Sohn Won-pyung is a film director, screenwriter, and novelist living in South Korea. She earned a BA in social studies and philosophy at Sogang University and film directing at the Korean Academy of Film Arts. She has won several prizes, including the Film Review Award of the 6th Cine21, and the Science Fantasy Writers’ Award for her movie script I Believe in the Moment. She also wrote and directed a number of short films, including Oooh You Make Me Sick and A Two-way Monologue. She made her literary debut in 2017 with this, her first full-length novel, Almond, which won the Changbi Prize for Young Adult Fiction, followed by which won the Jeju 4.3 Peace Literary Award.
As done with Almond, Prism was able to immerse me deeply in the feelings of the characters in the story lines. Beautifully but harshly realistic, impermanent but indefinite portrayals of love, life, and relationships. "Story told within the heart" as described by the author.
This book was recommended by my older cousin after I asked about Korean romance novels.
The story is a complex web of acquaintances, friends, and lovers that slowly shifts throughout the book. The book introduces a variety of outlooks on love and relationships - how it comes easily for some people and how challenging it is for others.
I wouldn’t say it was a light read but it was easy to read and had some thoughtful lines on love that I resonated with.