annethology
  • Home
    • About Annethology
    • About me >
      • A little more about me
    • About my books
    • Author talks
    • Contact me
    • Forthcoming events
    • World Mental Health Day
    • Privacy
    • Sign up for my newsletter
  • First two novels
    • Sugar and Snails >
      • Acknowledgements
      • Blog tour, Q&A's and feature articles >
        • Birthday blog tour
        • S&S on tour 2022
      • Early endorsements
      • Events >
        • Launch photos
        • Launch party videos
      • in pictures
      • Media
      • If you've read the book
      • Polari
      • Reading group questions
      • Reviews
      • In the media
    • Underneath >
      • Endorsements and reviews
      • Launch party and events
      • Pictures
      • Questions for book groups
      • The stories underneath the novel
  • Matilda Windsor series
    • The accidental series
    • Matilda Windsor >
      • What readers say
      • For book groups
      • Interviews, articles and features
      • Matty on the move
      • Who were you in 1990?
      • Asylum lit
      • Matilda Windsor media
    • Stolen Summers >
      • Stolen Summers reviews
    • Lyrics for the Loved Ones
  • Short stories
    • Somebody’s Daughter
    • Becoming Someone (anthology) >
      • Becoming Someone (video readings)
      • Becoming Someone reviews
      • Becoming Someone online book chat
    • Print and downloads
    • Read it online
    • Quick reads
  • Free ebook
  • Annecdotal
    • Annecdotal blog
    • Annecdotal Press
    • Articles >
      • Print journalism
      • Where psychology meets fiction
    • Fictional therapists
    • Reading and reviews >
      • Reviews A to H
      • Reviews I to M
      • Reviews N to Z
      • Nonfiction
      • Themed quotes
      • Reading around the world
  • Shop
    • Inspired Quill (my publisher)
    • Bookshop.org (affiliate link)
    • Amazon UK
    • Amazon US
    • books2read
  • Main site

Welcome

I started this blog in 2013 to share my reflections on reading, writing and psychology, along with my journey to become a published novelist.​  I soon graduated to about twenty book reviews a month and a weekly 99-word story. Ten years later, I've transferred my writing / publication updates to my new website but will continue here with occasional reviews and flash fiction pieces, and maybe the odd personal post.

ANNE GOODWIN'S WRITING NEWS

Firefly writes from the darkness: The Accusation by Bandi

4/5/2017

6 Comments

 

Myeong-chol longed to let himself sob out loud, to stamp the ground or shake his fist at the sky. But, depending on circumstances, he knew that even crying could be construed as an act of rebellion, for which, in this country, there was only one outcome–a swift and ruthless death. And so it was the law of the land to smile even when you were racked with pain, to swallow down whatever burned your throat.


Picture
Welcome to the North Korea of the 1990s where the people are so enslaved they don’t even own their emotions, not to mention their own minds. In a country in which hanging the wrong curtains is a counterrevolutionary crime provoking the severest of punishments, the characters in the stories have learned to smile through hunger, poverty and long hours at back-breaking work. The only excuse for tears is at the death of the Great Leader, Kim Il-sung, when displays of grief are compulsory, as are leaving flowers at the shrine, even when every bloom has been plucked from Pyongyang and the mourners must venture ever further into the mudslides of the countryside, putting their lives in danger for the flowering weeds. But then these are people who are accustomed to bearing the unbearable, of bowing down to the impossible, of marrying contradictions and swearing, if so instructed by the ruling elite, that black means white.

This collection of seven short stories is unique in being the work of a dissident writer still living in North Korea. Not only Bandi (firefly in Korean) but also the courier who smuggled them out of the country have risked their lives to bring these words to the world. Alongside the compassion we might feel for the hardships of his characters, not totally unfamiliar from my reading of
other fiction set in North Korea, one can’t not be moved by the story of how the author, and his collaborators, have brought them to light.

