Reviews

“People said this was the end of the world. I disagreed. It was simply the end of the human race. People said the gods had abandoned the world. I disagreed. Divine attention had simply shifted from us to other creatures.” – ‘N+1’

Oh, fuck my heart. My first impression of the book was that it felt like a ‘literary burger’ – where the ‘love story’ sandwiches the ‘patty’ (arguably ‘trippy’) middle like two halves of a bun. Most reviewers preferred the ‘bun’, but the weird middle ‘patty’ was that that cannonball-ed this review to a 5-star rating for me. It gets so mad glorious in the middle – and completely fucking explodes into tiny particles of human affection and ‘love’ at the very end. If I wasn't so emotionally dysfunctional, I’d be bawling my eyes out – but go on and imagine me having a hardcore cry-sesh anyway. The author’s notes at the end of the book reveal a backstory of the ‘bun’ – it was actually tenderly composed for a real-life marriage proposal (friends of the author). And that blew my mind to bits. Shiny pastel purple brain goop – everywhere.

“Writing this second story, I was in a very different situation from when I wrote the first. The first time around, I’d written thinking that it would be for just two readers, with no hopes of publication. But even still, I kept writing thinking of the couple. This time around I was able to ask the bride to give me a song to be the background music, and she chose “Going Home,” sung by Kim Yoon-ah. Just like I listened to Yoo Young-suk’s “Just Pure Love” while I was writing the first story, I listened to “Going Home” over and over while writing this one. It might be nice to listen to it as you read this too. “On My Way to You” and “I’m Waiting for You” also form the story of the parents of the main character in “People Journeying to the Future.” Of course, the works aren’t tightly connected, so it’s fine to enjoy them independently. I just bring up “People Journeying to the Future” to mention that, in a very sweet gesture, the couple chose to name their daughter Seongha, after its main character.” – Author’s Notes

I would recommend reading all the notes at end of the book before actually reading the actual story of the book. Even if you don’t want to read the book, get your hands on a copy of it, read the notes, and then pass it on. The letters/emails exchanged between the translators are so worth-reading, and so wholesome it made my heart scream and trash about for a minute or two (yes, emotionally dysfunctional). To be clear about this – the best parts of the book for me are the legendary character ‘Tanjae’ (appearing only in the ‘patty’ section of the book), and the beautiful connection between translators. At first, I thought perhaps I prefer Bowman’s translations, but the collaborative work between the two translators were so wonderful – so seamlessly complementary that I was convinced that I wouldn’t be able to appreciate Bowman’s work without Sung Ryu’s contribution to the whole thing. I appreciate a good translation a whole lot; I think it affects the whole experience of reading tremendously.

“Have you seen the “translations are sacred” meme on Twitter? The photo of K’s tattoo in “Okja.” I’m not sure about sacred, but this translation of ours sure was fateful. Thinking about it now, it brought us to new highs and new lows. You won your first Daesan translation award for “The Prophet of Corruption,” I got to take part in English PEN Presents project with “I’m Waiting for You,” and the stories broke us in different ways. I will always remember snivelling away whilst translating the ending scenes of the two novellas I worked on, listening to the super emotional “Lie Lie Lie” by Lee Juck and “Going Home” by Kim Yoon-ah on repeat, and how my heart sank when I heard what you’d been dealing with. It feels like a real privilege that you let me help with what I could.” – Sophie Bowman’s letter/email to Sung Ryu

I wish I had read all the notes before reading the story; it would have made the most ideal reading experience in my opinion. Kim even included her friends’ thoughts with regards to the ‘real’ proposal (before and after), which I thought was rather lovely. I may be stereotyping this, but it was very ‘Korean’ and diabetically-sweet – Han River and all – you have to read it – I won’t spoil it, but it’s better than a K-Drama (not like I watch much of that).

