Choi In-hun was born in 1936 in Hoeryong City, North Hamgyong Province, which is now in North Korea. When the Korean War broke out in 1950, he and his family fled to South Korea aboard a U.S. Navy ship. He studied law at Seoul National University, but joined the army without completing his final semester. His began publishing fiction while in the army, and was discharged in 1963. From 1977-2001, he served as a Professor of Creative Writing at the Seoul Institute of the Arts.
There are three short stories; House of Idols, End of The Road and Imprisoned. The book is named after the first short story. I found myself liking End of the Road for its storyline. It just depicts how hard it was living in that era, as a woman, and how things might not have changed much even now. The story that I find interesting though was Imprisoned. I was confused at what I was reading at first but got the idea halfway through the story. It was interesting to go into the mind of a mental patient and how he sees the world around him. Overall, this is a good collection of short stories. Would love to read more of Choi In-Hoon’s works.