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A review by adammm
Modern Korean Fiction: An Anthology by Bruce Fulton, Kwon Youngmin
5.0
This is an excellent anthology which shows the overall flow of modern Korean literature. (Modern Korean literature having begun in roughly 1910, give or take a few years.) Before I start, two complaints: the transliteration, in particular of names, is noticeably dated - and, to be quite honest, makes the work hard to read. Furthermore, I am of the opinion that the editors made the mistake of loading the anthology with works from the colonial period (roughly 1920-1950) and the industrialization period (the 1970s). There wasn't a single story about the uprisings or unstable political situation of the early 1960s (unless you count Choe Yun's "The Gray Snowman", which was written over 30 years later), or the 1980 Gwangju Massacre. How on Earth did that happen? A little more of an even distribution would have been nice.
This is how the anthology breaks down.
1924 - Hyun Jingeon, A Lucky Day
1925 - Kim Dongin, Potatoes
1936 - Yi Tae-jun, Crows; Kim Tong-ni, The Shaman Painting; Kim Yujung, The White Rabbit; Yi Sang, Wings; Lee Hyo-seok, When the Buckwheat Blooms
1938 - Chae Manshik, My Innocent Uncle
1948 - Choe Chong-hui, The Ritual at the Well
1953 - Hwang Sunwon, Coarse Sand
1955 - Lee Hocheol, Far From Home
1965 - Kim Seungok, Seoul: 1964, Winter
1971 - Choi Inho, Another Man's Room; Kim Pukhyang, The Son
1975 - Cho Sehui, Knifeblade
1976 - Choe Illam, Ballad
1977 - Yi Chong-jun, Footprints in the Snow
1979 - Yi Munyol, The Old Hatter
1980 - Park Wansuh, Mother's Hitching Post
1983 - Oh Junghee, Wayfarer
1992 - Choe Yun, The Gray Snowman
1997 - Kim Young-ha, Lizard
6 stories from the 1930s, 6 from the 1970s, and only one from the 1960s and two from the 1980s? How did that happen?
Anyway, a quick recap of the more memorable stories. I would say my favorites (in no particular order) were Choe Yun's "The Gray Snowman," Kim Seungok's "Seoul: 1964, Winter", Kim Tong-ni's "The Shaman Painting", and Hwang Sunwon's "Coarse Sand." "The Gray Snowman" deals with socialism in (what I would guess to be) the 1960s, but which may have been as late as the 1980s. "Seoul: 1964, Winter" describes the events of a small group of newly acquainted men on an evening in the middle of winter. "The Shaman Painting" was a true stand-out - a description of the spread of religion and modernity in a small town. I would say by far my favorite story of the lot was Hwang Sunwon's "Coarse Sand"; a description of a boy's relationship with his mother, with a startling conclusion.
If I were to edit this collection, I would toss out Kim Yujung's "The White Rabbit" (a funny trifle of a story, it doesn't add much overall), Yi Sang's "Wings" (a fevered description of a man's relationship with his wife), and Lee Hyo-seok's "When The Buckwheat Blooms" (a slow-paced description of a man who goes town to town, selling items in market places) - both of these stories were, of course, very good, and truly two of the most important works of modern Korean literature, they simply don't need to be present in this anthology. Not when they are in every other anthology. And Korean class. And available for free online.
A few other interesting stories were Hyun Jingeon's "A Lucky Day" - a mixture of hope and sorrow as a man earns money and avoids returning home to his family. Choe Inho's "Another Man's Room" and Kim Youngha's "Lizard" were reminiscent of one another; a ghost, or maybe a spirit, or maybe a lizard - sex, passion, and a description of menial things. Kim Pukhyang's "The Son" is particularly interesting, in that it is the lone work of North Korean literature available in this anthology; as a father struggles to teach his son to work for the common good, this is exactly the sort of work you would expect from North Korean literature. Park Wansuh's "Mother's Hitching Post" describes a woman's relationship with her elderly mother, with flashbacks typical of Park's writing.
Finally, the last two stories I want to discuss, could very well belong to my "favorites" list but I forgot to write about them until now and I'm too lazy to go back and edit them in: Yi Munyol's "The Old Hatter" and Cho Sehui's "Knifeblade." "Knifeblade" comes from Cho's astonishing work "The Dwarf". It is my favorite from that book, depicting Korea's new middle class. (That being said, I recommend reading "The Dwarf" as a whole.) "The Old Hatter" is another story that details the changing of time, and the loss of Korea's heritage and traditional culture; it's almost a bit too heavy on how awful it is Koreans are losing touch with the past, but the story is very strong overall.