“Our surroundings chilled as I spoke. Corruption was devouring the universe. So what? The wall pitied me. The entire battleship sneered. Tanjae shook their head. “Nothing disappears. To believe you can disappear is in itself a corruption.” It was as if lightning struck somewhere in my heart. Tanjae went on, “There is no sin, and no sinner. There’s only learning. No entity should have to disappear. The only wrong in the universe is in destroying balance. Ignoring the law of conservation of mass. Forgetting that the universe has a constant total mass and trying to erase a part of it.” I stared at Tanjae, stunned. I knew the child was blurting out my teachings without understanding them, afraid that I would disappear.” – ‘The Old Me’

I found the ‘patty’ section mad impressive, especially knowing that it had to be translated. It didn’t feel like a translated work. The writing was brilliant; the translation was brilliant; and nothing felt out of place. The characterisation was beautifully complicated. It’s basically a collective of characters that are not too different from one another (esp. in terms of physical attributes); they have the ability to shape-shift and ‘merge’; and are all addressed with ‘non-gendered pronouns’. I’m not fluent enough in Korean to make a proper comparison to the original text; I can only order Jajjangmyeon with an accent, and watch Baek Jong Won’s cooking shows without subtitles. I’d be interested to know what readers who are fluent in both languages think about it, because personally – I didn’t feel like anything was lost in translation. And I’ve had those frustrated experiences with other books, such as Kim Ji-Young, Born in 1982. I think the translation work peaked (for me) when the fiancée in the second half of the ‘bun’ shouted ‘HONEY’ when she was writing a letter to her fiancé. In my head, I could literally hear her shouting ‘yeobo’/여보; I truly hope that it wasn’t ‘oppa’. Someone who’s read the original/Korean text, please tell me it wasn’t ‘oppa’.

“I DREAMED OF YOU FOR THE FIRST TIME IN AGES.
It was so vivid I was sure it was real.
You were trapped in a cramped, dark room.
“I never left you,” I said, feeling regret. “I was with you all along. I’ve been with you all the time.”
“Well, where are you, then?” you demanded, shaking your head. “You’re not here. If you were, you would’ve come to meet me.”
And then I opened my eyes.” – ‘On My Way To You’

The excerpt above is from the second half of the ‘bun’ – the fiancée’s perspective/side of the story. Unlike her fiancé who deals with his own problems (usually tied to his own loneliness), her challenges come from dealing with the people that she’s stuck with. As she endures her own pains, she holds onto her most precious possession – her tiny e-book reader – which surprisingly helped her to start a ‘rebellion’ (other than providing her with bookish, ‘robotic’ company). Although some of the ‘bun’ bits made me cringe, there are a lot more to appreciate. The couple’s separation/distance/disconnection reminds me of a quote from Margaret Atwood’s book, [b:The Blind Assassin|78433|The Blind Assassin|Margaret Atwood|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1451445426l/78433._SY75_.jpg|3246409] – “She imagines him imagining her. This is her salvation.” And the book as a whole reminds me of Patti Smith’s album, ‘Dream of Life’ (1988), but of course if I had read the Author’s Notes first, I would have known that I should have been listening to Yoo Young-Suk and Kim Yoon-Ah!

This is an extremely well-written book that I had wanted to love. And then ended up truly loving very much; and it's got nothing to do with how I find the fiancée’s very well-stocked e-book reader very relatable, or how much Bong Joon-Ho loves this book. Please be patient with the ‘patty’ section of the book as one may find it a little harder to digest compared to the ‘bun’, but personally it’s my favourite chunk.

“I’m struggling to put it into words, but there’s something in all of these stories that speaks to how small we are, how things can be awful, be gone, or everything completely transformed, but that somehow little things can still matter. I have no idea what havoc the coming weeks will bring, but I’m glad that we joined paths on this voyage, and that we get to carry on travelling forward in time at the same speed, on the same gigantic spaceship.” – Sophie Bowman’s letter/email to Sung Ryu (w/ ref. to COVID19)

rasy's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Got mixed feelings about this. The first and third love story intertwining with a very distinct experience between the bride and the groom touched me at some points. Though I couldn’t ignore that the letters are not in communication with each reply in the series — or is this deliberate? That signals in outer space are borne to be consumed by dark vacuums, leaving us to wander mercilessly in writings and travels? Or to show that love can triumph in spite of proper connection? Also wished that the author explored the bride’s perspective more as she has been through a lot of social and morality issues here; discrimination towards refugees, the ideology of power play etc.

In contrast, the second story (The Prophet) honestly puts me in a bit of a slump. It just caught me at the wrong time — wasn’t in the mood for anything of existentialist nor nihilistic texts at the moment.

kjtlion's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes

5.0

lottpoet's review

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challenging emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

paeandbooks's review against another edition

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5.0

4 short stories tied together and told from different perspectives. They're separated, waited for each other and bound by promise to be together. Prepare to weep.

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