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The Age of Doubt
The Age of Doubt collects some of Pak Kyongni’s most famous works, including her 1955 debut and other stories featuring characters that would appear in Toji, her 20-volume epic. Translated by Sophie Bowman, Anton Hur, Slin Jung, You Jeong Kim, Paige Aniyah Morris, Mattho Mandersloot, Emily Yae Won, and Dasom Yang, with insightful commentary by Professor Kang Ji Hee.
288 pages, Paperback
First published May 5, 2021
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About the author
Pak Kyongni
35 books40 followersPak Kyongni (December 2, 1926 – May 5, 2008) was a prominent South Korean novelist. She was born in Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province, and later lived in Wonju Gangwon Province. Pak made her literary debut in 1955, with Gyesan (계산, Calculations). She is, however, most well known for her 16-volume story Toji (토지, The Land), an epic saga set on the turbulent history of Korea during 19th and 20th century. It was later adapted into a movie, a television series and an opera.
Pak Kyongni died from lung cancer at the age of 81 on May 5, 2008 and many literary men recollected her as a guide for their literary works and life as a writer. She was posthumously awarded the country's top medal by the newly created Culture Ministry of South Korea for her promoting South Korean arts.
Pak Kyongni died from lung cancer at the age of 81 on May 5, 2008 and many literary men recollected her as a guide for their literary works and life as a writer. She was posthumously awarded the country's top medal by the newly created Culture Ministry of South Korea for her promoting South Korean arts.
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May 4, 2025
‘—the leaves of the avenue’s gingko trees shatter the sunlight into fragments on the pavement. Light pink gladioli bloom on the flowerbed, bringing to mind the Buddhist symbol of lotus flowers. Jinyoung’s thoughts listlessly move on to meaningless musing about the cultural distance between the East and West—’
A fuller RTC later. A brilliantly written and translated collection of post-war Korean stories. I like some more than others, which is to be expected with short story collections. I think my least favourite is probably the first one, so if you find yourself a little disconnected and distracted at the start, I think it's really worth staying on, and 'powering on' (with this collection at least). And as usual, I always (try to) read anything that Anton Hur translates/write; and whatever he did here (in my opinion) elevated my reading experience/introduction to Pak Kyongni's writing.
At the same time, Jinyoung remembers how her ajumoni paid back the twenty thousand hwan of her principal while scolding her for not attending mass. Now that she’s agreed to go to the Buddhist temple, Jinyoung feels like she’s betrayed her ajumoni and feels guilt. Even if the money had been rightfully hers to begin with, she wonders if even this fake generosity can become a debt of sorts. However, if the purpose of Jinyoung’s religion is solely to memorialize Munsu, the temple does make a more practical choice than the Catholic church. If she can come up with the money, she might even get them to do a ceremony for him.
City noise buzzes like a faraway swarm of bees, and an expensive car glides down a road towards a mountain villa. From her perspective on the mountain, Jinyoung sees the city might as well be no more significant than a beetle.
October 24, 2022
I guess it’s true what they say, there are those who run and those who fly above them
From The Era of Fantasy, translated by Matthias Manderloot from a 1966 original by 박경리
뛰는 놈 그 위에 나는 놈
싸이 (PSY), 강남스타일 (Gangnam Style), 2012 - which translates as "On top of the running man is the flying man" - from the same proverb (and a line my wife translated for the DJ, live on Capital Radio at the height of Gangnam Style fever)
박경리, usually Romanised as Pak Kyongki, who passed away in 2008 is best known for her multi-volume 토지, only a small part of which (although still 500+ pages) has been translated into English by Agnita Tennant as Land.
토지 was published over 25 years from 1969-1994, and covers the period 1897-1959, with only part set in the post Korean war period.
The Age of Doubt (불신시대) is a collection of earlier short-stories from the same author, published before 토지 in the period from her debut work in 1955 through to 1968.
This is the latest book from the wonderful small independent press Honford Star, most noted for their translations of both classical Korean literature, and more recently exciting contemporary works such as the International Booker shortlisted Cursed Bunny.
