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The Cry Of The Magpies

Author:
Translated by:
Publisher: , 2002
Link to online store *

“The Cry of the Magpies” is one of Kim, Dong-ni’s most famous and widely read short stories. From the depressing condition of life represented in the story by combining poverty, war, chronic illness, and hopelessness emerges various intensified forms of love, desire and longing. The cry of magpies, which is believed to foretell either the arrival of a welcome visitor or the visit of death, aptly symbolizes the two sides of human passion that sweep through the story.
In “Deungsin-bul”, Kim, Dong-ni examines the meaning of religious and spiritual engagement for a young man who desperately seeks a way to escape from a meaningless death in the Japanese army. This pursuit, however, leads him to a confrontation with the Deungsin-bul, the life-sized statue of a legendary Buddhist monk who burned himself as a sacrifice in order to redeem the sinful weaknesses of humanity.

Read a review by Charles Montgomery here. Entry on Goodreads.com here.

* Where the book is available from a number of sources, they are prioritised as follows: (1) Amazon UK site, or Bookshop.org for the more recent uploads (2) Amazon US site (3) Other sites in US or Europe, including second-hand outlets (4) LTI Korea, where the title is advertised as available from there (5) Onlines stores in Korea. Links to Bookshop.org and Amazon UK site contain an affiliate code which, should you make a purchase, gives a small commission to LKL at no additional cost to you.