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Once the Shore
With Once the Shore, Paul Yoon delivers an astonishing debut of linked short stories set on a South Korean island.
Spanning over half a century-from the years just before the Korean War to the present-the eight stories in this collection reveal an intricate and unforgettable portrait of a single place in its entirety. An elderly couple embark on a fishing boat in a harrowing journey to find their son, hoping that he has survived a bombing in the Pacific. A Japanese orphaned woman's past revisits her with devastating consequences in a wartime hospital. A case of mistaken identity compels a husband and wife to question the foundation upon which their lives have been built. An AWOL American soldier finds refuge in a small farming community, unknowingly endangering its inhabitants. And in the celebrated title story, a horrific accident at sea becomes the catalyst for an unlikely friendship between an American widow and a young waiter at a coastal resort.
These stories capture, with lyrical precision, the moments in which lives shift and unravel -- ;where loss is ultimately turned into a search for reconciliation, and where the silences that pass between lovers and siblings, between parents and their children, are as powerful as the reverberations of war. Novelistic in scope, daring in its varied environments, Once the Shore introduces a remarkable new voice in international fiction.
Spanning over half a century-from the years just before the Korean War to the present-the eight stories in this collection reveal an intricate and unforgettable portrait of a single place in its entirety. An elderly couple embark on a fishing boat in a harrowing journey to find their son, hoping that he has survived a bombing in the Pacific. A Japanese orphaned woman's past revisits her with devastating consequences in a wartime hospital. A case of mistaken identity compels a husband and wife to question the foundation upon which their lives have been built. An AWOL American soldier finds refuge in a small farming community, unknowingly endangering its inhabitants. And in the celebrated title story, a horrific accident at sea becomes the catalyst for an unlikely friendship between an American widow and a young waiter at a coastal resort.
These stories capture, with lyrical precision, the moments in which lives shift and unravel -- ;where loss is ultimately turned into a search for reconciliation, and where the silences that pass between lovers and siblings, between parents and their children, are as powerful as the reverberations of war. Novelistic in scope, daring in its varied environments, Once the Shore introduces a remarkable new voice in international fiction.
266 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2009
49 people are currently reading
1957 people want to read
About the author
Paul Yoon
17 books361 followersPaul Yoon was born in New York City. His first book, ONCE THE SHORE, was selected as a New York Times Notable Book and a Best Debut of the Year by National Public Radio. His novel, SNOW HUNTERS, won the 2014 Young Lions Fiction Award.
A recipient of a 5 under 35 Award from the National Book Foundation and a fellowship from the New York Public Library’s Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers, he is currently a Briggs-Copeland Lecturer at Harvard University along with his wife, the fiction writer Laura van den Berg.
A recipient of a 5 under 35 Award from the National Book Foundation and a fellowship from the New York Public Library’s Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers, he is currently a Briggs-Copeland Lecturer at Harvard University along with his wife, the fiction writer Laura van den Berg.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
December 27, 2024
The writing is beautiful, but these stories are sorrowful and heavy and haunting. They leave me wanting more. I need to know the endings, because none of them really had any closure. Several of them stirred up complicated feelings I have about the Japanese occupation/colonization and about the Korean War and the foreign intervention that came with it, as well as the unwanted ongoing US military presence in my birth country.
Rounding up to 4 from 3.5.
PS, the island of Solla in this book is based on the island of Cheju. It's a beautiful part of Korea. Recommend checking it out if you ever visit over there. It's a popular tourist and honeymoon destination. It's famous for the diving women, the seafood, and oranges.
Rounding up to 4 from 3.5.
PS, the island of Solla in this book is based on the island of Cheju. It's a beautiful part of Korea. Recommend checking it out if you ever visit over there. It's a popular tourist and honeymoon destination. It's famous for the diving women, the seafood, and oranges.
September 15, 2015
Ever since Flannery O'Connor explained writing to me -- against all my best objections -- I've been looking for writers who know how to create a symbol. An object that has heft and a smell and texture and wasn't placed there to do anything but exist, but then afterwards haunts the reader with its greedy accretion of meaning (think of the prosthetic leg in "Good Country People").
Crotchety O'Connor would be proud of Paul Yoon and the sewing machines, dried squid, marbles, abandoned fishing boats, blue dresses, and walking sticks of this island. She would also gruffly tip her hat to the way ideology -- or Yoon's sharp vision of the power imbalances of nationality, race, gender -- don't ever interrupt or constrict the story, but grow straight out of them like turnips.