Here we have not one but a 'complaint' (the suggested collective verb) of talented translators mostly from the Smoking Tigers collective. The stories with their original publication date, translator and page count in English:
Calculations 1955 tr. Paige Aniyah Morris 20pp
Black is Black, White is White 1956 tr. Slin Jung 16pp
The Age of Darkness 1958 tr. Dasom Yang 34pp
The Age of Doubt 1957 Anton Hur 30ppp
Retreat 1958 Emily Yae Won 22pp
The Era of Fantasy 1966 Matthias Manderloot 98pp
The Sickness No Medicine Can Fix 1968 Sophie Bowman 42pp
There is also an illuminating afterword from Professor Jang Ji Hee from Hanshin University, translated by You Jeong Kim, which discusses each of the stories in detail including in the context of the author's wider work and life.
The first 5 stories are all set in the post Korean war period of re-construction and if there is a common theme it is typically an idealistic female protagonist trying to retain their moral dignity in spite of everything. As a character in one story tells them: Let go of that impractical idealism of yours. All you’ve done, day in and day out, is turn a blind eye to what’s flawed and ugly in life - it’s a coward’s move, but in fact the stories present their stance as far from cowardly.
Perhaps the most interesting for me was Retreat, although this is something of an exception in terms of the main character's situation since, although suffering loss in the Korean war, she is economically self-sufficient, owning a dress shop in 명동(Myeongdong) and a large family home, and with the means to emigrate to Paris. There is a pivotal scene where the carnage of the ideologically-driven past slaughter and the way life carries on regardless hit her:
It was dark by the time she stepped back out into the street after visiting her in Hyehwadong. Turning a corner in an alley, Hyein glimpsed the faint glow of a butcher's window. Reddish meat and a dead pig hung behind the glass. An ineffable terror rushed down her spine. There was no doubt: this was a mortuary.
Hyein walked out to Hyehwa Roundabout. She reached a tree on the side of the pavement and leaned against it. The dead passed in front of her eyes, one after the other. As did a countless number of cars and buses.
What horror, she thought. It is horrific when one thinks about it. Carnage condoned by social customs that rationalize the physiological appetite of humans—how is this any different from the cannibalism of cannibals? It is all custom. If custom dictates, even romance becomes mere mechanics.
The last two stories are set in pre-WW2 colonial times and each proved something of a prototype for 토지 and indeed were both incorporated into the work.
The Era of Fantasy is more of a novella than a story, and perhaps the collection's highlight, psychologically intense with storylines of both colonial repression (the main character Minee is known as Rinoie-san at her school in Korea, as she is required to use a Japanese name) and of repressed feeling between young female students (a so-called S관계 relationship).
The opening of the story, setting the tone for the intensity:
It is impossible to recall the emotions you felt in the most godawfui moments of your life, those where you can only shiver in fear, despair, and the assumption that your time has come and you have nothing left to do but die, or in the memories of days gone past where you were beside yourself with happiness or bone-crushingly sad or furious to the point where your veins were about to burst. It is not so much the inability to understand the reason why you felt so happy or sad or angry or scared at the time, as the fact that the very emotions themselves have drifted on, like mist, to a place beyond reach. That is why Minee instead held on to the most trifling memories in all their vividness. Apart from being vivid, these memories conjured up a host of stories and scenes, sinking Minee into a state of utter stupefaction.
A vivid descriptive scene:
Behind the wall, tainted yellow by the rain leaking through, was the home economics classroom, where braziers, ovens, bowls, gas meters, and other household appliances were lined it were an exhibition center, and through the open window on the far side of the room, a few dark green juniper trees, covered in dust, watched over the washroom, the sound of flowing water echoing off the walls. Behind the juniper trees, on the other side of a moss-covered wall, the creek sent its foul water away from school, and a dust-laden wind blew. Along the creek, through the scarcely frequented backstreets, the same wind blew. Perhaps the wind came from the orchard, whose pear trees were always covered in white dust. In the backstreets, there was a corner shop with a tinned iron sign saying TOBACCO despite never having tobacco in stock, where an old Japanese woman with a pair of reading glasses on her nose sat on the floor, bending forward as if trying to touch a tatami mat with hereorehead, while a black cat with a little bell stretched its back, tired of life. Perhaps the Japanese Nichiren Buddhist, wearing a black robe and a conical rain hat, was passing by the house surrounded by the recognizable smell of rotting wood, the poor one-man village, muttering.
