Won-pyung Sohn Combo Pack of 2 Books : Counterattacks At Thirty : A Novel | Almond : A Novel

1. Counterattacks At Thirty : A Novel :-

Ji-hye is an ordinary woman who has never been extraordinary in her thirty years of life. Even her name Ji-hye is one of the most ordinary in Korea. And just like every ordinary person, she’s not one to make waves by pointing out the absurdities of Korean bureaucracy or the small acts of injustice around her. Ji hye puts up with her superiors at the Academy where she works who, in big and small ways, create a semi-hostile work environment in the office. She has become the master of tedious tasks, from lining up chairs and distributing lecture materials to photocopying pornographic materials for “presentations.” Inappropriate as some of her tasks might be, Ji-hye has long accepted them as part of ordinary young adult life. But when Kyu-ok Lee, a new intern, joins the Academy, Ji-hye recognizes him as the man who once publicly accused a professor there of plagiarism. But this Kyu-ok seems different from that angry young man Ji-hye once encountered. In the office, he seems to be just another hard-working employee… until he shows his true colors.

A pacifist version of V in V for Vendetta, Kyu-ok recruits likeminded people to carry out plans for minor revenge. All four “rebels” he’s recruited in their office have their own reasons to resent society at large: a single dad who’s stuck in the past, a screenwriter whose script was stolen by a large filmmaking corporation, and Ji-hye, who’s never felt like an individual and now has to deal on a daily basis with a bully who’s come back into her life as an instructor at the Academy. Together, these four rebels begin to protest the older generation in the form of harmless antics: graffiti, throwing eggs, anonymous exposé, and more. But as their attacks increase, they (and the reader) will discover that even these tiny protests can make change in a world where everyone’s been too busy just getting by.

2. Almond : A Novel :-

This story is, in short, about a monster meeting another monster.

One of the monsters is me.

Yunjae was born with a brain condition called Alexithymia that makes it hard for him to feel emotions like fear or anger. He does not have friends—the two almond-shaped neurons located deep in his brain have seen to that—but his devoted mother and grandmother provide him with a safe and content life. Their little home above his mother’s used bookstore is decorated with colorful Post-it notes that remind him when to smile, when to say “thank you,” and when to laugh.

Then on Christmas Eve—Yunjae’s sixteenth birthday—everything changes. A shocking act of random violence shatters his world, leaving him alone and on his own. Struggling to cope with his loss, Yunjae retreats into silent isolation, until troubled teenager Gon arrives at his school, and they develop a surprising bond.

As Yunjae begins to open his life to new people—including a girl at school—something slowly changes inside him. And when Gon suddenly finds his life at risk, Yunjae will have the chance to step outside of every comfort zone he has created to perhaps become the hero he never thought he would be.

Translated from the Korean by Sandy Joosun Lee.