The Library of Musical Instruments

by Kim Jung-hyuk, Kim Jung-hyuk

The second short-story collection by Kim Jung-hyuk, the author of Penguin News, features a total of eight short stories, including “Syncopation D” which won the 2nd Kim You-jeong Literary Award in 2008. They represent the many sounds sampled by the author when he recorded over 600 kinds of musical instruments. Like instruments coming together in a symphony, the stories combine to make an opus consisting of variations on a theme. While the stories begin in an upbeat fashion and work to a crescendo, they end with notes in a minor key filling the vacuum. The Library of Musical Instruments is a collection to contemplate on more than one occasion.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

230 pages, Paperback

First published April 23, 2008

Reviews

[Paul Fulcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Library of Musical Instruments (2016) is Kim So-Young's translation of 악기들의 도서관 (2008) by 김중혁 (Kim Junghyuk) and part of the, sadly underpromoted, Dalkey Archive Library of Korean Literature

I came to this via the 2023 collection The Penguin Book of Korean Short Stories which included Kevin Rourke's translation of the author's Glass Shield, which is also included (in Kim So-Young's version) here, a wonderful comic story of two friends seeking work, who end up turning interviews into performance art, but with an underlying message of the difficulties experienced by the younger generation in modern Korea.

This was perhaps the highlight of the collection here - 8 stories all 20 pages or so long - but many of the others are of a similarly high standard. Several although not all have a musical theme and some a Murakamiesque narrator (without the bingo and the sexism).

The author's own introduction:

이 소설집은 제가 여러분께 드리는 녹음테이프입니다. 테이프 속에는 모두 여덟 곡의 노래가 녹음되어 있습니다. 저에겐특별한 노래들입니다. 오래 전 친구의 생일선물로 만들던 녹음테이프가 기억납니다. 나만의 특별한 노래들을 모아 만들었던 녹음테이프도 생각납니다. LP나 CD를 재생시킨 후 카세트 데크의 빨간색 녹음버튼을 누르면 ‘실시간’으로 소리를이동시킬 수 있었습니다. 저는 그때 소리를 붙잡았다고 생각했습니다.

지금은 잘 모르겠습니다. 소리란, 그리고 음악이란 어디에서 만들어지고 어디로 사라지는 것일까요? 사라진 소리들은 모두 어디로 가는 것일까요? 이 녹음테이프 속에는 제가 이 년 동안 세상 여러 곳에서 붙잡아둔 소리가 담겨 있습니다. 그리고 여기에는 저의 취향과 마음과 선택이 담겨 있습니다. 이제 여러분의 카세트 데크에 있는 파란색 플레이버튼을 눌러 제가 녹음한 소리를 들어봐주십시오

Per ChatGPT's translation:

This short story collection is a cassette tape that I present to all of you. Inside the tape, there are recordings of eight songs. They are special songs to me. I remember the cassette tape I made as a birthday present for a friend a long time ago. I also remember the cassette tape I made, collecting my own special songs. After playing an LP or CD and pressing the red record button on the cassette deck, I could transfer the sound in real-time. I thought I captured the sound at that time.

Now, I'm not sure anymore. Where does sound, and music, come from and where does it disappear to? Where do the vanished sounds all go? This cassette tape contains the sounds that I have captured from various places around the world over the past year. And it contains my preferences, my heart, and my choices. Now, please press the blue play button on your cassette deck and listen to the sounds that I have recorded.

[Kang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Making daily life not so mundane.

[Ocean G · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The concert opened with a short silent film. A man in a suit was lying on a railway track, attempting a suicide. The train didn't come. The man got up and then lay down again. The man appeared to be uncomfortable and turned in his lying position. The next day, the man showed up again, this time with a pillow in his hand. He placed the pillow on the railway track before he lay down on it. The day after that, the man showed up with a blanket. The day after that, the man showed up with a shack on his shoulder. The man placed the shack on the railway track. The shack was lit from within. The light went out and a train was seen approaching from far off. The train was getting closer and closer. When the train almost came in contact with it, the shack was lit again. The moment when everyone was expecting a collision, ban, they heard guitar sounds."

That sounded like a really cool concert to me. This book was very refreshing. A collection of short stories made to be harmonize like an orchestra. And the stories themselves were fun and original. For example, one of them (aptly called a Remix) took the first and last two sentences from another famous novel, with a made-up story in between. Anyway, I usually don't like short stories, and I feel like I didn't get some of these, but it's still 4.5 stars, rounded up.

[Amina · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Can one fix a life full of mistakes with the help of music?”

8 different but equally interesting stories, each with its own flavour. Not all of them are necessarily related to music, but music does not always necessarily consist of solely musical sounds, does it?

Two stories in particular, “The Library of Musical Instruments” and the final “Syncopation D”, were very emotional and touching.

[Shin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful symphony of short stories. Lightly written, with just the right balance of poignancy, optimism and quiet wit.

[Ina Glosli · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely mix of Facinating short stories

[Kat Dixon · Rating 3 out of 5]

eight very well-crafted stories with no substance

[Miranda R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A unique compilation of short stories. Some were better than others, my favorites being the book’s namesake, The Library of Musical Instruments, Automatic Piano, and Syncopation D.

[Erika · Rating 3 out of 5]

日本語題名「楽器たちの図書館」

「日本人製作家のヴィオラ展」があったので、なんとなく借りてみた。
短編集なので、予想通り星3つ。
最近韓国の文学作品を読む事が多いが、わざわざ翻訳されている作品なだけあって、似ているけど微妙に違う隣国の文化を感じさせつつ、普遍的に感じるテーマが多かった…気がする。
読み終わったのがほぼ1ヶ月前なので、ちょっと記憶が…

あぁそうだ、全ての短編は「音」が関係し、どの短編読んでいても、音が聞こえるような気がした。
ピアノやギターのみならず、バスのエンジン音や、吹き抜ける風の音、そして無音。文字情報しかないはずなのに、聴覚にも訴える文学、とでもいうか。
また、巻末の翻訳者による解説も、短編を理解する手助けになった。

[Niky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un petit recueil de nouvelles aux histoires originales, qui se lit agréablement vite. Les personnages sont tous plus loufoques les uns que les autres et essayent de trouver leur place au sein de la société. Je regrette simplement que le style reste somme toute assez classique. On aimerait presque que l'auteur aille un peu plus loin. Mais c'était une bonne découverte, parfaite pour l'été.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

엉뚱하고 통통 튀는 상상력. 그치만 나에겐 2% 부족하다.