Pragathi Ram > Recent Status Updates

So the rest of the accounts in this story will try to tell the tale of what happened to Dong-ho from the outside

First his friend Jeong-dae, the Eun-sook as an editor experiencing censorship…

Possibly more souls too

Isak dying was genuinely not on my bingo card even though they’ve been mentioning that he’s sickly since we met him 😭

Yes I did cry when Sunja was reunited with her mother, that was so beautifully drawn out oh my goodness

Though Joseph was about to die there too but no

Still do not really trust Hansu but unfortunately he’s genuinely saving the lives of this entire family, all cause Noah is a boy

“Chi-chan, we must have been destined to meet! We must eat our way across all of Taiwan Island!”

So so cute and so obsessive to read I’m getting through this wayyy too quickly

Also this makes me so hungry, I appreciate that the main character is eager to eat local cuisine rather than specially manufactured “Mainlander food”

Done with Book 1!

Realizing that all these characters I’ve grown to love and appreciate are gonna die soon after the next generation starts…

Isak and Sunja becoming parents though is so cute, and Sunja sister-in-law is so doting, I’m hoping this baby has a good upbringing

“You’re all I have. Now I have nothing.”
NO SUNJA DON’T LEAVE STAY WITH YOUR MOTHER FOREVER

Wow Sunja arriving in Osaka and then seeing everything is actually significantly worse for Koreans and not as wealthy as she’d thought while in Busan also hits as the reader

The pastor warning Sunja that her actions in Japan reflect on all Koreans

It’s not revolutionary but I keep going back to how each of the men in the Mulongo who are supposed to be in charge of finding the missing men are failing miserably and acting like fools

Meanwhile the women are the ones that are actually getting shit done

This is gonna be a long one and I’m so ready

Killing the first main character you introduce within the first chapter you introduce them in is crazy work and I’m about to be so devastated

I really appreciate the easy flow between summary and how much the author grounds Korean history in the moment the family is living in

It already seems like a theme of spoil versus hard work is emerging

It is so difficult to watch the Mulongo being tricked at every turn because of their willingness to trust the Bwele

The Bwele have taken the Mulongo’s men to trade with the Coastlanders who will give them to the Europeans who came to the continent for slaves

All of these Sub-Saharan nations are acting in their self interest against each other and playing into the hands of the slave traders

Not liking Josh trying to be all protective of Kristen is not attractive it’s crazy

Like this is him talking about his ex not wanting kids
“She was younger than me but I thought she’d grow out of it.”

Also don’t really like Kristen like why does she like the fact that Josh has a gun?

Already grappling with some interesting themes of motherhood and a woman’s voice in a community

“One is not supposed to moan over the fate of a child when there is a chance of having others, when one can still give birth. It is immoral to indulge in one’s own suffering when what matters is the continued existence of the group.”

Sooo Kristen does not like her boyfriend at all and doesn’t even want to spend time with him and only is ok with this relationship because he is deployed

Josh confuses me, he says he hates “dealing with women” but has six sisters and immediately jumps into action to help Kristen with her period cramps…

“My name isn’t Offred, I have another name, which nobody uses now because it’s forbidden… I keep the knowledge of this name like something hidden, some treasure I’ll come back to dig up, one day. I think of this name as buried.”

There are some aspects of this dystopia that I am really engaged in, and others where it sounds like every is just horny that I am not as sure about

The relationship between Moctezuma and Atotoxtli is so interesting because she’s resigned herself as his loyal servant basically even though we see that she knows better than to keep letting him laze around and eat mushrooms

Atotoxtli also has some of the most powerful lines: “Tenoxtitlan is unshakeable, but we are only passing through”

Part two of this book is just insanely gay for no reason but like I’m not complaining

As I keep reading it’s becoming funnier and funnier and it’s such an interesting choice to make when we know the absolute tragedy and horror about the ensue

Elinor is pissing me off rn cause she’s supposed to be the smart one… like you don’t blame Edward when he’s not even the one who told you about his engagement and you had to hear about it from his freaking fiancée

…but you blame Willoughby for writing to Marianne to tell her about his prior engagement?

Like I don’t like either of these men rn but Elinor’s being such a hypocrite

I missed you Jane Austen

Two sister, alike only in their family lineage, but so far different in nature

I think Elinor and Marianne Dashwood are perfect examples of Austen’s natural inclination towards representing siblings; her elder sisters are often reserved, smart, and sensible; her younger sisters are expressive and gullible

“I may be old, I may be poor, I may be black, but I’m here. I’m here because I’ve got this vision of justice that compels me to be a witness. I’m here because I’m supposed to be here. I’m here because you can’t keep me away.”

Love reading this, it’s like learning directly from a lawyer as a mentor

That translation scene was so interesting, it’s intriguing how we always seem to bring animosity into our diplomacy

Good Stab and Arthur’s interactions getting gay and I don’t want them to be but it’s written so there’s no other way to interpret it… but… some cooler quotes I found:
“You can’t stop a country from happening, Good Stab.”
“But we were already a nation.”

“This, I believe, is the story of America, told in a forgotten church in the hinterlands, with a choice of the dead mutely witnessing.”

“I’m the worst dream America ever had.”
“I thought it was a blanket for all you Americans to hide under… it flies above every camp of dead Indians. I will always pull them down. You put your reminders of pain on the wall and pray to them. We still hurt, so we don’t need that reminder.”
“We never called this place ours like that, though. But to didn’t mean it was yours.”

Good Stab’s accounts are so interesting, it’s like deciphering a new language but it’s all in English?

Arthur is so freaking awful and feels so superior to Good Stab but like he also clearly doesn’t take his pastor duties as seriously as he should and it’s actually kinda funny?

Also what did Mrs Baker put in that damn cake Arthur cannot shut up about it

Soooo the king is gonna try to kill Fanli, the king is gonna murder that man and it will be all Xishi’s fault

Still I’m actually really enjoying Xishi’s time in the palace more than I anticipated, the subtle details of court life and influence are so fun to read but it’s also not so complicated I can’t follow along

Although I have no idea how our girl is coming back from this

Whoa this moves fast, somehow I’m already 200 pages from the end

So I’m finally catching the drift that this is a doomed love story and I don’t think I’m prepared to cry at the end of this especially cause it’s gonna go by so fast

That being said, I still need time for the love story to develop between Xishi and Fanli, the first 100 pages doesn’t feel like enough even tho it is 1/3 of the book

I’m going to get through this one so quickly I’m eating up this writing style like always

I rarely ever read about a woman yearning after the main guy, but Xishi’s yearn is actually soooo good

“I imagined myself tracing those jagged lines with my fingertips, pressing my lips to the wounds. Would he flinch away from me? Or would he break his own rules and let me stay?”

I feel for Henry, I really do
But his curse and hers are not at the same magnitude
They’re both living a life as nothing but at least Henry can be seen and acknowledged, at least he didn’t have to abandon his home and watch all his loved ones fade away while he stayed
Really unsure about this book ending cause I really don’t want this to be their love story I don’t feel it

Expected the writing to be superfluous but it’s actually really simple so I think the relationships in this book are the really crucial parts of this story

I’m excited to start learning more about the characters in each of these portraits