- Overview
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This book contains the twelve short stories that capture the abyss of time and present a path to trace reality and fiction, perception and oblivion, and facts and truth, which are all embedded in human memories.
- Book Intro
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Readers may notice the horror of their inhumane world and past regrets that cannnot be corrected while reading each story in this collection. Among them, “A Fishing Girl,” the winner of the Contemporary Literature Award, portrays a girl who is more clever than other children and lives with her mother who is sick and more naive than other adults and earns a living through prostitution.
The author Jeon Sung-tae talks about a daughter that becomes mature at an early age due to anxiety about her future despite her flimsy foundation, a mother who barely makes ends meet, and how these two manage to maintain peace. Jeon lets his readers know that is it love and sympathy toward each other that helps us exist and live quietly, leaving a profound impression. The reason this story is portrayed as a beautiful fairy tale even when it centers on the tragedy of mother and daughter who are under divine punishment lies in the author’s warm and generous eyes toward underprivileged people.
This collection contains stories such as Girls Grow, Boys Are Happy which portrays the growth of a boy who falls in love for the first time despite a tough family background; Holding Mum Flowers in which a woman loves a dead, strange man whom she has never seen; Erased Landscape which describes paternal love toward a son suffering from severe megalomania; Goodbye in which the protagonist helps a foreign worker illegally living in another country return to his home country; Visiting Graveyard which depicts the story of a veteran who takes care of the graveyard where former spies and armed communist guerillas are buried; and Home of Nostalgia which talks about the conflicts and reconciliation between displaced older people. Through these stories, readers can notice the author’s attitude toward relationships, which become more precious when life becomes destitute and insecure. Holding Mum Flowers and Erased Landscape, in particular, deal with the May 18th Gwangju Democratization Movement, while Visiting Graveyard and Home of Nostalgia are based on historical facts related to the division of Korea. Yet, these stories do not take either side and instead depict the historical events and inner feelings of those who have gone through the ups and downs of history in a profound and beautiful manner.
- About the Author
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Jeon Sung-tae
Born in 1969 in Goheung in South Jeolla Province, Jeon Sung-tae graduated from Chung-Ang University and the same graduate school with a degree in Literary Creation. Jeon made his literary debut in 1994 by winning the New Writer’s Award from Silcheon Literature. Collections of stories created by Jeon Sung-tae include The Second Self-Portrait, The Wolf, Crossing the Border and The Ritual. Novels written by Jeon include The Female Barber. Collections of essays written by Jeon include The Big Brothers of the World. Jeon also has written the report the rights of people with two othere authors (O Su-yeon and Park Yeong-hee) which is titled The World We See on the Street. Jeon has won various awards including the Shin Dongyeop Literary Award (2000), Chae Mansik Literary Award (2009), Muyoung Literary Award (2010), Oh Yeongsoo Literary Award (2011), Hyundai Literary Award (2012), Lee Hyoseok Literary Award (2015), and Hankook Ilbo Literary Award (2015).
- Award
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Hankook Ilbo, 2015, Hankook Ilbo Literary Award
Lee Hyoseok Literature Foundation, 2015, Lee Hyoseok Literary Award
Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea, 2015, Sharing literature by Sejong Books