Thursday, February 5, 2009
In Nami Mun’s Miles From Nowhere, Joon, a 13-year-old runaway, walks the isolating streets of New York City as if something good is waiting for her. Masking the abuse, suffering and addiction with independence, she fights to find the acknowledgement and happiness absent in her short-lived childhood. Her progression from young girl to young adult is not without its painful obstacles.
With every self-infliction, Joon’s bleeding love spills over forgotten family and friends. Throughout the novel, Joon makes futile attempts to connect to something concrete, instead falling at the hands of failed jobs, hits of meth, and lovers promising false hope. The subject matter sounds like it would deter readers from relating to the characters and their internal struggles, but in fact the honest beauty and brutality make the harsh situations sympathetic, and not as shocking as they should seem.
The characters are rough around the edges, but soften into compassionate friends and allies on the gritty streets. Although tough to take at times, readers will understand Joon’s pain and interpret it as their own, making Miles From Nowhere a simple attempt to spell out every individual’s endless pursuit of happiness.
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