* Cracks hidden in the everyday lives of ordinary city dwellers

“Kang YeongSuk, an author who patches up the cracks in the world with sentences, is a good novelist who shrinks from using the expression, ‘good novel.’” - Maeil Business Newspaper

This book consists of seven short stories that depict cities of today, where darkness has deepened, and those who endlessly wander the dark, labyrinthine streets share their wounds with complete strangers, bound in strange solidarity. Everyday life passes, but peace is no longer. Survivors of natural and capitalistic disasters roam the maze like ghosts in hell. And we call that everyday life. The characters in Kang’s stories come face to face with the meaninglessness of life and attempt to flee everyday life. But the navigation systems of those who have lost their way fail to function.

In the end, they are thrust into another hell, whose reality remains ambiguous. Kang’s characters are fragmented; there’s no one to hold them back when they leave. They find strangers to make love with, get into relationships without emotional connection, and return home to find themselves when the relationship is severed. Jinwuk, the protagonist of “Incurable,” is a bank teller who has always been a diligent, exemplary worker. He starts seeing Suyeon, who applies for a loan at the bank, but returns home when the relationship comes to an end. Riri, the Japanese protagonist of “Thunder of the Sea,” has been traumatized by a severe earthquake. Unable to sleep soundly after the earthquake, she comes to Korea for the sole purpose of getting some good sleep.

Even when people leave of their own will, they are caught off balance when they arrive at their destination. In “Black Puddle,” Jeongyeon, who has retired from her job, where she has worked for 25 years, goes drinking with a group of people, dozes off, and ends up trapped in the last subway train. Where they arrive at is not a magical place that makes their wishes come true. Their hometown is beyond recognition, and the northern village of Seoul is a place where anything can happen to strangers. In a city half in ruins, at an unfamiliar bus terminal, in a stray alleyway, or on the last subway train, they are still faced with chaos.

Kang YeongSuk

Kang YeongSuk, born in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, graduated from the Department of Creative Writing at Seoul Institute of the Arts. Her writing career began when she won Seoul Shinmun’s annual spring literary contest in 1998 with her short story, “A Meal in August.” Her works include the short story collections, Shaken, Every Day is a Celebration, and Black in Red, and the full-length novels, Rina, Writing Club, and The Sad and Delightful Teletubby Girl. She has received the Hanguk Ilbo Literary Award, the Baek Shin-ae Literatury Award, and the Kim Yu-jeong Literary Award.