LTI Korea 
DLKL 
SIWF 
An Author the Sum of His Characters scrap
by Jung Yong-jun
July 21, 2015
Author Bio 작가 소개
Cheon Myeong-kwan
“Truth, by its nature, melts away like ice the moment you grasp it.” (Gorae [Whale]. Munhakdongne Publishing Corp., 2004)
Cheon Myeong-kwan is a novelist who builds a dynamic narrative based on bold imagination.
Would I recommend Cheon Myeong-kwan’s books? Of course.
I’ve read all his books. That’s why I’d gladly recommend them. Each of his books is different. His short stories are different from one another and so are his novels. But if you were to ask me if his books all feel different then I’d have to say no. His books are all different and yet, they feel the same because he wrote them. Cheon’s a specialist. He’s a pro who manages to make distant, unrelated stories like Whale and The Turkey and the Running Laborer his own. He’s an unrelenting raconteur and a technician who transforms simple events into bizarre, poetic narratives. All I can say is that his writing is powerful. You can pick up any of his books and it will be good.
Would I recommend Cheon Myeong-kwan the writer? Well…
I hesitate all of a sudden. The truth is that I don’t know Cheon very well. I’ve read all of his books but there’s not much I know about the man himself. But I’m not entirely uninformed about him. Our paths crossed accidently once in a pension by the Yellow Sea. After exchanging awkward greetings, we ate lunch, drank coffee, and then conversed over drinks in the evening. That’s all. I’ve met him just that once. But he’s asked me to write this article about him. I gladly accepted the request of a senior whom I like and respect, but later I felt curious as to why he’d asked me to do it.
I have a few ideas I’ll just throw out there:
First, he’s taken a liking to me even though we’ve met only once.
Second, it doesn’t matter who writes it or what they write.
Third, he likes the impression he’s made on me.
I like the last one the most. Because, though we’ve met only once, I, too, like the memory of the conversation that we shared.
So, this is what I know about Cheon Myeong-kwan.
He says he’s on the outside but really he is in the middle. He’s always cracking jokes but infuses them with serious reflections and sincerity. He says he roughs out drafts but his face betrays the fatigue of writing. He says, “I’m not sure about this…” but, in fact, knows everything. He’s a wife-less man who’s well informed about married life, and an old bachelor who knows everything there is to know about women (I’m a bit doubtful about this). One moment, he seems like a senior who’s well versed in life but the next instant he is the very image of the depressed modern man. His baby face, which leaves you guessing his age, lulls you into talking with him informally even as you feel the conflicting urge to address him respectfully. He says, “I write books that make money and can be made into movies,” but I think only half of that statement is true. Because some things can’t be conveyed through the big screen and work only as novels.
To summarize, Cheon seems to be the sum of the different characters in his stories. He’s a writer who is in command of the unpredictable spectrum between Whale and The Turkey and the Running Laborer, one who can write and wants to write about everything he can. I guess I’d call him a cheerful yet gloomy physical writer. 
by Jung Yong-jun
Novelist
Writer 필자 소개
Jung Yong-jun
Did you enjoy this article? 별점
Did you enjoy this article? Please rate your experience
More From Issue Vol.28 Summer 2015
More Content Like This