Why am I writing about O'Connor anyway? That damn southern Catholic seeps her way most everywhere. My only point is that Yoon creates stories that manage to feel both like a dream and like a boot in your face. I loved "Among the Wreckage," "Once the Shore," "So That They Do Not Hear Us," "Faces to the Fire" -- if I keep going I'm just going to name them all. Easier to say what I didn't like, which is "The Hanging Lanterns of Ido" (after all the stories of the marginalized I found myself without patience to read the details of the vacay time of the island's yuppies).
(Thanks Missy for telling me to read this! I still believe you should do book-recommending professionally!)
Crotchety O'Connor would be proud of Paul Yoon and the sewing machines, dried squid, marbles, abandoned fishing boats, blue dresses, and walking sticks of this island. She would also gruffly tip her hat to the way ideology -- or Yoon's sharp vision of the power imbalances of nationality, race, gender -- don't ever interrupt or constrict the story, but grow straight out of them like turnips.
Why am I writing about O'Connor anyway? That damn southern Catholic seeps her way most everywhere. My only point is that Yoon creates stories that manage to feel both like a dream and like a boot in your face. I loved "Among the Wreckage," "Once the Shore," "So That They Do Not Hear Us," "Faces to the Fire" -- if I keep going I'm just going to name them all. Easier to say what I didn't like, which is "The Hanging Lanterns of Ido" (after all the stories of the marginalized I found myself without patience to read the details of the vacay time of the island's yuppies).
(Thanks Missy for telling me to read this! I still believe you should do book-recommending professionally!)
November 12, 2013
I enjoyed Paul Yoon's first novel, this short story collection proceeded it and I was looking forward to reading it. What's so incredibly impressive is that Once the Shore is every word as good if not better. For an author so young to write with such emotional maturity, such succinctly stunning narrative...these stories were a powerhouse each in their own quiet way. Just like an artist can use spare brush strokes to convey a landscape, Yoon uses spare plain wording to create an entire world, in this case of an island off the coast of Korea and its inhabitants from the time of just after World War Two and into the present time. The stories are very lightly interconnected, more thematically so than tangibly. Just as with his novel, Yoon masters capturing the beauty and meaning of small (as in the opposite of large and loud, not as in insignificant) lives. There is a grace to such lives, a sort of quiet dignity, an importance easily overlooked in a gigantic overwhelming noisy world. Whether for the sheer beauty of the language, for learning about another culture, for expanding your world view or your heart...this is a phenomenal and exceptionally moving read. Highly recommended.
September 29, 2013
Beautiful. The poetic writing in these various stories is simple, graceful and utterly gorgeous. The gentle tone on the surface contrasts with a certain tension and a particular message, often a wrenching one about loss and injustice from war. I remain in awe at how the author communicates such searing points in evocative language. Wow.
April 14, 2017
Because this is such a nuanced and complex set of stories, I think everyone would get something different out of it. But if you asked me what I thought this collection of short stories was about, I would say it's about all the people and things that go away and never come back, no matter how hard you wish for them, and sometimes you never know what became of them. Definitely a collection to linger over.
January 6, 2012
Lyrical, beautiful, but--
Frankly, the title story blew me away, and the second story, "Among the Wreckage," was also impressive, but the rest weren't as good as those two stories. It was also clear to me at least that Yoon was a prose stylist and not so much a storyteller, and what compelled me to read through this collection was precisely his strength: his lyrical yet deceptively simple prose.
I think he achieves a perfect balance between prose and story in the title story, "Once the Shore," which moved me with its lyricism and story. I also thought the prose in that story was particularly strong—so strong that I felt unworthy as a writer and made me want to write like him, because it was the kind of prose I aspire to write: simple yet lyrical, tight and effortless without any unnecessary words.
He also showed me that it was possible to tell a story in a foreign country without using any foreign words—something I had never considered before I read his stories. It's definitely a possibility I'm willing to experiment with.
Insofar as I ended up writing a whole story in his style, he did have significant impact on me, and I appreciated the opportunity to read him.
Good stuff.
Frankly, the title story blew me away, and the second story, "Among the Wreckage," was also impressive, but the rest weren't as good as those two stories. It was also clear to me at least that Yoon was a prose stylist and not so much a storyteller, and what compelled me to read through this collection was precisely his strength: his lyrical yet deceptively simple prose.
