, forcing the locals out, and greasing palms in local government until the company is the town? Thinking (from my American POV) of Virginian coal mines, United Fruit Company in Central America, pineapples in Hawaii. It's happened for centuries, it's happening now, and in this novel, Cho Nam-Joo simply takes those developments to their natural next step.

I hate when people flippantly compare any dystopian novel to 1984 and any feminist novel to Handmaid's Tale, so I won't do that... but I want to. This book nails the almost horror-like specter of the State leering, monitoring one's every move although you cannot quite know for certain when, where, or how, as well as the hopelessness of people surviving, and it culminates in a final confrontation of the established order, much like in Orwell's novels. Both authors warn of unchecked accumulation of power/wealth - Orwell warns of the dangerous ideology of "communism", and in Saha we see instead the future of the dangerous ideology of capitalism, and its current/ongoing unification with government.

All that being said, I felt disappointed by this novel. As you can see, I was very excited by the premise and set-up but the delivery fell short of the mark. Primarily I have two complaints: first, there were too many character vignettes; second, that she could've done so much more with this premise. Because the book doesn't do enough to serve as a critique of capitalism (or anything else), it ends up as just a nice story of impoverished people barred from society's upper echelons. My third, smaller critique, is that at times the translation felt very unnatural and choppy.

Although the beginning sets us up for an intriguing story of Town and the Sahas who get by despite everything, the meat of the book relies upon vignettes of characters at the Saha Estates and the combination of so many - at times unconnected - vignettes made the book feel disjointed. I also thought many of the characters' stories did not necessarily add anything new that had not been covered already. For instance, the need to include what, 3 or 4 pregnant women and their babies, felt extremely superfluous and I could hardly keep each of them straight. We get it, women are the crux of the family, women are the crux of the community, women take the brunt of bodily oppression... but there was so much more she could've done with this!

This brings me to my second complaint: I wanted more oomph. If you're going to say something about capitalism at a point in time where 75% of people under the age of 30 are ready to see it fall, SAY IT LOUDLY. Going back to the example in the paragraph above, with all the women having babies - in a state where profit is the only thing that matters, I mean your leaders are literally doing profit analysis on human life, right? What could be more natural than encouraging women - half the laborers - to get abortions (and therefore, to continue working)? The closer you get to a purely capitalist state, the more readily available abortions should be. This is not a feminist stance, as feminism would argue that people should not have to choose between an income and a child, but this IS a capitalist stance - people cannot labor for profit when/if they have children, and capitalism values humans only when they are laboring for profit. But this book didn't really say much about these women and their babies except: oh, how sad. Between her first book and this one, I can see that motherhood is an important topic for the author, but if you just wanted to discuss how poorly women and mothers are treated in poverty, you didn't need a dystopian setting for that.

My third complaint was about the translation, although it might have been the editor and not the translator, I can't be certain, but there were times when I would be reading, thinking "What is this sentence structure? What did she mean here?" because the purpose of the sentence did not come across clearly. There were also some things that definitely should have been changed by the translator and if not, then caught by the editor. For example, this sentence: "When Do-kyung seized Su's wrist in surprise, Su slowly free herself from Do-kyung's grasp". In a scene where they are the only two people and he is the only person to have seized her wrist, why include his name a second time as opposed to his pronoun? For that matter, why include her name twice - she is the only 'she' in this scene, "her wrist" and "his grasp" would flow much more smoothly. BUT I DIGRESS.

This was actually more of a 3 or 4-star read for me but I feel the need to offset some of the bad reviews I've seen on GR that seem to be primarily people who are disgruntled because they didn't "get" the book. I'm not saying that feedback isn't fair - in my opinion, a book shouldn't force you to search for its meaning or value, but I also didn't think the purpose/meaning of this story was that hard to find and I definitely don't think it's a bad book or deserving of less than 3 stars so... there you have my 5-star rating.

[cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is why I don't really like novel with heaaaavy character-driven type. Sepertinya jalan cerita di novel ini tidak begitu penting, yang penting adalah detail-detail tiap karakternya. Endingnya juga tidak penting, yang penting adalah si karakter "menjadi tahu" tentang sesuatu. Yeah... no!

Jadi premis novel ini dibuka dengan kematian seorang dokter anak 'warga' Town yang diduga dibunuh oleh pacarnya yang penduduk gelap. Di sini kupikir ini thriller mystery yang akan menguak kasus tersebut. Ternyata saya SALAH saudara-saudara. Tewasnya Su bukan kerangka novel ini. Hubungan antara karakter Su dan karakter Do-kyeong dan konsekwensi yang mereka dapatkan lebih penting dari kematian mereka. Kebenaran sudah diberikan kira-kira saat 2/3 alur cerita, bukan misteri, bukan pembunuhan. Just double suicide gone wrong. Tapi yang lebih penting di novel ini adalah latar belakang mengapa sampai mereka berdua melakukan hal itu. Lalu cerita melanjutkan putaran nasib para penghuni Saha Mansion di masa lalu, sekarang dan masa depan yang mungkin terjadi.

