"The Ginseng Hunter",
A poignant tale of love and loss,
and of choices made.
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| Author Jeff Talarigo |
After freeing yourself from the distraction of another terrible haiku, (oh the horror of abstract nouns!) drop everything and go read this book. I mean it.
This was my first time reading a work of the talented Jeff Talarigo and I must say "The Ginseng Hunter" blew me way. The spare prose of this novel only added to the beauty and pain of the plot and the settings and the characters...pretty much everything was amazing. The closest I can describe this writing is that it's like a fine painting. If, no,
when you read this, you'll know exactly what I mean. Yes, I am gushing, but deservedly so. As a note of interest, the main characters in this book are nameless, never revealed to us readers, and in Talarigo's own words, it was his way of simplifying a complex story. Is it possible for a complex story to be simple? If so, he has definitively done it. There were many themes and emotions apparent, with overlying political plots over personal ethical conflicts, and yet, each of these were made crystal clear. Cue the applause. The research that has gone into this book is apparent with the details and clarity of every scene. Truly provides us with a haunting peephole into the world of the North Korean conflict. 5/5
Book Description