I think he achieves a perfect balance between prose and story in the title story, "Once the Shore," which moved me with its lyricism and story. I also thought the prose in that story was particularly strong—so strong that I felt unworthy as a writer and made me want to write like him, because it was the kind of prose I aspire to write: simple yet lyrical, tight and effortless without any unnecessary words.
He also showed me that it was possible to tell a story in a foreign country without using any foreign words—something I had never considered before I read his stories. It's definitely a possibility I'm willing to experiment with.
Insofar as I ended up writing a whole story in his style, he did have significant impact on me, and I appreciated the opportunity to read him.
Good stuff.
July 11, 2023
These stories started slow but I enjoyed each chapter more and more. They seemed to build upon one another’s wistfulness and melancholy — the final three stories, in my mind, were the strongest of the collection.
April 26, 2009
I just finished Paul Yoon's amazing debut story collection. It took me a while, because I knew from the start that I wanted to savor it. Now, I want to go back through and read it again. These are not your typical stories. They don't seem to work the way most stories -- at least most that I read -- do. You don't read these stories to find out what happens. You read them to exist in the world with the character while the events of that world are happening. In that, Paul Yoon is doing something unique and precious with his writing. I don't quiet know how to get at what these stories accomplish, except that they feel to me like they float, like the worlds they contain are somehow unmoored from the world I experience every day, as if they are floating on the sea that surrounds the island on which the stories are set. Reading this book, you can feel the world rock and sway with the current. These stories are dream-like that way, and they will linger with you as powerfully and as affecting as your deepest dreams.
February 20, 2024
quiet and meditative. some of the stories in the middle dragged didn’t resonate that much with me but it started and ended so strongly that i’m inclined to forget that. Yoon’s imaginary island is incredibly vivid— a place you’ve seen in a dream you had a long time ago and only recently remembered.
July 8, 2009
i'm sorry, paul yoon! i wanted to support asian american writers (also you are pretty good-looking and i like the cover and construction of this book), but your writing is both affected and boring. maybe the fact that i know two people who know you from your charmed westchester boyhood lessens your appeal. either way, i have other books to read!
August 11, 2022
Tender, haunting, and poetic. I think the setting of a small island off the coast of mainland Korea is a really interesting setting to play with, and Yoon did so well writing characters that filled the stories with conflicting grace. Every story lingers with you in a memorable and calming way.
November 13, 2021
THE WRITING IS BEAUTIFUL
June 4, 2020
This is the most beautiful book I’ve read in a long time. One that transports you and makes you fall in love again. I stumbled upon this, and now it is one of my favorites.
April 15, 2009
Ann Patchett says that Paul Yoon writes stories the way Fabergé made eggs — "with untold craftmanship, artistry, and delicacy." ForeWord's Book Club selection for this week is Yoon's short story, "Among the Wreckage," from his first book, Once the Shore (Sarabande, 978-1-932511-70-3). The story of an old marriage, the sea, a war, and a lost son lends itself perfectly to Yoon's exquisite sense of timing, his perfect sentences. Up against his character's panic, Yoon's stylistic restraint creates a perfect storm.
Read the story at ForeWord's Book Club.
Read the story at ForeWord's Book Club.
August 10, 2010
This collection is an odd beauty, and I make that statement with admiration. The stories are careful, yet true. They chronicle sadness and loss, but also generosity and deep human connection. The prose is consistently beautiful. The setting is wonderfully described, but Yoon does not become prisoner of his own conceits in this book. The stories flow. I bought the book after recommendations from friends who are fans of short fiction. Their recommendations were spot on. This book is perfect for readers who want to explore the world and the human heart in a clear and thoughtful way
March 7, 2021
Yoon's writing made me feel calm - almost clean - and had a meditative quality. The story lines were simple, and yet subtly and painstakingly complex. His writing is like poetry without the rhythm, meter, and rhyme, carrying a similar emotional and image-rendering evocation. I received the book as a gift from a friend freshman year of college, and I would highly recommend it to anyone else.
September 22, 2015
Short stories that resonated. Worth a read.
June 1, 2022
Better to read this one story by story. Take a week between them, read something else, preferably something fun in between. Many of the stories hit the same tone, so a read-through ends up feeling a little like listening to an album with only the slow movements of Beethoven's symphonies on it. After a while, you're sick of the subdued beauty of it all. Are these *real* people in these stories? I don't know. We never get their fast movements. They seem to be in harmony with tragedy.
On the other hand, amazing effort by a debut author. This is important to remember while reading this. It is not an excuse - there have been greater debut works by equally young writers - but it is important to always remember that writing is *hard*, and that writers get better.