The other stories are all good as well. I definitely recommend reading this anthology for a great introduction to modern Korean literature.
This is how the anthology breaks down.
1924 - Hyun Jingeon, A Lucky Day
1925 - Kim Dongin, Potatoes
1936 - Yi Tae-jun, Crows; Kim Tong-ni, The Shaman Painting; Kim Yujung, The White Rabbit; Yi Sang, Wings; Lee Hyo-seok, When the Buckwheat Blooms
1938 - Chae Manshik, My Innocent Uncle
1948 - Choe Chong-hui, The Ritual at the Well
1953 - Hwang Sunwon, Coarse Sand
1955 - Lee Hocheol, Far From Home
1965 - Kim Seungok, Seoul: 1964, Winter
1971 - Choi Inho, Another Man's Room; Kim Pukhyang, The Son
1975 - Cho Sehui, Knifeblade
1976 - Choe Illam, Ballad
1977 - Yi Chong-jun, Footprints in the Snow
1979 - Yi Munyol, The Old Hatter
1980 - Park Wansuh, Mother's Hitching Post
1983 - Oh Junghee, Wayfarer
1992 - Choe Yun, The Gray Snowman
1997 - Kim Young-ha, Lizard
6 stories from the 1930s, 6 from the 1970s, and only one from the 1960s and two from the 1980s? How did that happen?
Anyway, a quick recap of the more memorable stories. I would say my favorites (in no particular order) were Choe Yun's "The Gray Snowman," Kim Seungok's "Seoul: 1964, Winter", Kim Tong-ni's "The Shaman Painting", and Hwang Sunwon's "Coarse Sand." "The Gray Snowman" deals with socialism in (what I would guess to be) the 1960s, but which may have been as late as the 1980s. "Seoul: 1964, Winter" describes the events of a small group of newly acquainted men on an evening in the middle of winter. "The Shaman Painting" was a true stand-out - a description of the spread of religion and modernity in a small town. I would say by far my favorite story of the lot was Hwang Sunwon's "Coarse Sand"; a description of a boy's relationship with his mother, with a startling conclusion.
If I were to edit this collection, I would toss out Kim Yujung's "The White Rabbit" (a funny trifle of a story, it doesn't add much overall), Yi Sang's "Wings" (a fevered description of a man's relationship with his wife), and Lee Hyo-seok's "When The Buckwheat Blooms" (a slow-paced description of a man who goes town to town, selling items in market places) - both of these stories were, of course, very good, and truly two of the most important works of modern Korean literature, they simply don't need to be present in this anthology. Not when they are in every other anthology. And Korean class. And available for free online.
A few other interesting stories were Hyun Jingeon's "A Lucky Day" - a mixture of hope and sorrow as a man earns money and avoids returning home to his family. Choe Inho's "Another Man's Room" and Kim Youngha's "Lizard" were reminiscent of one another; a ghost, or maybe a spirit, or maybe a lizard - sex, passion, and a description of menial things. Kim Pukhyang's "The Son" is particularly interesting, in that it is the lone work of North Korean literature available in this anthology; as a father struggles to teach his son to work for the common good, this is exactly the sort of work you would expect from North Korean literature. Park Wansuh's "Mother's Hitching Post" describes a woman's relationship with her elderly mother, with flashbacks typical of Park's writing.
Finally, the last two stories I want to discuss, could very well belong to my "favorites" list but I forgot to write about them until now and I'm too lazy to go back and edit them in: Yi Munyol's "The Old Hatter" and Cho Sehui's "Knifeblade." "Knifeblade" comes from Cho's astonishing work "The Dwarf". It is my favorite from that book, depicting Korea's new middle class. (That being said, I recommend reading "The Dwarf" as a whole.) "The Old Hatter" is another story that details the changing of time, and the loss of Korea's heritage and traditional culture; it's almost a bit too heavy on how awful it is Koreans are losing touch with the past, but the story is very strong overall.
The other stories are all good as well. I definitely recommend reading this anthology for a great introduction to modern Korean literature.