Customer Reviews

Fox Girl

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Fox Girl is a brilliant "awareness novel", transporting the reader to 1960s Korea, where women trapped in a culture of prostitution struggle to survive in "America Town," serving the American soldiers on the local base. Narrated by the teenage Hyun Jin and focusing mainly on herself and friends Sookie and Lobetto, it shows how multiple generations are trapped into a cycle of exploitation, especially children of prostitutes and American soldiers. The characters and their lives are realistic; clearly, the author knows of what she writes.

Still, an exposé doesn't automatically make a great novel, and there were a few problems that prevent me from recommending it wholeheartedly. The most irritating while I was reading was the problem of time: the story covers several years, during which the lead female characters become involved in prostitution, get pregnant, etc... and we never know how old they are at any given time! The prologue presents Sookie's age at a couple of key moments, but this information doesn't fit with the amount of time that seems to have elapsed in the text, and it's unclear how old everyone else is in relation to Sookie--she and Hyun Jin appear to be the same age at the beginning, until about 1/3 of the way in, when we discover that Sookie is two years older... although she claims to remember Hyun Jin's birth, which she could not have if she was two. And so forth. This was a problem for me throughout the book, although other readers might not be bothered.

Then there was the fact that all the main characters were just plain unlikable. Now, I know, they were prostitutes and pimps, they were leading rough lives, and they seemed quite realistic as they were. Still, the author seemed to be going out of her way to make them seem unpleasant, which made it hard for me to care about their struggles; I would have had more sympathy for Hyun Jin if the author hadn't spent the first 100 pages showing us what an insensitive friend she was and how she bullied other kids. And the early scene where her parents kicked her out seemed random and contrived. There were some other minor issues as well: Korean words were used without any translation, and continuity problems (Hyun Jin commenting on the relationship between Sookie and Lobetto only to be surprised later on by what she already knew, etc.).

I've written a lot criticizing this book, but I agree with a lot of the things the positive reviewers have stated: if you're looking for a gritty, realistic book (and I mean seriously gritty; expect rape, bestiality, etc., to be described in some detail) about the lives of Korean prostitutes, this is your book. Just don't say I didn't warn you.

Fox Girl, by Nora Okja Keller, is a very well written story of survival. It takes place right after the events of the Korean War and shows how it affects the children as they grow up. The main character is Hyun Jin. In the beginning, she lives on a military base with her family and her only friend is an ugly young girl everyone calls Sookie. Sookie, as a child, was in total awe of her beautiful mother and her many boyfriends. Little does either child know, however, is that Sookie's mom is a prostitute. The chapters that tell of their childhood are extremely amusing with the naive thoughts of the young girls about Sookie's mother. These chapters are not all fun and games, though, for they foreshadow Sookie's destiny. Hyun tells of Sookie's mother's talks with them about sex and men which seem to influence how Sookie lives her life later in the book... The book grows slightly darker when the girls grow up and Sookie ends up becoming one of the most beautiful young women in the neighborhood and gets into her mother's profession. Hyun's opinions are as interesting as the story from beginning to end. Overall, this all makes for a good read, at anytime, especially if you have a spring break or summer vacation coming up.

...I kinda knew I was in for a harsh ride. I mean, I read the inside flap (...); however, desensitized as I am, I had to force myself to read past the recounting of Hyun Jin's first occupation. Also, this is a book in which the main character, the predicted heroine, is not quite a heroine; the story unfolds from her, but it's her friend Sookie who drives the action, who is the repulsively attractive person we all know, the one that doesn't seem to think in quite the same morals that you do. To Sookie, she thinks to save herself first; but the paradox is that what Sookie does will ultimately save her friend and her child, and I think that she understood this far better than Hyun Jin does. It's not enough to take away the "heroine" label from Hyun Jin, just to chip it.

Through Hyun Jin and Sookie, we see the facets of friendship and the interpretations of motherhood, and how dreams of America that once possessed the people that settled this country has swept, and influenced, the East. It's somewhat low-key in Hyun Jin's narratives; you catch nuances of the tone. It's a disturbing book, pointing out the unredemptive ugliness of human society, but offering the solace that perhaps some can slip through, correct the mistakes made.

I read this book about six years ago. I was a little surprised by the negative reviews (it's almost as if those reviewers didn't read the same book!). This is an honestly brutal and unfliching view of the lives of children left behind by U.S. soliders in Korea. However, in a broader context the book is also about how the women who prostitute themselves with the American soliders and bear their children are also exploited by the same native Koreans who shun them. At first blush, the Hyung Jin and her best friend Sookie appear to have nothing in common. After all, Hyung Jin is the product of a stable, though not so loving, two-parent home, and Sookie is the half-American daughter of a prostitute. Hyung Jin is naieve, but soon the scales fall from her eyes and she begins to see things as they really are. Once she is disowned by her father and expelled from her home, Hyung Jin joins Sookie on the streets and sinks into a world of sexual exploitation and depravity in the name of survival.

Keller does a great job of exploring themes of motherhood, race, class, and the realities of the post-war society in South Korea. She also very masterfully demonstrates that personal identity is tenuous and fluid as the Hyung Jin, Sookie, and Lobetto transition from one role to the next.

I love this book! It made me cry, laugh, angry, empathic, and scared. I cared the main character as if she were my sister. I felt like I was living life with her as she strugled though so many hardships. Many times I wished I could fly to Korea and take this troubled girl back home with me. If you like reading about the struggles and triumphs of strong, troubled girls and women, this book will beocme you favorite too.

I randomly bought this book at a discount store, because the cover looked interesting. What I found was one of my favorite books ever written. I love when writers tell the unheard stories of those who may not lead such prosperous and attractive lives. Keller beautifully renders the hardships of a young Korean girl during the 60's/70's. Through Keller's descriptions, one is able to see what a person can endure for survival. The book was graphic to the point of being overly sordid, but that is what I feel Keller wants the readers to see...that dirtiness and darkness can be transformed into goodness and compassion. I absolutely could not put this book down, for I wanted to know the final destiny of the young girl.

When reading "Comfort Woman," I felt that though the book was poetically written, it was a bit too much peppered with descriptions of Asian mysticism to impress Western readers. "Fox Girl," on the other hand, was an excellent read.

While most of the story would not ring true today, in the 60's and 70's it was a very real situation that occurred as American GI's were a ticket to money and a better life for Korean girls who had no jobs and no way to feed themselves. Descriptions of going to the "Monkey House" for treatment of VD's and how women needed to carry a working license when they were as young as 14 were fascinating. The main character was someone who had a typical situation but had a headstrong attitude... and Lobetto, the biracial pimp who dreams of his black father sending for him to live in the United States was quite heartbreaking.

Having lived in Korea for four years, America Town still exists but it is a very different place. Even so, I learned quite a bit about the history of what the situation was like 30 years ago. This book will make you wonder what you would do to survive.

I saw the cover and of this book, and that was enough to pique my interest. I read the exerpt and bought the book. This was the first book of this particular topic that I read, and I must say, bravo! It captivates life as it was right after the Korean war between young Korean women and American GI's. It depicts the life of Hyun Jin and her friend Sookie, and the boy Lobetto and how there lives take place from childhood up until early 20's. The time line of the book begins when the three are youngins and their lives eventually go seperate ways. The book portrays life as Korean "prostitutes" as you may call them evolve. The Hyun Jin and Sookie want to make it to America and the path along the way takes several intersting turns and halts. There are rapes, beatings, friendship, relationships, family, and the brining of life.

I was hooked on this book after just the intro chapter. I wanted to read something different. Something more than boy meets girl. I found it in Fox Girl. It is an eerie look at a world and culture I never imagined. Though sometimes depressing, it's always thought-provoking. I could hardly put it down. I just had to keep finding out what was going to happen.

Sookie's absence of feeling and remorse is amazing. Hyung Jin is also a little selfish, except for when it comes to the baby. Her first "honeymoon" scene is rather brutal and hard to read, but very well written. Very emotional. I recommend the book.

This book It you into the front line of poverty and desperation. You ache for the main character as she falls into prostitution, but you also rejoice in her love for the child she takes into her heart. While the begining of the book is good, and the middle is very strong, the ending is sadly weak and anticlimatic. The book definitly leaves a bad taste in your mouth about prostitution, and leaves you wondering about whatever did happen to the children of American GIs in Korea.....