On the other hand, amazing effort by a debut author. This is important to remember while reading this. It is not an excuse - there have been greater debut works by equally young writers - but it is important to always remember that writing is *hard*, and that writers get better.
January 11, 2021
4.5 stars
Once the Shore consists of 8 short stories, all with connections to a fictional Solla Island off the coast of South Korea. These stories are beautifully written, and the settings and characters incredibly detailed, although it rarely feels like filler. The stories have melancholic yet magical undertones as the characters within them realistically go through the motions of life, all with life's ambiguity and mystery.
*SPOILERS*
My favorite stories out of the eight were Look for Me in the Camphor Tree and The Hanging Lanterns of Ido. The former perfectly captures elements of magical realism and loss, while the latter a story of regret, longing, and acceptance.
Once the Shore consists of 8 short stories, all with connections to a fictional Solla Island off the coast of South Korea. These stories are beautifully written, and the settings and characters incredibly detailed, although it rarely feels like filler. The stories have melancholic yet magical undertones as the characters within them realistically go through the motions of life, all with life's ambiguity and mystery.
*SPOILERS*
My favorite stories out of the eight were Look for Me in the Camphor Tree and The Hanging Lanterns of Ido. The former perfectly captures elements of magical realism and loss, while the latter a story of regret, longing, and acceptance.
March 5, 2017
I would maybe rate this book a point higher if it were not by an author of Korean heritage writing about Korea. I felt that the Korea he writes about was a gauzy idealization of his own creation and has little connection - at least that I could feel with my own limited experience - to the real Korea. Also his lyrical style seemed very "un-Korean" to me, though that may say more about Korean writing than about his own.
January 26, 2024
The stories in this collection are tied together through setting - a South Korean island. Quiet and thoughtful, each story is filled with beautiful melancholy and transports the reader to this island. All of the stories are centered around a pivotal moment in the lives of the characters we meet: a couple on a journey to find their lost son, an unlikely friendship with a deep connection, a woman forced to revisit her past. Stunning writing and unique storytelling make this a wonderful book.
September 19, 2024
I'm in my period of discontent, having read 4 books in three days and each one of them getting on my nerves for different reasons. Not a single story in this collection touched me, and I found all of them melancholy for no good reason. At the end of the 8th story, all I felt was relief that I was finally done with it.
December 9, 2024
his writing has so much weight. the stories feel fragmented and clouded, but in a way that forces you to take the anthology in its entirety. sort of like a shattered mirror. but the world that is created from this collection of fragmented stories is so cool. it kind of fell off towards the end for me though
November 14, 2025
The first and the last story were my favourites! But the middle ones were really hard to tell apart, and it just felt like one long monotonous spiral. and I get that it’s meant to be a quiet and meditative narrative style, but maybe I’ve not succumbed to enough ennui in my life to appreciate it. I much prefer his other collection, the hive and the honey.
June 9, 2020
These luminous stories of ordinary lives on a South Korean island are profound in their simplicity. The writing is dreamy and lyrical, smooth as silk. The characters are not lost, but their stories are deeply human and yet transcendent. Maybe it's the beauty of the language.
Want to read
December 22, 2020#6
It was after her death that the ponies, all of them, began to gather beside the tree she adored, through the seasons, searching for the scent of her hair, which they had grown used to, licking her braid and tugging at it whenever she fed them.
It was after her death that the ponies, all of them, began to gather beside the tree she adored, through the seasons, searching for the scent of her hair, which they had grown used to, licking her braid and tugging at it whenever she fed them.
July 10, 2023
Rich and beautiful. Exceptional storytelling.
Out the eight total stories, I felt that there were two that held this collection back from perfection. Even so, this was a stunning read and will echo in my memory. Highly recommended.
Out the eight total stories, I felt that there were two that held this collection back from perfection. Even so, this was a stunning read and will echo in my memory. Highly recommended.
July 31, 2023
Beautiful book of stories. Shadows and light, mountains and trees, heartbreak and sadness written with such lovely words. A collection of stories that are haunting and unsettled at times but very touching with the various characters showing love for the dead as well as the living.
August 14, 2017
These stories had a sadness to them, but they were well written, and I loved reading about Korea at different times in history. I look forward to Paul Yoon's upcoming book of short stories.
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January 27, 2019beautiful gestures...i found no foothold in the texture (to feel my hands & the surface & register sensation)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews