병신과 머저리

Modern Korean Literature #1

by Yi Chong-Jun, 이청준

<서편제>, <눈길>, <당신들의 천국> 등 우리 시대의 한과 아픔을 사랑과 화해로 승화하려 한평생 고뇌한 작가 이청준. 2008년 7월에 타계한 소설가 이청준 선생의 문학을 보전하고 재조명하고자 문학과지성사에서 새로운 구성과 장정으로 준비한 '이청준 전집' 1권으로, 초기 중단편소설들을 발표순으로 모았다.

이청준의 작품 세계는 권력과 인간의 갈등, 집단과 개인의 불화, 언어와 사회의 길항 등 거시적이고 사회적인 문제로부터 고난을 견디는 장소로서의 한국인의 집단 무의식과 그 밑바닥의 가장 복잡한 심사들의 뒤엉킴이라는 개인적이고 미시적인 구조에까지 멀리 그리고 깊게 닿아 인간의 한 생을 파노라마로 엮는다.

1권에는 표제작 '병신과 머저리'를 비롯하여 '퇴원', '아이 밴 남자', '줄광대', '무서운 토요일', '바닷가 사람들', '굴레', '전근 발령', '별을 보여드립니다' 등 총 12편이 수록되어 있다. 전집의 각 권에는 작품들을 수록하고 새롭게 씌어진 해설을 붙였으며 여기에 각 작품 텍스트의 변모 과정과 이청준 작품들의 상호 관계를 밝히는 글을 실었다.

Genres: Fiction

424 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

See: 이청준


Yi Chong-jun (This is the preferred Romanization per LTI Korea) was a prominent South Korean novelist. Throughout his four decade-long career, Lee wrote more than 100 short stories, 13 novels. He died from lung cancer at the age of 68 on July 31, 2008.

Reviews

[Barry Welsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Watch my review on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R9-w...

Today, we have @barrywelsh joining us for Book Club Wednesday! 📚
For this week’s #KoreaBookClub we are reviewing a short story called "The Wounded" by Yi Cheong-jun and translated by Jennifer M. Lee.
In the short story, Yi touches on the existential problems faced by those living in the aftermath of the Korean War through the lives of 2 brothers.
To learn more, check out today's show on Youtube (KBS World Radio) or listen to our podcast via the KBS Kong app or the Naver audio clip.🎧
#KBSWORLDRadio #KBS월드라디오 #KBS국제방송 #Korea24 #코리아24 #영어라디오 #영어공부 #영어책 #책스타그램 #북스타그램 #병신과머저리 #이청준 #책 #도서
http://world.kbs.co.kr/service/progra...

[Umda Nafia Yasin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A clear and genuine depiction of that invisible wounds people often got from war in less than 100 pages long. I personally like The Assailant's Face better than The Wounded (Yes, the book consists of two short stories revolve around The Korean Civil War), but overall the two complete each other to deliver the pain of those 'ordinary' people got from the war.

[Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty intense for a Korean short story. I am glad I had time to read it all at one time because it would have been hard to stop reading.

[Daniel Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yi Chong-jun’s The Wounded and An Assailant’s Face are poignant explorations of trauma, identity, and the moral ambiguities of postwar Korean society. In both narratives, Yi’s prose is spare yet emotionally resonant, marked by a quiet intensity that mirrors the internal struggles of his characters. His writing avoids overt sentimentality, instead relying on subtle shifts in tone and restrained dialogue to evoke psychological complexity.

Yi’s characters are introspective and haunted, often caught between personal suffering and broader social disillusionment. His psychological portraits are nuanced, revealing how historical wounds manifest in private lives. Through minimalist style and ethical ambiguity, Yi Chong-jun crafts narratives that are as unsettling as they are deeply human.

The final debate in "An Assailant's Face" highlights how war trauma reverberates across generations, unveiling its psychological intricacies and offering a glimpse into the broader social complexity of South Korean society.

[Ocean G · Rating 5 out of 5]

2 short stories. The second one (The Assailant) was excellent, detailing a professor's survival guilt after the Korean war, his relationship with his brother in law, who disappeared during this time, and with his daughter.

The first one (The Wounded) was very good as well, although a bit too odd for me. Two brothers, one of whom is a writer, the other a painter. One went through the Korean war, the other didn't. In many ways they are opposites, but they are also intertwined.

[Marzipantorte · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great discussion about the guilt, the victimhood and agressordom of war. At times this was more like an essay than a story but a beautiful one indeed.