Category: Read 2021

The White Book by Han Kang

“Why do old memories constantly drift to the surface?”

4/5 stars.
Read from October 18, 2021 to October 20, 2021.
Hardcover, 160 pages.

An 8 Sentence Review:

Following my love of The Vegetarian and Human Acts, The White Book is more of a poem than a novel.

The entirety of the book revolves around the colour white as the narrator reflects on the death of a sister she never got to meet.

“…a face as white as a crescent-moon rice cake.”

Each chapter of this short book is named after something white as white is a reference to death within the Korean culture. The writing style is delicate and remiss of the violence that haunts Kang’s other works and while I enjoy many of the harsh aspects of Kang’s work, this was a welcome change. This novel reminds me of one of my favourite poetry collections, Victoria Chang’s Obit as it carries a similar haunting but delicate tone.

A short and recommended read for lovers of Kang’s work and a welcome piece on death and grieving.

Lady of the Lake by Andrzej Sapkowski

“Destiny isn’t the judgements of providence, isn’t scrolls written by the hand of a demiurge, isn’t fatalism. Destiny is hope. Being full of hope, believing that what is meant to happen will happen.”

4/5 stars.
ebook, 352 pages.
Read from October 4, 2021 to October 17, 2021.

An 8 Sentence Review:

If you’ve played the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, this book fills in some interesting pieces of that game that aren’t mentioned or discussed, however, the plot differs in terms of the main antagonist.

Continuing from where The Tower of Swallows left off, Ciri finds herself in an unknown realm on her own. The realm is unfamiliar to her and the elf inhabitants are unpleasant and indifferent to her despite their apparent vested interest in her as the child of prophecy. She is held captive by the elves and needs to find a way to escape this realm and find her way back to Geralt, despite the dangers she still faces in her own realm both from the war that is raging and from the Bonhart, who tortured and is still chasing her.

This read was an exciting end to Geralt and Ciri’s story and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Ciri’s times with the elves and the escapades it took to get her out of that realm. These last two books were the best in the series so far, next to The Last Wish (still the best Witcher book, in my opinion) and if you play the games, these books provide interesting details on characters and additional storylines that aren’t explained in the games. A solid read and a great finale to the series.

The Tower of Swallows by Andrzej Sapkowski

“They are not demons, not devils…Worse than that. They are people.”

4/5 stars.
ebook, 352 pages.
Read from September 19, 2021 to October 3, 2021.

An 8 Sentence Review:

It’s been a pleasure to read this book while also playing and being completely engrossed by the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt video game. There are so many characters and story references that are alluded to in the video game that come from the book series that would make no sense to anyone who has not had the pleasure of reading them.

After finding the last two books in the series full of too much lore and politics, this was a much needed change of pace. Geralt can’t find Ciri, the child of prophecy, and war is erupting all around. The plot of this story focuses mostly on Ciri and how she manages to escape the capture of a terrifying bounty hunter, as well as realising how much of the prophecy involving her is true. The writing style still feels a bit clunky, similar to the others in the series, but it’s hard to determine if that’s the fault of the translator or the author. The story itself is still immensely gripping, however, and I would mark this book as my favourite next to The Last Wish. A must-read for lovers of the the Witcher series and video games.

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