Author: Park Kyung-ni
Translated by: Anton Hur, Dasom Yang, Emily Yae Won, Mattho Mandersloot, Paige Aniyah Morris, Slin Jung, Sophie Bowman, You Jeong Kim
Publisher: Honford Star, 2022
Original title: 불신시대, 1957
Link to online store *
The Age of Doubt collects some of Pak Kyongni’s most famous works, including her 1955 debut and other stories featuring characters that would appear in her 21-volume epic, Toji. Many of Pak’s stories reflect her own turbulent experiences during the period following the Korean war and the various South Korean dictatorships throughout the twentieth century.
Pak Kyongni (1926-2008) is one of Korea’s most venerated writers and was hugely influential during her almost forty-years-long career. As one of the most highly respected writers in Korea, Pak’s work is included in textbooks, made into TV dramas and films, and several organisations are devoted to preserving her legacy, including the Pak Kyongni House and Literary Park and the Pak Kyongni Memorial Museum.
Source: publisher’s website
Contents
- Calculations (1955) tr Paige Aniyah Morris
- Black is Black, White is White (1956) tr Slin Jung
- The Age of Darkness (1958) tr Dasom Yang
- The Age of Doubt (1957) tr Anton Hur
- Retreat (1958) tr Emily Yae Won
- The Era of Fantasy (1966) tr Mattho Mandersloot
- The Sickness no Medicine can Fix (1968) tr Sophie Bowman
A concluding commentary by Professor Kang Ji Hee of Hanshin University is translated by You Jeong Kim
LKL says:
Park Kyung-ni is masterful in analysing the turmoil of the interior lives of post-war women, and at documenting the numerous injustices they face. Read this as a window into 1950s Korean society. One of the short stories would later find itself incorporated into Park’s magnum opus, Land (which, like these short stories, I find too slow-moving). My favourite of the stories is The Era of Fantasy, an extended reminiscence about colonial-era schooldays, but overall I found this collection dark and depressing.
LKL rating: 
External links:
- Review by Paul Fulcher (PF rating: ).
- Review by Tony Malone.
- Entry on Goodreads.com.
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