A review by biblio_creep
Untold Night and Day by Bae Suah

5.0

Read if you’re looking for: 

• Surrealist Korean literature, in translation
• Parallel storylines & characters, with repeating prose
• Effusive descriptions of a claustrophobic heat wave & the malaise of summer humidity in Seoul
• That feeling of dreamlike unreality & confusion
• An homage to The Blind Owl

This was my favorite book that I read in May! It’s a riotous jumble of surrealist imagery, and parallel and repeating themes and phrases, and an homage to The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat, which was one of my best books of 2023. The Blind Owl is referenced heavily, and the structure of the prose is similar, but I don’t think you have to have read it in order to enjoy this book. Like with most surrealist literature, I thoroughly enjoyed the ride, but I probably need a few more re-reads in order to make more sense of it.

Our main character, Ayami, is a former actor is finishing up her last day of work at an audio theater in Seoul. The theater is closing for good, and Ayami closes up the theatre, and then sets out into the city where many strange incidents happen throughout the night, with all the residents suffering from a major heat wave. The prose is written so beautifully, giving you a sense of the oppressive heat and darkness in the city that night.

The plot is difficult to describe, with the narrative jumping around in time, and with the same descriptions being used for multiple characters or scenes, causing a sense of circularity and repetition in the work, almost like musical phrases. There is also an uncertainness about what is real and what isn’t, or if the definition of “real” means anything at all. The different sections of the book weave together, connected by these repetitions, and the number of connections increase until you reach the end.

The novel also plays with themes of light and darkness, like the juxtaposition of night and day. The audio theatre often has blind patrons who attend the performances. Ayami and her former supervisor go to dinner at a restaurant where people eat in complete darkness to better experience the taste of the food.

I wouldn’t recommend this book for a wide audience, as it doesn’t have a traditional plot, and the structure is unusual, which will not be up everyone’s alley. But if you enjoy surrealism, musical writing, and hallucinatory vibes of floating through a searing hot city in the middle of the night, this book may be for you.