Other reviews:
https://asianreviewofbooks.com/conten...
https://tonysreadinglist.wordpress.co...
Overall, another fascinating addition to the canon of Korean literature in English translation.
From The Era of Fantasy, translated by Matthias Manderloot from a 1966 original by 박경리
뛰는 놈 그 위에 나는 놈
싸이 (PSY), 강남스타일 (Gangnam Style), 2012 - which translates as "On top of the running man is the flying man" - from the same proverb (and a line my wife translated for the DJ, live on Capital Radio at the height of Gangnam Style fever)
박경리, usually Romanised as Pak Kyongki, who passed away in 2008 is best known for her multi-volume 토지, only a small part of which (although still 500+ pages) has been translated into English by Agnita Tennant as Land.
토지 was published over 25 years from 1969-1994, and covers the period 1897-1959, with only part set in the post Korean war period.
The Age of Doubt (불신시대) is a collection of earlier short-stories from the same author, published before 토지 in the period from her debut work in 1955 through to 1968.
This is the latest book from the wonderful small independent press Honford Star, most noted for their translations of both classical Korean literature, and more recently exciting contemporary works such as the International Booker shortlisted Cursed Bunny.
Honford Star's mission is to publish exciting literature from East Asia, be it classic or contemporary. We believe there are many ground-breaking East Asian authors and books yet to be read by English-language readers, so we aim to make these works as accessible as possible. By working with talented translators and exciting local artists, we hope to see more bookshelves containing beautiful editions East Asian literature.
Here we have not one but a 'complaint' (the suggested collective verb) of talented translators mostly from the Smoking Tigers collective. The stories with their original publication date, translator and page count in English:
Calculations 1955 tr. Paige Aniyah Morris 20pp
Black is Black, White is White 1956 tr. Slin Jung 16pp
The Age of Darkness 1958 tr. Dasom Yang 34pp
The Age of Doubt 1957 Anton Hur 30ppp
Retreat 1958 Emily Yae Won 22pp
The Era of Fantasy 1966 Matthias Manderloot 98pp
The Sickness No Medicine Can Fix 1968 Sophie Bowman 42pp
There is also an illuminating afterword from Professor Jang Ji Hee from Hanshin University, translated by You Jeong Kim, which discusses each of the stories in detail including in the context of the author's wider work and life.
The first 5 stories are all set in the post Korean war period of re-construction and if there is a common theme it is typically an idealistic female protagonist trying to retain their moral dignity in spite of everything. As a character in one story tells them: Let go of that impractical idealism of yours. All you’ve done, day in and day out, is turn a blind eye to what’s flawed and ugly in life - it’s a coward’s move, but in fact the stories present their stance as far from cowardly.
Perhaps the most interesting for me was Retreat, although this is something of an exception in terms of the main character's situation since, although suffering loss in the Korean war, she is economically self-sufficient, owning a dress shop in 명동(Myeongdong) and a large family home, and with the means to emigrate to Paris. There is a pivotal scene where the carnage of the ideologically-driven past slaughter and the way life carries on regardless hit her:
It was dark by the time she stepped back out into the street after visiting her in Hyehwadong. Turning a corner in an alley, Hyein glimpsed the faint glow of a butcher's window. Reddish meat and a dead pig hung behind the glass. An ineffable terror rushed down her spine. There was no doubt: this was a mortuary.
Hyein walked out to Hyehwa Roundabout. She reached a tree on the side of the pavement and leaned against it. The dead passed in front of her eyes, one after the other. As did a countless number of cars and buses.
What horror, she thought. It is horrific when one thinks about it. Carnage condoned by social customs that rationalize the physiological appetite of humans—how is this any different from the cannibalism of cannibals? It is all custom. If custom dictates, even romance becomes mere mechanics.
The last two stories are set in pre-WW2 colonial times and each proved something of a prototype for 토지 and indeed were both incorporated into the work.
The Era of Fantasy is more of a novella than a story, and perhaps the collection's highlight, psychologically intense with storylines of both colonial repression (the main character Minee is known as Rinoie-san at her school in Korea, as she is required to use a Japanese name) and of repressed feeling between young female students (a so-called S관계 relationship).
The opening of the story, setting the tone for the intensity:
It is impossible to recall the emotions you felt in the most godawfui moments of your life, those where you can only shiver in fear, despair, and the assumption that your time has come and you have nothing left to do but die, or in the memories of days gone past where you were beside yourself with happiness or bone-crushingly sad or furious to the point where your veins were about to burst. It is not so much the inability to understand the reason why you felt so happy or sad or angry or scared at the time, as the fact that the very emotions themselves have drifted on, like mist, to a place beyond reach. That is why Minee instead held on to the most trifling memories in all their vividness. Apart from being vivid, these memories conjured up a host of stories and scenes, sinking Minee into a state of utter stupefaction.
A vivid descriptive scene:
Behind the wall, tainted yellow by the rain leaking through, was the home economics classroom, where braziers, ovens, bowls, gas meters, and other household appliances were lined it were an exhibition center, and through the open window on the far side of the room, a few dark green juniper trees, covered in dust, watched over the washroom, the sound of flowing water echoing off the walls. Behind the juniper trees, on the other side of a moss-covered wall, the creek sent its foul water away from school, and a dust-laden wind blew. Along the creek, through the scarcely frequented backstreets, the same wind blew. Perhaps the wind came from the orchard, whose pear trees were always covered in white dust. In the backstreets, there was a corner shop with a tinned iron sign saying TOBACCO despite never having tobacco in stock, where an old Japanese woman with a pair of reading glasses on her nose sat on the floor, bending forward as if trying to touch a tatami mat with hereorehead, while a black cat with a little bell stretched its back, tired of life. Perhaps the Japanese Nichiren Buddhist, wearing a black robe and a conical rain hat, was passing by the house surrounded by the recognizable smell of rotting wood, the poor one-man village, muttering.
Other reviews:
https://asianreviewofbooks.com/conten...
https://tonysreadinglist.wordpress.co...
Overall, another fascinating addition to the canon of Korean literature in English translation.
August 13, 2022
"The night before the Second Battle of Seoul, a bomb killed Jinyoung's husband. But before that happened, he had told her about a death he had witnessed, of a North Korean soldier on Kyeong-in Road. The soldier was young he might as well still have been a boy. This boy soldier lay beneath a tree on the avenue, hordes of flies attacking his exposed entrails like flesh-eating demons. He was begging for a sip of water and calling for his mother in a trance-like state. A fleeing passerby had taken pity on him and left behind a cracked-open watermelon, but the boy was unable to eat it and his breath slowly left his body"
The abovementioned quote (from the opening paragraph of the titular story) sets the theme and tone of Pak Kyongni's short story collection (translated from Korean by various translators, including Anton Hur). As described by the publisher, Honford Star, Pak Kyongni is one of the most highly respected writers in Korea, and her stories "reflect her own turbulent experiences during the period following the Korean war and the various South Korean dictatorships throughout the twentieth century". As you could see from the above quote, it is without a doubt that Pak is able to recreate and depict the horrifying scenes that occurred during the Korean War, as well as the aftermaths of the same. What sets this short story collection apart from other postwar literature would be Pak's focus on female characters postwar. In particular, most of the short stories in this collection featured female protagonists that have suffered, humiliated, or traumatised by the aftermath of the Korean War. Some of the stories even highlighted the fragility and vulnerability of these female protagonists as well as their strength to bounce back and overcome the tragedies that have fallen upon them. Such a feminine touch in her stories is further amplified by Pak's incorporation of themes such as love, family, and feminism therein.
My personal favorites in this collection are The Age of Doubt (which described Jinyoung's resort to religion in order to commemorate her son's death caused by medical negligence, which was common during the postwar period due to the deeply corrupted medical system, and Jinyoung's bafflement when she realised that religion has been capitalised and instrumentalised for economic and personal gain), The Age of Darkness (inspired by Pak's personal experience, this story also highlighted the corrupted medical practice during the postwar period which caused the death of Soonyoung's son), Retreat (a love story about a pair of sisters, Sook-In and Hyein who fell in love with the same guy Byoung-gu, whereby their "love" was somewhat sacrificed or affected due to the Korean War), Black is Black White is White (which is about Hye-sook, who was widowed by the Korean War and intended to look for a job but suffered from the judgmental perceptions of males). These stories were very delicately penned by Pak and they introduced readers to postwar literature through the eyes and perspective of females. This short story collection is a 4/5 star rating and would highly recommend this to readers who intend to read something different from the usual postwar literature! Thanks to Honford Star for sending me an e-review copy to me in exchange for an honest opinion!
The abovementioned quote (from the opening paragraph of the titular story) sets the theme and tone of Pak Kyongni's short story collection (translated from Korean by various translators, including Anton Hur). As described by the publisher, Honford Star, Pak Kyongni is one of the most highly respected writers in Korea, and her stories "reflect her own turbulent experiences during the period following the Korean war and the various South Korean dictatorships throughout the twentieth century". As you could see from the above quote, it is without a doubt that Pak is able to recreate and depict the horrifying scenes that occurred during the Korean War, as well as the aftermaths of the same. What sets this short story collection apart from other postwar literature would be Pak's focus on female characters postwar. In particular, most of the short stories in this collection featured female protagonists that have suffered, humiliated, or traumatised by the aftermath of the Korean War. Some of the stories even highlighted the fragility and vulnerability of these female protagonists as well as their strength to bounce back and overcome the tragedies that have fallen upon them. Such a feminine touch in her stories is further amplified by Pak's incorporation of themes such as love, family, and feminism therein.
My personal favorites in this collection are The Age of Doubt (which described Jinyoung's resort to religion in order to commemorate her son's death caused by medical negligence, which was common during the postwar period due to the deeply corrupted medical system, and Jinyoung's bafflement when she realised that religion has been capitalised and instrumentalised for economic and personal gain), The Age of Darkness (inspired by Pak's personal experience, this story also highlighted the corrupted medical practice during the postwar period which caused the death of Soonyoung's son), Retreat (a love story about a pair of sisters, Sook-In and Hyein who fell in love with the same guy Byoung-gu, whereby their "love" was somewhat sacrificed or affected due to the Korean War), Black is Black White is White (which is about Hye-sook, who was widowed by the Korean War and intended to look for a job but suffered from the judgmental perceptions of males). These stories were very delicately penned by Pak and they introduced readers to postwar literature through the eyes and perspective of females. This short story collection is a 4/5 star rating and would highly recommend this to readers who intend to read something different from the usual postwar literature! Thanks to Honford Star for sending me an e-review copy to me in exchange for an honest opinion!
August 11, 2022
The Age of Doubt is a collection of short stories written by the acclaimed Korean author Pak Kyongni. While her work is quite famous in Asia, this is the first time her short stories collection have been translated into English. Many of Kyongni’s stories focus on postwar Korean society, specifically on women’s lives during this turbulent period.
Plot📖: I personally enjoyed her earlier work in the collection, with the major theme of postwar Korea’s society and its treatment of women.
My favourite stories in this collection are:
* Calculations: this story features a woman who calculates a payback every time a man does her any favour. Using simple prose and plotlines, Pak depicts the protagonist’s ego and how her ego ends up tormenting her.
* Black is Black, White is White: a story about what happens when fate conspires against you. The underlying theme of this story is the suffering of unmarried and widowed women in postwar Korea, the double standard between males and females, and the constant male gaze women are subjected to.
* The Age of Darkness & The Age of Doubt: both of these stories reflect the corrupted healthcare system in 1950s-60s Korea. Inspired by personal tragedy, Pak Kyongni spotlights the corrupted healthcare system which causes the death of the protagonist's son. While the Age of Darkness focuses on the frustration with the medical system, the Age of Doubt focuses on dealing with grief.
* The Age of Doubt: this titular story is also my favourite story as it showcases how religion (both Buddhism and Catholicism) has been turned into some kind of capitalistic money-grabbing scheme during this impoverished period. The story’s lesson is about how accepting grief can only be from confronting it instead of relying on religions. A heartfelt sentiment for Atheists everywhere ;P
And of course, by the time I finished this story, I found out it had been translated by none other than the famous Anton Hurr.
* Retreat: a nice story about liberating yourself from the past and creating your own distinctive identity. Finally, a happy ending among these bleak tales.
