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A Man
83 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1954
61 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 1, 2022
This is a "What the fucking-fuck is wrong with the translator and publishing company" kinda book.
These three stories were written in 1946, 1953, and 1956. They are dated. That tends to happen with old books. Not a surprise, not a big deal. However, the choice to translate THESE stories (of all the ones the author wrote) was made in the early 2000's. The english version of this book was published in 2003. Presumably the blurb for the back of the book was written at roughly the same time. And therein lies the problem.
The second story in this book "A Man" is described thusly:
"'A Man' offers wry commentary on gender relations while describing a man who is hapless in his dealings with women."
The description makes it seem like it's gonna be a bit of a cute story. Yeah. It's not.
It's about a man who rapes his sleeping employee. It is very explicit that he goes into her room at night while she is sleeping and fucks her because he can't control his lust for her anymore. Afterwards, she cries so he keeps her around. It is implied that she inflamed his passions and made him rape her, and that her tears about her being a virgin were her just playing tricks on him. Eventually, she "puts on a lot of make up and runs away with his money." In the end of the story, he hires a second woman, this one with a small child. Eventually, he goes to rape her in her sleep too. The story ends with him putting his foot on the first step to her room. In this situation, it is implied this new woman is also "teasing" him on purpose so she can get her claws into him. She teases him by taking her jacket off, by being in her room with her jacket off, and by touching the water pump handle at the same time as him. The story, again is very explicit that the second woman is asleep when he starts to head upstairs to rape her.
Um. Hi. What? What the fuck?? A man repeatedly raping his employees until they are able to escape him is not a story of a man who is "hapless" both women. This story is what it is, it's the past and people used to think and talk this way.
But this is NOT a famous story in Korea--i live in Korea and made a point to ask my coworkers and friends. This isn't like a household name, a known classic, a famous story that every Korean had to read in school. It's an old story, one among many, that could have stayed in the past.
Bruce And Ju-Chan Fulton (translators of this book) You have serious fucking issues.
These three stories were written in 1946, 1953, and 1956. They are dated. That tends to happen with old books. Not a surprise, not a big deal. However, the choice to translate THESE stories (of all the ones the author wrote) was made in the early 2000's. The english version of this book was published in 2003. Presumably the blurb for the back of the book was written at roughly the same time. And therein lies the problem.
The second story in this book "A Man" is described thusly:
"'A Man' offers wry commentary on gender relations while describing a man who is hapless in his dealings with women."
The description makes it seem like it's gonna be a bit of a cute story. Yeah. It's not.
It's about a man who rapes his sleeping employee. It is very explicit that he goes into her room at night while she is sleeping and fucks her because he can't control his lust for her anymore. Afterwards, she cries so he keeps her around. It is implied that she inflamed his passions and made him rape her, and that her tears about her being a virgin were her just playing tricks on him. Eventually, she "puts on a lot of make up and runs away with his money." In the end of the story, he hires a second woman, this one with a small child. Eventually, he goes to rape her in her sleep too. The story ends with him putting his foot on the first step to her room. In this situation, it is implied this new woman is also "teasing" him on purpose so she can get her claws into him. She teases him by taking her jacket off, by being in her room with her jacket off, and by touching the water pump handle at the same time as him. The story, again is very explicit that the second woman is asleep when he starts to head upstairs to rape her.
Um. Hi. What? What the fuck?? A man repeatedly raping his employees until they are able to escape him is not a story of a man who is "hapless" both women. This story is what it is, it's the past and people used to think and talk this way.
But this is NOT a famous story in Korea--i live in Korea and made a point to ask my coworkers and friends. This isn't like a household name, a known classic, a famous story that every Korean had to read in school. It's an old story, one among many, that could have stayed in the past.
Bruce And Ju-Chan Fulton (translators of this book) You have serious fucking issues.
June 12, 2024
3 short stories.
"The Dog of Crossover Village" was depressing, but also uplifting in the end. Seems to be an allegory for Koreans during Japanese occupation.
"A Man" was actually my least favorite. I didn't get much from it.
"Bibari" was my favorite. And I loved reading about Jejudo, its dialect, and how it used to be.
https://4201mass.blogspot.com/
"The Dog of Crossover Village" was depressing, but also uplifting in the end. Seems to be an allegory for Koreans during Japanese occupation.
"A Man" was actually my least favorite. I didn't get much from it.
"Bibari" was my favorite. And I loved reading about Jejudo, its dialect, and how it used to be.
https://4201mass.blogspot.com/
April 23, 2014
I found ths book very confusing. I could tell the short stories were allegorical, but I was never altogether certain that I was reading into them correctly.
The first short story also was slightly shocking with its depictions of eating dog...
This book did not make me want to read more from Hwang Soon-won.
The first short story also was slightly shocking with its depictions of eating dog...
This book did not make me want to read more from Hwang Soon-won.
December 20, 2016
A collection of three short stories: The Dog of Crossover Village (reads like a folktale), A Man (interesting but ends abruptly), and Bibari (somewhat compelling).
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews