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Yeoyu - new voices Korea #4
Divorce
A poet reflects on the lives of the different generations of women around her as she contemplates her own divorce from a socially-engaged photographer; her feelings are complicated by the ethics of public/private, art/life divisions, as well as the country’s contemporary history. The story reveals the raw complexity of gender dynamics in a society still hobbled by the demands forced on its people through war and ideology and rapid modernization; it is a good reminder of the different feminisms that do and must exist.
From the Yeoyu collection, a selection of eight short stories translated from Korean, in collaboration with publisher-activist and translation trailblazer, Deborah Smith, and featuring writers such as Han Kang and Bae Suah, among others less familiar to an English-speaking audience.
여유, Yeoyu, means something like 'scope' and/or 'relaxed' in English; scope to be yourself, to follow your own interests. In some ways it means the opposite of being constrained by convention, more to be unbounded in such a way. In a sense, it means to be oneself but with enough 'left over' -- for others, maybe.
It is intended to capture the diverse range of themes and styles the series, and Korean literature far more widely, has to offer the curious reader and also to say something figurative and fun about the act and process of translation.
From the Yeoyu collection, a selection of eight short stories translated from Korean, in collaboration with publisher-activist and translation trailblazer, Deborah Smith, and featuring writers such as Han Kang and Bae Suah, among others less familiar to an English-speaking audience.
여유, Yeoyu, means something like 'scope' and/or 'relaxed' in English; scope to be yourself, to follow your own interests. In some ways it means the opposite of being constrained by convention, more to be unbounded in such a way. In a sense, it means to be oneself but with enough 'left over' -- for others, maybe.
It is intended to capture the diverse range of themes and styles the series, and Korean literature far more widely, has to offer the curious reader and also to say something figurative and fun about the act and process of translation.
40 pages, Paperback
First published June 16, 2019
About the author
Kim Soom
18 books6 followers김숨 (Kim Soom) was born in 1974, and debuted as a writer when her stories were selected for publications by Daejeon Ilbo in 1997 and Munhakdongne in 1998. A prolific writer, she has published numerous short story collections and novels to date, including the most recent collection Your Saviour, and the novels One Person, L's Sneakers, and The Flowing Letter. She is the recipient of the Hyundae Munhak Prize, the Daesan Literature Prize, Yi Sang Prize, and Dongri Literature Prize.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
February 14, 2022
Divorce is a part of the Yeoyu collection, a selection of eight short stories translated from Korean, in collaboration with publisher-activist and translation trailblazer, Deborah Smith, and featuring writers such as Han Kang and Bae Suah, among others less familiar to an English-speaking audience.
여유, Yeoyu, means something like 'scope' and/or 'relaxed' in English; scope to be yourself, to follow your own interests. In some ways it means the opposite of being constrained by convention, more to be unbounded in such a way. In a sense, it means to be oneself but with enough 'left over' -- for others, maybe.
The series is intended to capture the diverse range of themes and styles the series, and Korean literature far more widely, has to offer the curious reader and also to say something figurative and fun about the act and process of translation.
Previously to Divorce, I had read and enjoyed the first short story of the Yeoyu series, Five Preludes & A Fugue. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy Divorce nearly as much.
The story reveals the raw complexity of gender dynamics in a society still hobbled by the demands forced on its people through war and ideology and rapid modernisation; it intends to remind us of the different feminisms that do and must exist.
The story is narrated by a poet as she waits with her husband in an office to register a mutually agreed divorce. This premise sounded really intriguing to me. I was hoping for a story with great introspection, one that would go into the nitty and gritty of why the poet's marriage failed. Maybe a contemplation of love, dependence, abuse, the status of women in South Korean society...
And whilst all of these topics were touched upon in one way or the other, Divorce ultimately fell flat for me. The story isn't even 40 pages long but it bored me to death. It was a struggle to keep turning the pages. I tuned out every to sentences. It simply wasn't engaging. I didn't care for our narrator. Every contemplation remained very surface level, so much so that I also stopped caring for the "plot".
Her husband didn't treat her as a partner, didn't see in her a lover. He saw her more as a mother. A safe base that would always be there. When she confronts him with her wish to divorce him, he says he feels like an orphan now. I feel like the author wanted to show how partners can become a burden, how mothering someone isn't the same as loving them. However, none of these ideas were executed in an interesting way.
All in all, despite its promising subject matter, Divorce was a disappointing short story with no real purpose, and one I wouldn't generally recommend.
여유, Yeoyu, means something like 'scope' and/or 'relaxed' in English; scope to be yourself, to follow your own interests. In some ways it means the opposite of being constrained by convention, more to be unbounded in such a way. In a sense, it means to be oneself but with enough 'left over' -- for others, maybe.
The series is intended to capture the diverse range of themes and styles the series, and Korean literature far more widely, has to offer the curious reader and also to say something figurative and fun about the act and process of translation.
Previously to Divorce, I had read and enjoyed the first short story of the Yeoyu series, Five Preludes & A Fugue. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy Divorce nearly as much.
What she didn't say was that, since his accusation, she hadn’t been able to write.In Divorce, a poet poet reflects on the lives of the different generations of women around her as she contemplates her own divorce from a socially-engaged photographer. Her feelings are complicated by the ethics of public/private, art/life divisions, as well as the country’s contemporary history.
The story reveals the raw complexity of gender dynamics in a society still hobbled by the demands forced on its people through war and ideology and rapid modernisation; it intends to remind us of the different feminisms that do and must exist.
The story is narrated by a poet as she waits with her husband in an office to register a mutually agreed divorce. This premise sounded really intriguing to me. I was hoping for a story with great introspection, one that would go into the nitty and gritty of why the poet's marriage failed. Maybe a contemplation of love, dependence, abuse, the status of women in South Korean society...
And whilst all of these topics were touched upon in one way or the other, Divorce ultimately fell flat for me. The story isn't even 40 pages long but it bored me to death. It was a struggle to keep turning the pages. I tuned out every to sentences. It simply wasn't engaging. I didn't care for our narrator. Every contemplation remained very surface level, so much so that I also stopped caring for the "plot".
She’d always hoped her mother would outlive her father. Even by one day.As she contemplates the abuse her mother faced at the hands of her father, I was shocked that I didn't feel anything for these women. The poet ultimately comes to the realisation that her own marriage didn't fail due to any abuse, but rather due to neglect. Her husband simply doesn't care for her as a person, he cares more about his work as a photographer, doing socially important work.
Her husband didn't treat her as a partner, didn't see in her a lover. He saw her more as a mother. A safe base that would always be there. When she confronts him with her wish to divorce him, he says he feels like an orphan now. I feel like the author wanted to show how partners can become a burden, how mothering someone isn't the same as loving them. However, none of these ideas were executed in an interesting way.
All in all, despite its promising subject matter, Divorce was a disappointing short story with no real purpose, and one I wouldn't generally recommend.
May 13, 2023
I'm currently working my way through the eight-chapbook Yeoyu set, the new voices of Korea Series from Strangers Press.
Definitely on point & well done.
Definitely on point & well done.
June 23, 2019
What she didn’t say was that, since his accusation, she hadn’t been able to write.
Part of the Yeoyu (여유) series from Strangers Press, eight chapbooks, each featuring a translated short story of around 30 pages, showcasing the best writing from the current generation of Korean authors. For my review of the overall series see: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
이혼 by 김숨 (Kim Soom) has been translated as Divorce by Emily Yae Won (이 예원)
Kim Soom is another of the featured authors that has only previously been translated as part of the very-difficult-to-find bilingual Asia Publishers collection.
Divorce is narrated by a poet as she waits with her husband in an office to register a mutually agreed divorce.
Unlike her mother, who she unsuccessfully persuaded to leave her father, her husband Choisik isn’t abusive, but rather neglects her for his, in his view, more socially important work as a photographer and social activist.
She comes to the realisation that they need to separate after she has undergone several years of treatment for cancer. Locked out after returning late from a work event, while still undergoing HRT to counteract the effects of the treatment, she can not contact Choisik and spends the night in a 24 hour fast-food restaurant:
Staring through the fast-food restaurant window at the empty pedestrian crossing, she recalled how Choisik hadn’t been at her side when she miscarried a year into their marriage, or when ... he hadn’t been there when ... . Not had he been there the day she’d had an appointment at the ObGyn to find out why she hadn’t been able to get pregnant after the miscarriage.
There were times when she wanted to ask him how someone so committed and connecting with the socially disadvantaged, to documenting their suffering in painstaking detail, could be so unfeeling to the suffering of the person closest to him.
But when she does confront him he appeals to her social conscience as a poet, telling her “if you abandon me, you’re as good as abandoning a person’s soul. So anything you write from now on is a lie.”, suggesting (to her contempt) that he will now be an "orphan".
She responds: “I’m not here to save your soul. That’s not why I married you,” but in reality she is, as the opening quote suggests, troubled.
An interesting and well-balanced account of a relationship and the competing pressures of societal, artistic and political spheres in different generations.
4 stars and I hope more of Kim Soom’s work is translated into English.
Part of the Yeoyu (여유) series from Strangers Press, eight chapbooks, each featuring a translated short story of around 30 pages, showcasing the best writing from the current generation of Korean authors. For my review of the overall series see: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
이혼 by 김숨 (Kim Soom) has been translated as Divorce by Emily Yae Won (이 예원)
Kim Soom is another of the featured authors that has only previously been translated as part of the very-difficult-to-find bilingual Asia Publishers collection.
Divorce is narrated by a poet as she waits with her husband in an office to register a mutually agreed divorce.
Unlike her mother, who she unsuccessfully persuaded to leave her father, her husband Choisik isn’t abusive, but rather neglects her for his, in his view, more socially important work as a photographer and social activist.
She comes to the realisation that they need to separate after she has undergone several years of treatment for cancer. Locked out after returning late from a work event, while still undergoing HRT to counteract the effects of the treatment, she can not contact Choisik and spends the night in a 24 hour fast-food restaurant:
Staring through the fast-food restaurant window at the empty pedestrian crossing, she recalled how Choisik hadn’t been at her side when she miscarried a year into their marriage, or when ... he hadn’t been there when ... . Not had he been there the day she’d had an appointment at the ObGyn to find out why she hadn’t been able to get pregnant after the miscarriage.
There were times when she wanted to ask him how someone so committed and connecting with the socially disadvantaged, to documenting their suffering in painstaking detail, could be so unfeeling to the suffering of the person closest to him.
But when she does confront him he appeals to her social conscience as a poet, telling her “if you abandon me, you’re as good as abandoning a person’s soul. So anything you write from now on is a lie.”, suggesting (to her contempt) that he will now be an "orphan".
She responds: “I’m not here to save your soul. That’s not why I married you,” but in reality she is, as the opening quote suggests, troubled.
An interesting and well-balanced account of a relationship and the competing pressures of societal, artistic and political spheres in different generations.
4 stars and I hope more of Kim Soom’s work is translated into English.
February 16, 2021
Watch my review on YouTube here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMycy...
KBS Korea 24 @KBSKorea24
“On #KoreaBookClub, @BarryPWelsh shares "#Divorce" by #KimSoom. He discusses how this #shortstory is an examination of divorce in Korea through the divorce of the main character Minjong and the unfairness of the burdens she has to bear. #김숨 #이혼”
19:10-20:00 KST, Mon-Fri on KBS WORLD Radio.
Download the KBS Kong / KBS WORLD Radio Mobile apps or subscribe to the Korea 24 podcast for your daily updates!
#KBSWORLDRadio #KBS월드라디오 #Korea24 #코리아24 #책스타그램 #북스타그램 #bookstagram #book #reading #KoreanLiterature #한국문학
(https://lnkd.in/gxkU6aW)
KBS Korea 24 @KBSKorea24
“On #KoreaBookClub, @BarryPWelsh shares "#Divorce" by #KimSoom. He discusses how this #shortstory is an examination of divorce in Korea through the divorce of the main character Minjong and the unfairness of the burdens she has to bear. #김숨 #이혼”
19:10-20:00 KST, Mon-Fri on KBS WORLD Radio.
Download the KBS Kong / KBS WORLD Radio Mobile apps or subscribe to the Korea 24 podcast for your daily updates!
#KBSWORLDRadio #KBS월드라디오 #Korea24 #코리아24 #책스타그램 #북스타그램 #bookstagram #book #reading #KoreanLiterature #한국문학
(https://lnkd.in/gxkU6aW)
March 12, 2022
This was a broody, artsy contemplation of divorce. Obviously. I can probably even forgive the terrible reference to Emily Dickinson's 'devotion to celibacy' because it did fit the story...even though it's by far the least interesting take on her. I'll go console myself with Dickinson now.
Part of Strangers Press beautiful Yeoyu chapbook series focused on Korea. Each series has a unique art style and highlights new and unknown voices. I hope they continue with this project. https://www.strangers.press/
Part of Strangers Press beautiful Yeoyu chapbook series focused on Korea. Each series has a unique art style and highlights new and unknown voices. I hope they continue with this project. https://www.strangers.press/
Read
March 18, 2020Maybe 3.5*? A quick short read, but with elements of brutality I was quite taken aback by. Magnificent writing at times, but I always feel with these short chapbooks that things are just warming up as I finish them.
December 4, 2019
Kim Soom is one of those influential voices, and we need to hear more from her.
https://elifthereader.com/books/divor...
https://elifthereader.com/books/divor...
January 10, 2023
I don't know if I didn't like it or if I loved it because I was very troubled to find huge similarities from my mom's life in this book. The poet comes back on the women of her family, their life and trauma, tackling domestic violence, adultery, and being pressured to get pregnant very early/not wanting to have children. What makes this short story readable is that it is not too graphic, in my opinion (and compared to other books I've read in 2022). I was a bit lost sometimes about the characters and stories because all of them are kind of entwined together, and I struggled to understand where the main stories line started and stopped. But overall, it was a nice read! The translation was nice, though I was surprised about some choices Emily Yae Won made (e.g., "sonbe" instead of sunbae, keeping the ssi after the name instead of opting for a social status). I'd be interested to talk with her about her choices.
November 28, 2020
Lyhyt 40-sivuinen novelli avioerosta. Nimetön päähenkilö on eroamassa miehestään, joka käyttää kaiken aikansa töiden tekoon. Hän käy läpi vanhempiensa avioliittoa, jossa hänen äitinsä ei pystynyt eroamaan väkivaltaisesta miehestään. Eronneen naisen asema näyttäytyy yhteiskunnallisesti vaikeana ja sukupolvien väliset erot ovat selkeitä avioeroon suhtautumisessa. Kim Soom tuo novellissaan avioeron problematiikan hienosti esiin. Korealaisessa yhteiskunnassa avioeron stigma on alkanut hellittää suhteellisen myöhään ja novellissa kuvataan tätä muutosta kauniisti, mutta myös brutaalisti.
September 7, 2025
First and foremost, I would like to compliment how beautifully this piece was printed, genuinely enjoyable to hold and handle.
secondly, this was a delightfully concise piece, clearly very miserable in tone, and with many unpleasant topics, and items of note in terms of how women are treated in Korea, and the role of a husband and wife. very quickly, one finds oneself rooting for many of the characters, hoping for some redemption, some kind of deliverance, or shot at happiness, which never quite comes, apart from perhaps the main character, who is finally granted her wish
secondly, this was a delightfully concise piece, clearly very miserable in tone, and with many unpleasant topics, and items of note in terms of how women are treated in Korea, and the role of a husband and wife. very quickly, one finds oneself rooting for many of the characters, hoping for some redemption, some kind of deliverance, or shot at happiness, which never quite comes, apart from perhaps the main character, who is finally granted her wish
September 5, 2023
thoughts on this book:
1. i want to annotate this whole chapbook
2. my fav story yet from the yeoyu series (sorry europa, you're number two now)
3. kim soom's writing is so freaking good that i also bawl at that
5 ⭐️. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
1. i want to annotate this whole chapbook
2. my fav story yet from the yeoyu series (sorry europa, you're number two now)
3. kim soom's writing is so freaking good that i also bawl at that
5 ⭐️. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
April 8, 2024
Really enjoyed the writing style of this 40 page short story which, as the title suggests, is about relationships including the breakdown of them. Heavily focused on women’s experiences. I would definitely be interested in reading a full length book by this author.
December 5, 2019
It’s so intriguing
September 9, 2021
3,5 Stars
October 26, 2021
książkowy odpowiednik break-up song, którego się słucha żeby się jeszcze dobić.
December 30, 2021
A very unique story. I enjoyed it:)
March 4, 2022
Promising but fell flat for me. I wish it was longer as I just warming up when it reached the ending. But the issues in here actually interesting enough to read.
February 1, 2026
2.5 ⭐
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews