Editor: Bruce Fulton
Author: Chae Man-sik, Cheon Un-yeong, Choe Yun, Choi In-ho, Choi Suchol, Chu Yo-seop, Han Yujoo, Hong Seok-jung, Hwang Jungeun, Hwang Sun-won, Jo Jung-rae, Jung Young-moon, Kim Aeran, Kim Jung-hyuk, Kim Seung-ok, Kim Tae-yong, Kim Yu-jeong, Oh Jung-hee, Pak Tae-won, Park Wan-suh, Pyun Hye-young, Shin Kyung-sook, Yi Hyo-seok, Yi Mun-yol, Yi Sang
Translated by: Bae Na-young, Bruce Fulton, Cindy Chen, Janet Hong, Jefferson Gatrall, Ju-chan Fulton, Kevin O'Rourke, Kim Chong-un, Marshall R Pihl, Ross King, Suh Ji-moon, Sunyoung Park
Publisher: Penguin, 2023
Link to online store *
This eclectic, moving and richly enjoyable collection is the essential introduction to Korean literature.
Journeying through Korea’s dramatic recent past, from the Japanese occupation and colonial era to the devastating war between north and south and the rapid, disorienting urbanization of later decades, The Penguin Book of Korean Short Stories captures a hundred years of vivid storytelling.
Here are peddlers and donkeys travelling across moonlit fields; artists drinking and debating in the tea-houses of 1920s Seoul; soldiers fighting for survival; exiles from the war who can never go home again; and lonely men and women searching for connection in the dizzying modern city. The collection features stories by some of Korea’s greatest writers, including Pak Wanso, O Chonghui and Cho Chongnae, as well as many brilliant contemporary voices, such as P’yon Hyeyong, Han Yujoo and Kim Aeran. Curated by Bruce Fulton, this is a volume that will surprise, unsettle and delight.
Source: publisher’s website
Contents
Introduction by Kwon Youngmin
1 Tradition
Yi Hyo-seok: When the Buckwheat Blooms (1936) tr Kim Chong-un, Bruce Fulton
Ch’ae Man-Sik: A man called Hungbo (1939) tr Ross King, Bruce & Ju-Chan Fulton
Chu Yo-seop: Mama and the Boarder (1935) tr Kim Chong-un, Bruce Fulton
Yi Mun-yol: The Old Hatter (1979) tr Suh Ji-moon
Kim Tae-yong: Pig on Grass (2006) tr Bruce & Ju-Chan Fulton
2 Women and Men
Pak T’ae-wŏn: A Day in the Life of Kubo the Novelist (1934) tr Sunyoung Park, Jefferson J.A. Gatrall, Kevin O’Rourke
Kim Yu-jeong: Spicebush Blossoms / Camellias (1936) tr Bruce & Ju-Chan Fulton
Ch’oe Yun: The Last of Hanak’o (1994) tr Bruce & Ju-Chan Fulton
Hong Seok-jung: chapter from Hwangjini (2002) tr Bruce & Ju-Chan Fulton
Cheon Un-yeong: Needlework (2001) tr Na-young Bae, Bruce Fulton
3 Peace and War
Hwang Sun-won: Time for You and Me (1958) tr Bruce & Ju-Chan Fulton
Park Wan-suh: Winter Outing (1975) tr Marshall R Pihl
Cho Chŏng-nae: Land of Exile (1981) tr Marshall R Pihl
4 Hell Chosŏn
Yi Sang: Wings (1936) tr Kevin O’Rourke
Kim Seung-ok: Seoul, 1964, Winter (1965) tr Marshall R. Pihl
Oh Jung-Hee: Wayfarer (1983) tr Bruce & Ju-Chan Fulton
Shin Kyung-Sook: House on the Prairie (1996) tr Bruce & Ju-Chan Fulton
Pyun Hye-young: The First Anniversary (2006) tr Cindy Chen, Bruce & Ju-chan Fulton
Choi Suchol: River Dark (2001) tr Bruce & Ju-Chan Fulton
5 Into the New World
Ch’oe In-ho: The Poplar Tree (1981) tr Bruce & Ju-Chan Fulton
Hwang Jung-eun: The Bone Thief (2011) tr Bruce & Ju-Chan Fulton
Jung Young-moon: Home on the Range (2003) tr Bruce & Ju-Chan Fulton
Kim Jung-hyuk: The Glass Shield (2006) tr Kevin O’Rourke
Han Yujoo: Black and White Photographer (2007) tr Janet Hong
Kim Aeran: The Future of Silence (2013) tr Bruce & Ju-Chan Fulton
LKL says:
Uf the 25 stories selected, one third have, as far as I’m aware, never been published in English before, including stories by Hwang Jungeun, Pyun Hye-young and Shin Kyung-sook. My personal favourite of the new ones was a rambling, chatty story from Jung Young-moon. But it was also pleasant to revisit some of the oft-published older tales such as Buckwheat Season and Mother and her Guest; and somehow, when you’re faced with a story in a nice, newly-printed Penguin edition you’ll be happy to read it, whereas that same story in a 20-year old edition from an academic publisher doesn’t have the same allure. And so it was that this year was the first time I’d read Cho Chongnae’s Land of Exile, despite having had it on my shelves in another edition for years. Powerful stuff.
Altogether a great introduction to the Korean short story genre, with some informative commentary.
LKL rating: 
External links:
- Review by Paul Fulcher (PF rating: ).
- Review by Tony Malone.
* 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.