Prose ✍️: In general, Pak Kyongni’s writing is elegant and sensual. You will find yourself immersed in the stories with all your senses heightened from the beautiful descriptive writing.
Overall, a good short story collection, 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I would have given it 5 stars but I found the last two stories not as good as the first seven.
Thank you Honford Star for sending me this beautiful ARC. The Age of Doubt is published in September so definitely keep an eye out for it 😉.
Plot📖: I personally enjoyed her earlier work in the collection, with the major theme of postwar Korea’s society and its treatment of women.
My favourite stories in this collection are:
* Calculations: this story features a woman who calculates a payback every time a man does her any favour. Using simple prose and plotlines, Pak depicts the protagonist’s ego and how her ego ends up tormenting her.
* Black is Black, White is White: a story about what happens when fate conspires against you. The underlying theme of this story is the suffering of unmarried and widowed women in postwar Korea, the double standard between males and females, and the constant male gaze women are subjected to.
* The Age of Darkness & The Age of Doubt: both of these stories reflect the corrupted healthcare system in 1950s-60s Korea. Inspired by personal tragedy, Pak Kyongni spotlights the corrupted healthcare system which causes the death of the protagonist's son. While the Age of Darkness focuses on the frustration with the medical system, the Age of Doubt focuses on dealing with grief.
* The Age of Doubt: this titular story is also my favourite story as it showcases how religion (both Buddhism and Catholicism) has been turned into some kind of capitalistic money-grabbing scheme during this impoverished period. The story’s lesson is about how accepting grief can only be from confronting it instead of relying on religions. A heartfelt sentiment for Atheists everywhere ;P
And of course, by the time I finished this story, I found out it had been translated by none other than the famous Anton Hurr.
* Retreat: a nice story about liberating yourself from the past and creating your own distinctive identity. Finally, a happy ending among these bleak tales.
Prose ✍️: In general, Pak Kyongni’s writing is elegant and sensual. You will find yourself immersed in the stories with all your senses heightened from the beautiful descriptive writing.
Overall, a good short story collection, 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I would have given it 5 stars but I found the last two stories not as good as the first seven.
Thank you Honford Star for sending me this beautiful ARC. The Age of Doubt is published in September so definitely keep an eye out for it 😉.
September 22, 2022
without a doubt, this is one of my favorite reads of the year.
the age of doubt is a poignant collection of short stories by pak kyongni, one of korea’s most prominent novelists. through seven stories, she paints a very different picture than what we typically think of when we think of war. instead of soldiers and the battlefield, we are made to look the other way - at the people left behind by those who go to war, and the effects it has on them.
“a woman’s lot is to suffer.” - min jin lee, pachinko
pak explores a range of issues, but all within the same vein of women’s suffering. this is explicitly shown though stories where the protagonists are married women (often widowed), and more implicitly hinted at in stories where the women have yet to marry. whilst unmarried women might hope to turn their fate around, those already spoken for seem tightly bound by the shackles of patriarchy for the rest of their lives. dismal.
colonial korea was fascinating to look at, but must have been painful to live in. think corrupt hospitals where you need to personally procure blood, and corrupt temples where honor for the dead is solely dependent on the bounty of your offerings. being alive in those times meant that the odds were stacked against you, doubly so if you’re a woman.
my only qualm with this collection lies with one of the stories, “the era of fantasy”. one short story shouldn’t be enough to sway an opinion on the whole collection, but this was also the longest story of the bunch. at almost a 100 pages, it took up a third of the book. as the only story written as a stream of consciousness, scenes constantly flitted here and there across timelines. i often got lost regardless of how hard i focused, and had a hard time getting through it. consequently, i didn’t care much for it. i also felt the topics covered to be the least relatable.
it is immensely sad to think about how these stories came into existence. having lost both her husband and son in close succession during this period of time, pak herself says that she would never have become a writer if she had been happy with her life. in fact, many of her stories are based off her own experiences, leaving us as readers to wonder where the line between fiction and autofiction lies.
here’s to hoping that more of pak kyongni’s work gets translated to english, because more of the world needs to hear what she has to say.
note: crediting many of these ideas to the commentary at the end of the book, my little brain could never.
the age of doubt is a poignant collection of short stories by pak kyongni, one of korea’s most prominent novelists. through seven stories, she paints a very different picture than what we typically think of when we think of war. instead of soldiers and the battlefield, we are made to look the other way - at the people left behind by those who go to war, and the effects it has on them.