The stories are rife with symbolism of what it means to live under the shadow of such a regime. A two-year-old cries with terror at the enormous portraits of Kim Il-sung and Karl Marx. An old man fights to protect the elm tree planted when he first joined the party, convinced of its magical properties to provide “pure white rice with meat every day, and silk clothes, and a house with a tiled roof” (p68). Larks released from a cage return to the only home they know, while the bricks that have built the municipal government office are described as so red I can’t help wondering if they’ve been tinged with blood. Meanwhile, the arts are distorted, as actors astonish with their ability to conjure “stage truth” and a journalist, who can only write what his masters want to be read, suffers from
writer’s block.

If the political message occasionally seems lacking in subtlety, it’s worth remembering that these stories are the work of a writer who could only write for himself. Not for him the
critique and feedback we in the West take for granted in developing our craft. We know from an Afterword that Bandi was already part of the writing establishment but, as I know from my own experience of moving from clinical and academic writing to fiction, the skills acquired in one form aren’t necessarily transferable to another.

But Bandi doesn’t need me to apologise for his writing. Although the prose might not set the world on fire, it’s extremely readable, thanks also to Deborah Smith’s fluent translation (which you can read about from her perspective in this article in
the Guardian review). While the collection spotlights forbidden stories from a specific place of darkness, they also explore commonalities of the human condition. Alongside the overarching theme of delusion and disillusionment, we find the false self, the shadow of terror, happiness as tyranny and the way that being a parent, perhaps especially a mother, enhances one’s vulnerability.

If that seems unbearably grim, I should add that there are, despite the difficulties of their predicament, moments of
compassion between characters and genuine attempts to offer a helping hand. For those of us blessed with governments that are crazy but not that crazy, there are humorous touches, particularly in the satirical story of the grandmother given a ride in the great dictator’s car.

Thanks to Serpent’s Tail for providing my review copy. Readers, I suggest you order yours from your favourite bookshop right now.

On a much lighter note (even though the story itself is dark, it’s got nothing on the darkness portrayed here), only three more weeks until the publication of my second novel, Underneath, on 25 May.

Picture
Thanks for reading. I'd love to know what you think. If you've enjoyed this post, you might like to sign up via the sidebar for regular email updates and/or my quarterly Newsletter.
6 Comments
Norah Colvin link
4/5/2017 11:51:23 am

Hi Anne, Thanks for sharing The Accusation by Bandi. I think I was already aware of this book and I think it would make an interesting read. It reminds me of conversations we've had about the cultural truths expressed in fiction. I'm sure this would be quite believable.
Only three weeks until publication - awesome! I wish you ample doses of excitement and success.

Reply
Annecdotist
4/5/2017 05:45:32 pm

It’s interesting, given our previous conversations, that I did wonder if the story of the manuscript being smuggled out of the country was authentic (and then felt guilty when you think of the risks that were taken). So it might be that I’m more likely to believe the cultural truths of fiction than fact.
And thanks for your good wishes about my impending publication – how lovely it would be if my blogging friends could come to the actual launch party.

Reply
Norah Colvin link
8/5/2017 11:45:15 am

Awesome indeed! I'd love to be there. Have a drink for me. :)

Annecdotist
8/5/2017 06:29:03 pm

I’m sure you’ll be there in spirit and you’ll have to have a virtual drink yourself (I’m not much of a drinker and won’t be imbibing until after I’ve done my reading – in fact, given my capacity to forget the names of people I know well, maybe not until after the signing.)

