“At that time, I thought love was maybe not necessarily about two sides laughing together,
but one side being funny.”
Still fresh, yet all the more lovable!
Kim Aeran’s Run, Daddy, Run, now remastered with a new look
*Changbi Publishers will be publishing a series of “remastered editions” of novels that have been published for over 10 years and are still loved by readers, in hopes that these new classics will bring Korean literature one step closer to young readers today.
A completely new look has been given to Run, Daddy, Run – the first collection of novels written by Kim Aeran, an author who debuted at the age of 25 to become the youngest to sweep numerous literary awards and has been loved by the literary world and readers. Kim Aeran became the center of attention when she was awarded the Hankook Ilbo Literary Award even before her very first book was published, and she quickly became known as one of the most talented novelists after being acknowledged by various literary awards, including Yi Sang Literary Award, Dong-in Literary Award, Lee Hyoseok Literary Award, Today’s Writer Award, Shin Dongyup Prize for Literature, Kim Yujeong Literary Award, Young Writers Award, and Han Moosook Literary Award. My Brilliant Life, Kim Aeran’s full-length novel that was highly acclaimed by readers, was even adapted into a film. In this brilliant collection of Kim Aeran’s “firsts,” the stories that made her who she is today, including the title piece Run, Daddy, Run and nine other pieces that illustrate how the protagonist, despite being wounded by their father’s absence and poverty, builds self-esteem without falling into resentment or self-pity. With the agility to penetrate everyday life, whimsical imagination, and resilient style of writing, Kim Aeran’s works are uniquely both humorous and warm. The 2019 remastered edition maintains the original charm, albeit with more elaborate sentences and order of stories, an endearing cover that brings more warmth, and a sharper sense of style.
Reasons why you should read Run, Daddy, Run again today –
Unrivaled craftsmanship of words and sentences, with a sprinkle of cheerful energy that embraces our day-to-day lives
The remastered edition of Run, Daddy, Run has reorganized the nine short stories differently from the original edition. The first four short stories are centered around young narrators, illustrating their day-to-day lives with a “missing father or mother” in the background.
The absence of a mother is illustrated in Sky Kong Kong the Pogo Stick, in which a boy grows up in a rooftop house with his father, a radio trader, and his brother, an aspiring scientist, as well as in Fireworks on the Beach, where the father tells his young son how he met his mother when he asks how he was born. The young narrator, “I”, does not look for their mother but is not overly mature either as they grow up with just the right amount of precociousness and immaturity, while the young father is clumsy yet sincere and does his best to protect his child’s daily routine. The father figure is missing for young narrators in Love Greetings, which interweaves the search for the missing father with the mystery of the Loch Ness monster, and in Run, Daddy, Run, which illustrates creative imagining of the narrator’s father, who left home and abandoned his pregnant wife. The narrators in each of these novels blamed their fathers openly while reaffirming the absence of their fathers with delightful and affectionate imagination. In particular, in Run, Daddy, Run, the narrator gives sneakers and sunglasses to the father, who is always running in the narrator’s imagination, as a way of showcasing their joyful willingness to affirm their loss and move forward. The absence and deficiency are revealed not through denial and sadness but through positivity and cheerfulness, which are combined with Kim Aeran’s unique lively sentences to present readers with sparkling scenes and afterimages.
The five short stories in the second half of the program depict the daily struggles of the newcomers to our society. In both There Is a Reason She Can’t Sleep, in which a young office worker suffering from insomnia is forced to live uncomfortably with her father who suddenly comes to visit one day, and in Eternal Narrator, which shows an ironic conversation and situation with a former classmate during an accidental encounter on the subway, the inability to communicate with others, both near and far, and the feeling of disconnection experienced by characters in their twenties are described through dense psychological portrayals. On the other hand, I Go to the Convenience Store depicts the daily aspects of capitalism through the eyes of a college student living alone in a university town in Seoul, all with a sharp gaze and simple, straightforward sentences. The narrator “I” in No Knocking in This House, Kim Aeran’s debut novel, can also be read in a similar vein. The tenants in the university town are all conscious of each other, but at the end of the day, they are all the same. The story of young people who wish to make human connections with others while wanting to hide from the unspoken violence from others – this is easy to relate to for anyone who has gone through or is currently going through this period.
These stories all begin with familiar narratives from our everyday life, looking at them with a delicate inner gaze and adding a touch of sparkling imagination to ultimately transform misfortune and scars into delightful energy of self-affirmation. The bubbly rhythm and melody eminent throughout the novel further amplify Kim Aeran’s unique sensibility – hence the reason why this collection of stories has been loved by readers over the past 14 years and will continue to be loved, now with a completely new look. The remastered edition of Run, Daddy, Run is a reminder that Kim Aeran still has an unrivaled presence in Korean literature, and will make readers realize just what we have been looking for so far in Korean literature and novels.
Reference: Changbi Publishers . "Run, Daddy, Run", https://www.changbi.com/BookDetail?bookid=3315. accessed 11 October 2023.
There are no expectations.