Almond by Won Pyung Sohn- A Book Review
I have nothing except rhapsodies of praise for this book. Yunjae was born with a brain condition called Alexithymia where he cannot identify emotions, particularly fear, and anger. His mother a single mother comes back to her own mother’s fold when she realizes she is unable to handle the boy alone. The boy grows up with his grandmother and mother till random violence strikes his little world. While Yunjae struggles with his own challenges, he meets another young boy, Gon who is equally troubled. An unlikely friendship develops between the two and I am going to take a page from the book’s prologue and share this:
I won’t tell you whether it has a happy ending or a tragic ending. Because, first of all, every story becomes boring once the ending is spoiled.
Hence, I won’t be sharing much about the plot lest you cannot enjoy it as much as I did but one sentence that stood out to me was the one where Yunjae ponders, ‘ Even though my brain was a mess, what kept my soul whole was the warmth of the hands holding mine on both sides,’ alluding to his grandmother and mother.
After reading the author’s note, I couldn’t help agreeing with her when she asks herself, ‘Would I be able to give this child unconditional love no matter what it looked like? Even if the child grew to be someone completely different from my expectations?”
Deep thoughts indeed and the story is one such of loving someone despite the odds.
My rating 6/5 :)
