Ju-Chan Fulton

Collection of postwar short stories ranging from the 50s to now. Some are stronger than others, but all deal with the isolation and stultified domestic place within which South Korean women still struggle for identity, enrichment and meaning. The introduction puts much of this writing in context, and informs about certain classifications of Korean modern literature, including pundan munhak, a body of work that deals with the territorial division of Korea and the divided families, the show more anti-Communist campaigns for which the "sins of the father" ruined the careers and hopes of two generations. Out of this theme came one of the two strongest stories in my opinion: Kim Min-suk's "Scarlet Fingernails," about a daughter who visits her father given a day's furlough to celebrate his hwang-ap from a life prison sentence--a man whom she never met who refuses to recant his visit to the north. What's fascinating is that the story turns out to be less concerned with the daughter than with the mother, his wife, who though she doesn't visit him, prepares special soup and then has her own private party at home with the old ladies in the complex. The other strong story was a NYC immigrant story by Kim Chi-won, "Almaden," about a liquor store owner, the disaffected wife of a cold husband, who fantasizes about a man who buys the same wine every day for years. This collection speaks to the internal lives of modern Korean women and how they struggle for dignity in a culture that sees women best as martyrs, wives and mothers. show less

This was the February BOTM pick. This was a book of Korean short stories originally published in 1989, and had been expanded and republished in 2016.
O ChÅng-hÅ­i: “Wayfarerâ€: I think there was so much more to this story that we missed somehow. Besides the fact that she was accused of killing her lover because she was in her slip. And it sounded like she asked for the divorce not him? Did she ask for one because she was tired of the accusations? And if he didn't want it why did show more he abandon her in the mental hospital? And what happened with her daughter? Why did the daughter say “mommy forgive us what we did was a crimeâ€. Then later she said her daughter was a liar? I need to re-read the story.
Kim Chi-wÅn: “Almadenâ€: I agree the stories do not wrap up at the end...very strange. Did anyone catch the hunger refrence? “She felt as if he had the soul of a beggar; he was a hungry man who could never be satisfied.†Its not as predominate as in the first story, but it was there. Maybe I'm just looking now.
SÅ YÅng-Å­n: “Dear Distant Loveâ€: Her aunt had the right of it. Wow was she brainwashed or what. Staying with and for that asshat! What was the suffering supposed to lead her to? And why didn't she take her kid and marry the lawyer or go to America? Ugh that was awful. I mean the writing was good, but man was it bleak
Pak Wan-sÅ: “Identical Apartmentsâ€: Oh my god this story was so boring, I couldn't stand the author...she was a jealous petty bitch. The whole story was tedious and I couldn't wait for it to be over.
And tha pact that she pittied her husband was awful too
Kong SÅn-ok: “The Flowering of Our Livesâ€: I think she is a lesbian that wants to be a prostitute but isn't? She the hunger and food was predominant again
Han Yujoo: “I Ain't Necessarily Soâ€: I have no idea what the point of that story was, all I can say is thank god it was short!
Kim Sagwa: “It's One of Those the-More-I'm-in-Motion-the-Weirder-It-Gets Days, and It's Really Blowing My Mindâ€: Ok this was a weird one! Was he dreaming, did he really go postal and murder those people? Were we inside the head of a schizophrenic?
All the death happened at diner tables...and the sister became a pig?
Ch'Ån Un-yÅng: “Ali Skips Ropeâ€: Ok so I didn't realize until the end that the narrator was a young girl. It made more sense then. This one seemed to make the most sense of all the ones we have read so far.
Kim Ae-ran: “The Future of Silenceâ€: This one made my eyes glaze over, and I realized halfway through that I wasn't retaining any of it and I had to start over.
This was depressing, and sad. And very sci-fi.
For additional reviews please see my blog at www.adventuresofabibliophile.blogspot.com show less