Charli Mills
8/5/2017 06:30:02 pm

Just the back story alone makes this a book I want to read, but considering I have a government going crazy, I think it's important to see how crazy things can get. Last week, a woman was convicted of laughing at a cabinet member's hearing for office. There's more to the story than that simplification. She laughed out loud when the man claimed he was not racist though facts say otherwise. She was removed from the formal hearing and caused a disruption, protesting her removal. Because she was part of an organized protest group and wearing a pink Lady Liberty outfit, she was charged with both disorderly conduct and protesting on government grounds. However, it was in discussing the ridiculousness of her charges in light of more serious crimes that went unprosecuted, namely the male police officer who killed a black teen and was found negligent but wouldn't be charged. Yet a woman laughs at a blatant lie if a government official and she's charged and convicted. A cousin of my husband had posted in outrage and we were bantering back in forth making levity of the situation (oops, I laughed; Jeffy's coming for us). Silly stuff. My BIL came along and took us to task for not taking serious this woman's "crime" and that it was "no laughing matter." That have me a chill more than anything. It's not the government that keeps us in line, it's the citizen policing. I'd like to believe that we can yet find footing in literature to stay balanced when things tip toward crazy. Bandi is brave to write this in his insane regime. But if we don't stand up to the little stabs of craziness, we might find ourselves in his stories one day.

Reply
Annecdotist
9/5/2017 09:19:06 am

Gosh, that does sound like North Korea, although politically motivated overreactions to expressions of dissent have been always with us in our supposedly more sensible democracies, of the treatment of Pussy Riot (interesting how that word pops up again) in Russia.
Perhaps we’re even signing our death warrants now as we discuss this in cyberspace :-(

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Free ebook: click the image to claim yours.
    Picture
    Available now
    Picture
    The poignant prequel to Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home
    Picture
    Find a review
    Picture
    Fictional therapists
    Picture
    Picture
    About Anne Goodwin
    Picture
    My published books
    entertaining fiction about identity, mental health and social justice
    Picture
    My third novel, published May 2021
    Picture
    My debut novel shortlisted for the 2016 Polari First Book Prize
    Picture
    Picture
    My second novel published May 2017.
    Picture
    Short stories on the theme of identity published 2018
    Anne Goodwin's books on Goodreads
    Sugar and Snails Sugar and Snails
    reviews: 32
    ratings: 52 (avg rating 4.21)

    Underneath Underneath
    reviews: 24
    ratings: 60 (avg rating 3.17)

    Becoming Someone Becoming Someone
    reviews: 8
    ratings: 9 (avg rating 4.56)

    GUD: Greatest Uncommon Denominator, Issue 4 GUD: Greatest Uncommon Denominator, Issue 4
    reviews: 4
    ratings: 9 (avg rating 4.44)

    The Best of Fiction on the Web The Best of Fiction on the Web
    reviews: 3
    ratings: 3 (avg rating 4.67)

    2022 Reading Challenge

    2022 Reading Challenge
    Anne has read 2 books toward their goal of 100 books.
    hide
    2 of 100 (2%)
    view books
    Picture
    Annecdotal is where real life brushes up against the fictional.  
    Picture
    Annecdotist is the blogging persona of Anne Goodwin: 
    reader, writer,

    slug-slayer, tramper of moors, 
    recovering psychologist, 
    struggling soprano, 
    author of three fiction books.

    LATEST POSTS HERE
    I don't post to a schedule, but average  around ten reviews a month (see here for an alphabetical list), 
    some linked to a weekly flash fiction, plus posts on my WIPs and published books.  

    Your comments are welcome any time any where.

    Get new posts direct to your inbox ...

    Enter your email address:

    or click here …

    RSS Feed


    Picture

    Tweets by @Annecdotist
    Picture
    New short story, “My Dirty Weekend”
    Picture
    Let’s keep in touch – subscribe to my newsletter
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Popular posts

    • Compassion: something we all need
    • Do spoilers spoil?
    • How to create a convincing fictional therapist
    • Instructions for a novel
    • Looking at difference, embracing diversity
    • Never let me go: the dilemma of lending books
    • On loving, hating and writers’ block
      On Pop, Pirates and Plagiarism
    • READIN' for HER reviews
    • Relishing the cuts
    • The fast first draft
    • The tragedy of obedience
    • Writers and therapy: a love-hate relationship?

