- Overview
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In this boolk, the twisted, exhausting life at the bottom is portrayed through a Korean writer Cheon Myeongkwan’s uniquely witty style of writing.
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From the story of the dead who were born gracefully but died miserably (The Book of the Dead) to the story of the benevolent smile of an old man who had a near-death experience (Spring at Ui-dong), Cheon’s novels depict the lives of desperate people who have suffered and are wandering with the themes of life and death and dreams and reality in a delightful yet solitary manner. The characters in Cheon’s stories include a manual labor worker who was once a well-paid truck driver but ended up having no one to have a meal with after he got divorced (Running Turkeys and Manual Workers), a broken family who returned to their farm with great expectations but got stuck in a flytrap (Pastoral), chauffeurs who drive through dark roads every night hoping to earn 30,000 won (Pink), and jealous women who have to endure harsh lives on an island (Camellia Flower). Those who have seemingly become mainstream in society are not so different from these people. A popular writer suffers from the trauma of the childhood abuse and has confusion (Tombs of Kings), and a narrator who has become a chief editor after working at a publisher for over twenty years suffers from severe insomnia and endures long, lonely, and sleepless nights (Night of the Reptiles).
Cheon’s characters wander in their dreams in states of trance, live their daily lives as though having nightmares, or give up everything after failing to fill the gaps between harsh reality and dreams. The easiest paths they follow to endure these times of insomnia or despair involve taking medicine. People who live a “chemical life” by taking a digestive medicine after eating, a sleeping pill before sleep, and Viagra for sex even take a massive dose of vitamins so as not to develop cancer (Night of the Reptiles). Those who are defeated by hormones rely on tranquilizers to work as a chauffeur and drive under the influence (Pink), and day laborers manage to simply survive day by day drinking soju as though it were some sort of medicine (Running Turkeys and Manual Workers). While inspecting the lives of sick people seen through the eyes of Cheon, as if “taking yellow pills, white pills, and blue pills in turn,” readers may feel as though they have a tonic made of all sorts of human feelings and experience a sense of comfort.
- About the Author
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Cheon Myeongkwan
Cheon Myeongkwan (M) was born in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, in 1964. He started writing full-time after his novel Frank and I received the Munhakdongne Rookie Award in 2003. His full-length novel, Whale, won the Munhakdongne Novel Award in 2004. His other books include Marisa, the Cheerful Maid; and A Laborer Running with a Turkey and the full-length novels The Graying Family; and My Uncle, Bruce Lee 1 and 2.
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