Name: Miss Kim Knows and Other Stories
Rating: 3.277777777777778 (9 reviews)
ISBN: 9781398522923

Cho Nam-Joo

Eight women. Eight stories. One reality.

A woman is born. A woman is filmed in public without consent. A woman suffers domestic violence. A woman is gaslit. A woman is discriminated against at work. A woman grows old. A woman becomes famous. A woman is hated, and loved, and then hated again.

Miss Kim Knows and Other Stories

Lindy

When I think about it now, I was so young.

Some things in life are beyond human control. But what can be done is to wait, to prepare, to not abandon hope altogether, and, when a bit of luck comes your way, to accept it with gratitude and not take credit for all of it.

Steph

After reading Miss Kim Knows, it's safe to say Cho Name-Joo has cemented herself as a feminist writer in today's Korean society. This book consists of 8 different short stories, focusing on the average Korean woman and their life. <br /><br />Like Kim JiYoung, there's nothing spectacular about these women, but as I read their stories, I get to know how women are being treated there. One story that sticks with me the most is the one where a 60yo woman goes to see the aurora. There's this line in the book that says, and I paraphrased, it's best to do things while you're young because when you're old and frail, you can't do it anymore and you'll only live in regret. This quote will be the motto of my life. <br /><br />A lot of the stories explore the complicated relationship between mother and daughter. The daughter has the pressure to live up to the mother, the mother regrets not taking care of the kids, the selfishness a woman feels when she prioritises herself over her children... I like that the author brings up topics like these and puts them in stories where we can resonate. I can't speak for everyone, but I do see myself relating to some of these characters. 

Really enjoyed her first book but this one did not quite hit the spot. Found it difficult to get into the stories and was not taken along by the story. Sadly a not so good read.

antonia maria wagner she/they

Eva Ströberg

Miss Kim knows - Cho Nam-joo
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⭐️⭐️⭐️
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I loved her previous book (Kim Jiyoung, born 1982), and this book is more or less in the same spirit as that one, telling the stories of average Korean women, from different generations, ages and perspective, in small chunks (read: Short stories)
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My fave stories are probably “Dear Hyunnam Oppa” and “Night in Aurora”. Dear Hyunnam Oppa tells the story of a girl dumping her fiance by writing him a letter revealing slowly that the fiance is a controlling and manipulative person. In Night in Aurora, a 60-year old woman who does not get along with her own adult daughter, is taking a trip to Yellowknife, Canada to see the aurora together with her elderly mother in law.
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Three stars, not because the stories aren’t enjoyable, they are, but they resemble each other so much that it’s rather blur between one story and another
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The content, however, is still about how Korean women are battling the old traditional values about a woman’s role in a household, and at the same time they are more educated than ever, challenging Korean men with their outdated values
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Isabella 

a collection of short stories that showcases women from different stages in life. it explores the realities of being a woman in different circumstances and themes. i enjoyed reading most of it, but there were stories that were weaker than the others. i wish they ended the book with a stronger story rather than ending it with the, i would say, "weakest" story.

Nach ihrem feministischen Weltbestseller »Kim Jiyoung, geboren 1982« widmet sich die koreanische Autorin Cho Nam-Joo weiterhin dem Schicksal von Frauen in ihrem Land, die unter den patrichalen Strukturen leiden. Acht Frauenleben werden beleuchtet und wieder gelingt es der Autorin, dass sich Frauen weltweit angesprochen fühlen. »Miss Kim weiß Bescheid« versammelt die Leben von acht koreanischen Frauen zwischen 10 und 80 Jahren. Jede einzelne dieser stellvertretenden Frauenbiographien wird vor einem aktuellen gesellschaftlichen Thema in Korea verhandelt: das heimliche Filmen von Frauen in der Öffentlichkeit, hate speach und Cybermobbing auf Social-Media-Plattformen, häusliche Gewalt, Gaslighting, weibliche Identität im Alter und die Ungleichbehandlung am Arbeitsplatz. Auch sich selbst, die plötzlich weltbekannte Autorin, nimmt sie ins Visier. Ihr Erfolg ermöglicht ihr einerseits, ihr Leben als Schriftstellerin komfortabel zu führen, andererseits lässt sie der Hass, der ihr vor allem im Netz begegnet, nicht kalt. Cho Nam-Joos Meisterschaft besteht in der glasklaren Sprache, in der sie ihre Prosa verfasst und gleichzeitig in dem genauen Blick auf die Ungerechtigkeiten Koreas, den sie mit nichts verschleiert, sondern im Gegenteil messerscharf zu Papier bringt. Wie schon bei »Kim Jiyoung, geboren 1982« sind auch die Schicksale dieser acht Frauen nicht annähern so weit von uns weg, wie wir meinen und hoffen.

Storys

Miss Kim weiß Bescheid

Von den acht Kurzgeschichten fand ich nur manche sehr gut, was vermutlich daran liegt, dass ich mich mit den jungen Frauen natürlich deutlich besser identifizieren kann als mit der Seniorin. Der Schreibstil war aber konstant sehr bewegend und man hat gemerkt, dass sich die Autorin bei jedem Satz etwas gedacht haben muss. Jede Kurzgeschichte hat je ein aktuelles Thema behandelt, welche, finde ich, sehr gut dargestellt wurden. Beispiele sind häusliche Gewalt, die Erwartungen an Frauen in Sachen Kindererziehung und die Auswirkungen des Lockdowns.

Miss Kim Knows and Other Stories

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