Snowy Day and Other Stories - by Lee Chang-Dong (Hardcover)

About the Book

"The first story collection published in English by Lee Chang-dong, one of South Korea's most celebrated and influential literary and cinematic figures of the last four decades Much like Lee Chang-dong's internationally renowned films (Burning, Secret Sunshine, Peppermint Candy), these brilliant, unsettling tales, originally published in Korea in the 1980s and now translated into English for the first time, investigate themes of injustice, betrayal, and terror-on both an intimate and national scale. Lee writes deeply and hauntingly about barriers between family, the powerful and the vulnerable, conformists and rebels. In the title story, drawn from the author's own memories of serving in the South Korean military, the class divide between a university-educated private and a working-class corporal serving sentry duty together one snowy night leads to tragic consequences. In "There's a Lot of Shit in Nokcheon," the psychological violence that two brothers enact on each other over the course of a lifetime captures the darkness and paranoia that pervaded Korea in the 1980s, as the country struggled towards democratic rule. And in the novella-length "A Lamp in the Sky," a young woman's brutal interrogation at the hands of the police reveals the series of increasingly troubling decisions that led her to this moment. Is she innocent or guilty? In the end, even she cannot say. Snowy Day and Other Stories introduces English readers to a master storyteller"--

Book Synopsis

The first story collection published in English by Lee Chang-dong, one of South Korea's most celebrated and influential literary and cinematic figures

Much like Lee Chang-dong's internationally renowned films (Burning, Secret Sunshine, and Poetry), these brilliant, unsettling tales, originally published in Korea in the 1980s and now translated into English for the first time, investigate themes of injustice, betrayal, and terror--on both an intimate and national scale. Lee writes deeply and hauntingly about conflicts between family, the powerful and the vulnerable, conformists and rebels.

In the title story, drawn from the author's own memories of serving in the South Korean military, the class divide between a university-educated private and a working-class corporal serving sentry duty together one snowy night leads to tragic consequences. In "There's a Lot of Shit in Nokcheon," the psychological violence that two brothers enact on each other over the course of a lifetime captures the darkness and paranoia that pervaded Korea in the 1980s, as the country struggled toward democratic rule. And in the novella-length "A Lamp in the Sky," a young woman's brutal interrogation at the hands of the police reveals the series of increasingly troubling decisions that led her to this moment. Is she innocent or guilty? In the end, even she cannot say.

Snowy Day and Other Stories introduces English readers to a master storyteller.

Review Quotes

"A stirring collection of stories about resistance. Lee Chang-dong effectively and dramatically explores the sacrifices people make to hold onto their ideals. These potent tales leave a mark." --Publishers Weekly

"Short stories exploring South Korea on the verge of transformation. These stories abound with emotional violence that sometimes boils over into the physical, and empathetically explores characters reckoning with a lack of good options. A harrowing but clear-eyed look at South Korea's recent history." --Kirkus

"Lee Chang-dong is a masterful auteur--in these remarkable stories as much as in his renowned films. Though this collection pulses ominously with the turbulent ghosts of Korea's recent history, I was left with an unusual sense of hopefulness. How his characters find their way to redemption still has me in awe. Unforgettable." --Ayad Akhtar, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Homeland Elegies and McNEAL

"What a gift to have these stories translated, finally, into English! Lee Chang-dong is a master of the inconclusive tale and a brilliant architect of landscapes in which the human figures are hopelessly dwarfed and muzzled by their conditions. Rich with tragic and pathetic ironies, and inflamed by a genuinely incendiary political anger, Lee Chang-dong's stories give the same complicated pleasure as his films." --Ari Aster, director of Midsommar and Hereditary

"Lee Chang-dong is a master storyteller of any form. This collection of his early works gives a deep, stark look at human stories from a Korea not too long ago. A gift to read." --Steven Yeun, Academy Award nominee for Best Actor

About the Author

Lee Chang-dong is one of Korea's most highly acclaimed directors, known internationally for his films Burning, Secret Sunshine, and Poetry. He began his career as a writer of short fiction and novels before turning to screenwriting and directing. His work is characterized by its meticulous eye for detail and its exploration of social issues and complex characters.

Heinz Insu Fenkl is an internationally award-winning writer, translator, and folklorist, best known for his novels Memories of My Ghost Brother and Skull Water. His fiction and translations have appeared in The New Yorker. He is a professor of English at the State University of New York at New Paltz.

Yoosup Chang is an American translator born in South Korea. He is best known for his translation of works by major Korean authors like Yi Mun-yol and Pyun Hye-young, as well as his contributions to the Oral Literature of Korea series. He lives in Maryland.