This is Fitzgerald. Sorry for the lack of review -- we only had one copy of this book so it took a little while for it to circulate through the three of us. But trust me, this book is well worth the wait.
Pieces of YouBy: Daniel Armand Lee, a.k.a. Tablo
Publish Date: 2/12/2009 (English Edition Release Date), Dal
Order from: YESASIA or HanBooks
Skilled in rapping, songwriting, instruments, and acting, Epik High leader Tablo is no doubt a person of many talents. Pieces of You allows fans to appreciate the writing talent of Tablo who holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in English Literature and Creative Writing from Stanford University. This English-language book unveils a collection of short stories Tablo wrote at Stanford during his undergraduate studies from 1998 to 2001. No true fan should miss Tablo's literary work.
(description taken from YesAsia.com)
I'll start off by giving a short introduction of tonight's author, Tablo (real name Daniel Armand Lee). He is a member of South Korean hip hop group Epik High (I highly, highly, recommend their music). As the description states, Mr. Tablo is a graduate of Stanford University (yes, people, he did graduate from Stanford. Leave the guy alone). If you get a chance to expose yourself to some of his lyrics, you'll understand why this man is one of the most talented artists in the music industry.
Before I start with the real review, I want to give you a little warning -- PoY contains some swearing along with some drug & sex references. But personally, I don't think they're "heavy" enough to turn you away from reading the book.
Pieces of You contains 10 short stories that cover a span of 229 pages. Sprinkled in between are some urban illustrations, like this one
From the moment you hold this book in your hand, you can tell the publishers put a lot of consideration into the aesthetics of it. The cover, the dust jacket, the artwork, even the sown-in bookmark. To whoever is interested in design aspects of books, feel assured that PoY won't disappoint.
The stories aren't happy. They seldom end with their characters happy. Instead, you're given deep, insightful & uncensored stories that explore the dark side of human nature -- fear, pride, hate, regret. But along the way you also have characters that learn of the courage it takes to face life. From a son who manages to face his bully-of-a-father, to a young man having a bad drug trip, you're given a handful of such realistic characters with such raw emotions, that any one of these people could live off the page & fit seamlessly into our world.
The writing style is truly lyrical & nothing less of what I'd expect from a man with great talent. Though, you don't have to be a fan of Tablo to appreciate the book. You don't have to listen to his music in order to see the book as what it is -- a piece of art.
After each story, you're left feeling like you need more, & that's really the only downside of the book. On one hand you wish for a proper ending or a clean finish as if it were a normal novel. But on the other hand, these stories reflect real life, & we all know that clean endings aren't always what we're given. So just a little advice: don't go into the book thinking that it'll contain proper stories with beginnings, middles & ends. Scrap that typical formula out of your mind, & just enjoy the book for what it is.
Paper Frontiers gives Pieces of You a 5 out of 5.
(Our first 5 out of 5!)
I was a little worried that I would be biased when rating this book, but both Bradbury & Hemingway ("virgins" to Tablo, I guess you can say) agreed that PoY deserves a 5. All of us are hoping Mr. Tablo will continue with his writings & release more works in the near future.
PS: There are two versions of this book: the Korean edition & English. If you plan on purchasing the book (which I hope you do!), be sure to read the description carefully. The links posted in this entry are for the English editions.
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