Book Review: Counterattacks at Thirty is unputdownable by way of its relatability

After the crowd-favourite Almond, Won-pyung Sohn returns with Counterattacks at Thirty — a soothing read which will leave you with quite the occasional chuckle

If you’ve ever given The Office a shot, or better, find yourself utterly obsessed by the exaggerated shenanigans of workplace mundanity it scripts and captures, you’ll be flying through the crisp pages of Won-pyung Sohn’s Counterattacks at Thirty.

The cover of Counterattacks at Thirty by Won-Pyung Sohn (Photo: Instagram/abooknerd.reads)

Unlike her debut novel Almond, which’s selling point was it’s starkly unique premise and slightly more relatable ‘resolution’ if you can call it that, Sohn uses Counterattacks at Thirty to explore sentiments every last person part of the global workforce has internalised over their years of mind-numbing routine.

The directionless-ness and the endless nerves will either seem sorely familiar, or make you abjectly uncomfortable, by way of past resonance — but it’ll never feel foreign. What’s beautiful about Sohn’s writing is that she manages to craft a universe that feels like an extension of your own. But, the gap between your reality and fantasies is filled with some well meaning and much-needed angsty rebellion, which will leave your psyche more relaxed than you’d like to admit.

Circling back to it’s closest visual counterpart, this novel is best described as an inside-looking-out spin on The Office — the context of course being moulded to represent the peculiarities of Korean culture with the planned acts of devilment being significantly more subtle. And that only makes feel it that much more real.

Title: Counterattacks at Thirty

Author: Won-pyung Sohn

Publisher: HarperCollins

Price: ₹399