Sohn Wonpyung - Tumblr Posts

- Won-pyung Sohn, Almond (Author's Note) [trans. by Sandy Joosun Lee]

"People shut their eyes to a distant tragedy saying there’s nothing they could do, yet they didn’t stand up for one happening nearby either because they’re too terrified. Most people could feel but didn’t act. They said they sympathized, but easily forgot."

- Sohn Won-pyung, Almond [trans. by Lee Joosun]

"People sometimes say how cool it’d be to be fearless, but they don’t know what they’re talking about. Fear is an instinctive defense mechanism necessary for survival. Not knowing fear doesn’t mean that you’re brave; it means you’re stupid enough to stay standing on the road when a car is charging toward you."

- Won-pyung Sohn, Almond: A Novel [trans. by Sandy Joosun Lee]

- Sohn Won-pyung, Almond [trans. by Lee Joosun]

- Excerpt from A Note from the Translator (Sandy Joosun Lee) of Almond by Sohn Won-pyung

It's been a few months since I read Almond but I always keep remembering Yunjae and Gon. When I reached this part, I was so glad that Sandy mentioned this because I too felt this strongly and I hoped I was not imagining things or maybe some things got lost or changed in translations. I'm hoping someday I'll be fluent enough to read the original work and see if their relation still feels that way to me or not. Yunjae and Gon's relation/friendship is so beautiful, that's why one of my favourite quotes is the 'But I found Gon' one. It can be interpreted in so many ways based on the reader and thats the beauty there. Their love for each other is something beyond the neat little boxes of labels that we bound ourselves with, it's so intricate and ambiguous.