Hong Gildong

This book includes two short stories by South Korean writer Seo Hajin: “Hong Gildong” and “The Woodcutter and the Nymph.” In “Hong Gildong,” Seo draws from an early Korean tale to tell the story of a man wading through a midlife crisis. After seeing a psychiatrist, he seeks release from his present condition and wishes that a straw man would come to take his place. “The Woodcutter and the Nymph,” based on a Korean folktale, tells the story of a Korean American woman vacationing in the Northern Mariana Islands. She remembers incidents from her troubled past and feels trapped and alienated from her childhood home.