Selain dua beesaudara Jin-kyeong Do-kyeong, ada pula Pak Tua penjaga gedung, Nenek Wang dan Nenek Konnim, dan pengasuh muda Eun-jin. Keempat orang ini punya latar belakang 30 tahun di Saha Mansion, dan bersama gedung itu, membawa pula nasib Sara, Man, Yi-ah, Woo-mi dan Woo-yeon, anak-anak yang karena satu dan lain hal berakhir lahir dan/atau dibesarkan di Saha Mansion. Masing-masing karakter punya cerita mereka sendiri. Kisah-kisah sedih, dengan akhir-akhir tragis.

Endingnya... yah serasa membaca buku sepanjang 300 halaman hanya untuk mengejar angin. Latar belakang thriller pembunuhan dan unsur-unsur distopia pun hanya jadi tempelan. Sia-sia. *sigh*

[Joe.reads · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very excited for a new book from Cho Nam-Joo, especially as it seemed to be something very different from her first but, but sadly Saha is both underwhelming and confusing. I was intrigued by the Dystopian aspect of this book but it is not thoroughly explored, and not in a Ishiguro sleight of hand way. It’s presented to the reader at the beginning of the book then promptly forgotten about. The book seems to have no greater critique than ‘man wouldn’t it be really bad if we lived in a dystopian society???’ I understand this book is a comment on the working class, and the class system that Nam-Joo sets up is interesting but it feels woefully unexplored and also a little too close to reality to fully feel like a separate and realised world.

Having also been promised a mystery in the blurb it’s very disappointing when most of the book flicks between seemingly irrelevant characters and forgets about this mystery for a lot of the page count. There is almost no semblance of a plot here, just random sort of connected scenes and character driven flashbacks. This maybe wouldn’t have been an issue if these characters were relevant or interesting, but I found myself getting confused between them or not remembering who they were supposed to be when they cropped up later in the book.

The climax of the book also feels completely unearned and very tonally jarring when compared to the rest of the book.

Sadly a big disappointment and a huge step down from Kim Ji-young, Born 1982.

[Nadirah · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Saha" is a novella about the Saha apartment complex in Town, which serves as housing complex for the non-citizens of Town. These are often the more marginalized people of society, as well as political dissidents who sought refuge from a tyrannical rule.

While this novella started off as a sort of mystery of the why-dunnit genre and is purported to be dystopian in nature, "Saha" is more of an examination of what society has devolved into since a lot of the vague happenings in this story are somewhat grounded in reality. This is markedly different than Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982, so my advice would be to go into this with as little preconception of it as you can.

[Rezza Dwi · Rating 2 out of 5]

gimana ya bilangnya? 🤔

[Yasemin Macar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ben pek distopik eser okumayı sevmiyorum galiba diyecektim ama aldığı puanda belli zaten😅 Kim Jiyeong Doğum 1982'den sonra pekte hoşuma gitmedi 🙄Yazarın o kitabı daha iyi bence

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

N bon ni mauvais, mais il serait intéressant voir agréable que les éditeurs arrêtent de comparer tout et n'importe quoi à Parasite ou Squid Game... Le style coréen ne se résume pas à cela, il est beaucoup plus subtil, à la fois déliquescent et superbe.
Pour ce qui est de Résidence Saha, c'est une dystopie sociale qui ne réussit pas à tenir ses promesses... on reste beaucoup trop sur notre faim.

[Jente Smets · Rating 4 out of 5]

This character-driven dystopian novel is set in a country called Town, which thrives on authoritarian capitalism. Town is not bound to international laws and is run by an anonymous Council and puppet Parliament. Its people are divided in two classes: “Ls/Citizens” with financial status and “L2s” who have to perform hard labor in order to receive visa renewal permissions. The social and financial outcasts live in Saha. It is survival of the richest.

The synopsis of this novel revolves around a murdered citizen. Do-kyung is a lowlife living in Saha and becomes the main suspect of the crime. His sister Jin-kyung is determined to confront the totalitarian system. The mysterious crime and promised rebellion are, however, peripheral to the many background stories of the outcasts living in Saha.

Although I loved the omnipresent Orwellian atmosphere, there was a lot of talk and little action. But that might just have been the author’s intention. Town is indestructible and inespecable.