Customer Reviews

First Kyu

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I don't care for fiction books, but as a lover of go I decided to give 'First Kyu' a try. Right from page one I was hooked, and less than 24 hours later I've completed the book - I simply couldn't put it down. The story-telling is outstanding, and the author's style is so immersing that you're right there the whole time. I hesitate to share the plot as I don't want to spoil a thing. All I'll say is that 'First Kyu' exceeded my expectations.

This is a fascinating book about Korea in late 60s - early 70s, from the perspective of a teenager who decides to become a professional Go player.

It is about youth, love, friendship, sacrifice, and Go.

It's difficult for a white western computer nerd to get a feel for the different flavors of asian culture. Everything I know about japan comes from anime, go, and manga...

But what do I know about Korea? Nothing. I think we can safely ignore everything from M*A*S*H...

As a go fan, I was roped into this book from page one. I very much enjoyed the feel of Korea the author gave me -- literally my only exposure.

I also enjoyed the way the main character started to see all of his problems in life as go problems. In truth, this happens to anyone that gets really into the game.

I just finished this book, and I absolutely loved it. I'm a Go player, so it's perhaps not surprising that I would like a novel about Go. And in fact, there is a lot said about the game, including a number of useful ideas on improving one's play that I haven't seen elsewhere. But what really stood out for me is how well-written the book is and how involved I got with the fates of the characters. The author really has a way of breathing life into the characters and the stories, and the book showed me many facets of the go culture I had never suspected could exist (Go as a gambling game?). What also fascinated me is the depiction of the dark side of the game: people who get so wrapped up in the game that real life gets left by the wayside. The ending is not very happy, but it feels perfectly appropriate to the tone of the rest of the story.

Every Go player should read this book, and it's also worth reading if you're just interested in Korean culture generally.

First Kyu follows Wook in his jourey into the world of Go, the ancient Japanese boardgame. More than the story of a bright young man rising in the Korean Go world, First Kyu is a touching coming of age story. Wook learns lessons of life in between his rigorous study of the game of Go. The Korean Go association's professional qualifying tournament is the only way to make it in the Go world. With new age restrictions coming into effect, Wook must work to become a top go player before it's too late to become professional.

First Kyu was translated from the original Korean text. While the author himself translated the book, it still lost some of the important emotion that perhaps existed in the Korean version. My only complain with this book is the objective black and white narrative.

Overall, First Kyu is a quick and delightful read. Whether you are a Go player or are hearing of the game for the first time, this book presents a genuinely interesting story. Pick this up as a quick read. If you're a Go player, it's required reading.

-Nealo.

You do not need to be a good Go player to enjoy this short book. However, it certainly helps to know the basics of the game and perhaps a little about its history or, at least, the esteem in which the game is held in the East. The story is a touching coming-of-age one about a youth growing up in (South) Korea. The central character, Wook, is totally infatuated with the idea of becoming a professional Go player as opposed to the academic-route career planned by his family. It's a tale of the normal rebellious inclinations of youth but also about display of a degree of dedication, honesty, honour and generosity that exceeds that found in the older traditional generation. Thoroughly enjoyable.

I,ve never read another book like first kyu and will probably never find one if you love go this is a must read if you love great works of literature then look no further. the ending left a strapping man like me watery eyed i wish i could give this book more stars.

This is the novel for Go player and in it, you enter into the world of Korean society, education, GO-pro wannabe, hustling and more ! You won't regret it and will be hooked.

I hope it can be made into a movie and it will be rated "R".

The only grip I have is the paragraph formatting need improvement for future edition.

Other than that, this is a keeper and a winner :)

I thought that First Kyu was a great book. I read the entire thing in a day, putting it down only to use the bathroom. The ending is a bit surprising, but the book expresses common feelings that many GO players have in their desire to become professional players. It also puts a perspective on priorities in life. It's a good book.

I can only recommend this book for those interested in Korean baduk. This is because it covers the baduk world before the modern Korean professional organization was instituted and discuses bangneki (baduk gambling) to the reader. If one is interested in Korean culture in general, then there are much better books that would address this wider topic.

If one does not have an interest in the aforementioned material, then I would definitely avoid this book. In terms of literary value and creating a satisfactory reader experience, it fails on many accounts.

Dr. Sung-Jwa Hong isn't able to create engrossing or interesting backgrounds because of a lack of descriptive content and technique.

It's hard to truly like any of the characters, esp. the protagonist. This seemed to stem from that fact that nearly all of their actions revolve around quick exultations of hedonist activities, are dictated by previous lies they have given to others & themselves, and/or never confront & resolve any of the problems that each character seems to be avoiding through the book. I often found myself hoping that many of the characters would fail at their goals by virtue of this failure being consistent with the actions that they have chosen. However, even if the author had chosen for everything to miraculously work out despite the huge flaws in the characters, then that would have been interesting in it's own way. But the author never seems to address any of this. Actually, it's hard to really understand why any of what happens to the characters does happen. This, along with the bland backgrounds, leaves the novel feeling very one-dimensional.

The final major problem I experienced was with the last ~30-pages. During this the pace of the book speeds up dramatically--dropping nearly all descriptive text and all character development for an abrupt ending. Something must have gone horribly wrong with the author, as these pages represent the worst in the book, with erratic writing goals creating forced and confusing content choices. Worse for the reader though, is that any hope for the resolution of several loose ends never occurs.