    Categories/Tags

    All
    Animals
    Annecdotist Hosts
    Annecdotist On Tour
    Articles
    Attachment Theory
    Author Interviews
    Becoming Someone
    Being A Writer
    Blogging
    Bodies
    Body
    Bookbirthday
    Books For Writers
    Bookshops
    CB Book Group
    Character
    Childhood
    Christmas
    Classics
    Climate Crisis
    Coming Of Age
    Counsellors Cafe
    Creative Writing Industry
    Creativity
    Cumbria
    Debut Novels
    Disability
    Editing
    Emotion
    Ethics
    Ethis
    Family
    Feedback And Critiques
    Fictional Psychologists & Therapists
    Food
    Friendship
    Futuristic
    Gender
    Genre
    Getting Published
    Giveaways
    Good Enough
    Grammar
    Gratitude
    Group/organisational Dynamics
    Hero’s Journey
    History
    Humour
    Identity
    Illness
    Independent Presses
    Institutions
    International Commemorative Day
    Jane Eyre
    Kidney Disease
    Language
    LGBTQ
    Libraries
    Live Events
    Lyrics For The Loved Ones
    Marketing
    Matilda Windsor
    Memoir
    Memory
    Mental Health
    Microfiction
    Motivation
    Music
    MW Prequel
    Names
    Narrative Voice
    Nature / Gardening
    Networking
    Newcastle
    Nonfiction
    Nottingham
    Novels
    Pandemic
    Peak District
    Perfect Match
    Poetry
    Point Of View
    Politics
    Politics Current Affairs
    Presentation
    Privacy
    Prizes
    Psychoanalytic Theory
    Psychology
    Psycholoists Write
    Psychotherapy
    Race
    Racism
    Rants
    Reading
    Real Vs Imaginary
    Religion
    Repetitive Strain Injury
    Research
    Reviewing
    Romance
    Satire
    Second Novels
    Settings
    Sex
    Shakespeare
    Short Stories General
    Short Stories My Published
    Short Stories Others'
    Siblings
    Snowflake
    Somebody's Daughter
    Stolen Summers
    Storytelling
    Structure
    Sugar And Snails
    Technology
    The
    The Guestlist
    Therapy
    TikTok
    TNTB
    Toiletday
    Tourism
    Toxic Positivity
    Transfiction
    Translation
    Trauma
    Unconscious
    Unconscious, The
    Underneath
    Voice Recognition Software
    War
    WaSBihC
    Weather
    Work
    Writing Process
    Writing Technique

    Archives

    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    March 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    Picture
    BLOGGING COMMUNITIES
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos from havens.michael34, romana klee, mrsdkrebs, Kyle Taylor, Dream It. Do It., adam & lucy, dluders, Joybot, Hammer51012, jorgempf, Sherif Salama, eyspahn, raniel diaz, E. E. Piphanies, scaredofbabies, Nomadic Lass, paulternate, Tony Fischer Photography, archer10 (Dennis), slightly everything, impbox, jonwick04, country_boy_shane, dok1, Out.of.Focus, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region, Elvert Barnes, guillenperez, Richard Perry, jamesnaruke, Juan Carlos Arniz Sanz, El Tuerto, kona99, maveric2003, !anaughty!, Patrick Denker, David Davies, hamilcar_south, idleformat, Dave Goodman, Sharon Mollerus, photosteve101, La Citta Vita, A Girl With Tea, striatic, carlosfpardo, Damork, Elvert Barnes, UNE Photos, jurvetson, quinn.anya, BChristensen93, Joelk75, ashesmonroe, albertogp123, >littleyiye<, mudgalbharat, Swami Stream, Dicemanic, lovelihood, anyjazz65, Tjeerd, albastrica mititica, jimmiehomeschoolmom, joshtasman, tedeytan, striatic, goforchris, torbakhopper, maggibautista, andreboeni, snigl3t, rainy city, frankieleon