A review by sanmeow
The Age Of Doubt by Pak Kyongni

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.5

a collection of post-war short stories with lots of philosophical elements. i quite enjoyed this because i really like the author's style, it's my taste for sure. my favorite was the title story, in which jinyoung turns to religion as a way to hope with her son's death. jinyoung suffers because her son died due to the corrupted healthcare system in the post-war period in korea. she then struggles because she realizes that religion won't help her like she thought it would. she knows she has to deal with her grief through reflection and she knows that she can't rely on anything external to get through it. also quite liked black is black, white is white. it had very good commentary on the oppression of women at the time, though it's relevant still. overall, i really enjoyed this. i was also happy to find out that anton hur translated my favorite story, the age of doubt, since i really like his translations.