“a woman’s lot is to suffer.” - min jin lee, pachinko
pak explores a range of issues, but all within the same vein of women’s suffering. this is explicitly shown though stories where the protagonists are married women (often widowed), and more implicitly hinted at in stories where the women have yet to marry. whilst unmarried women might hope to turn their fate around, those already spoken for seem tightly bound by the shackles of patriarchy for the rest of their lives. dismal.
colonial korea was fascinating to look at, but must have been painful to live in. think corrupt hospitals where you need to personally procure blood, and corrupt temples where honor for the dead is solely dependent on the bounty of your offerings. being alive in those times meant that the odds were stacked against you, doubly so if you’re a woman.
my only qualm with this collection lies with one of the stories, “the era of fantasy”. one short story shouldn’t be enough to sway an opinion on the whole collection, but this was also the longest story of the bunch. at almost a 100 pages, it took up a third of the book. as the only story written as a stream of consciousness, scenes constantly flitted here and there across timelines. i often got lost regardless of how hard i focused, and had a hard time getting through it. consequently, i didn’t care much for it. i also felt the topics covered to be the least relatable.
it is immensely sad to think about how these stories came into existence. having lost both her husband and son in close succession during this period of time, pak herself says that she would never have become a writer if she had been happy with her life. in fact, many of her stories are based off her own experiences, leaving us as readers to wonder where the line between fiction and autofiction lies.
here’s to hoping that more of pak kyongni’s work gets translated to english, because more of the world needs to hear what she has to say.
note: crediting many of these ideas to the commentary at the end of the book, my little brain could never.
December 30, 2022
A very interesting look a women’s lives post Korean War.
July 17, 2023
One thing I’ve noticed about Korean society is how important appearances are in treating someone especially in larger cities—Korea has a very materialistic culture. So much so that there are terms like “house-poor” and “car-poor” to describe people who have spent their life-savings on the size of the house they live in or their luxury car, rendering no funds for day-to-day life, all because they’d rather appear rich than live sensibly. I hate it I hate it. I’d really rather spend time in the countryside because of this sentiment’s prevalence in Seoul. But now having read 박경리’s collection of short stories, which nearly autobiographically documents post-war Korea and Japanese occupation through the eyes of independent women, I think I better understand it, though I still DESPISE how mere appearances cloud people’s judgment and make them feel as if they are owed more than others (SO EASILY SEEN IN PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION).
In the stories all of the women ultimately sacrifice feeling for practicality because they aren’t offered the luxury of thinking beyond survival…so it really is all about making money and escaping a life of poverty in order to have comfort to think about other things, and if this was a widely shared thought process in the 60’s (post-Korean war) then it’s a pretty recent blueprint for success that’s carrying over today. Is THAT why so many korean students state making a lot of money as their dream in life! Maybe it has a really teeny part to do with it but me thinking YES IT DOES allows me to be sympathetic instead of also judgmental 😭❌
In the stories all of the women ultimately sacrifice feeling for practicality because they aren’t offered the luxury of thinking beyond survival…so it really is all about making money and escaping a life of poverty in order to have comfort to think about other things, and if this was a widely shared thought process in the 60’s (post-Korean war) then it’s a pretty recent blueprint for success that’s carrying over today. Is THAT why so many korean students state making a lot of money as their dream in life! Maybe it has a really teeny part to do with it but me thinking YES IT DOES allows me to be sympathetic instead of also judgmental 😭❌
January 17, 2023
All of her characters are so well realized and fascinating to read. I love her perspective on the struggle to get by over the easy idealogical divides. Era of Fantasy was specifically incredible. But wow, this book has so many typos. Really unprofessional. I get that Korean literature is getting popular, but I hope the publishing company will take more care with future publications. No complaints about the content of the book tho!
March 1, 2023
In our final episode of 2022, we talk about hidden gems in Korean literature with Taylor Bradley, co-founder of the independent publishing house Honford Star.
Taylor co-founded Honford Star in 2016 with Anthony Bird with a mission to publish the best literature from East Asia. In this episode, we look back on highlights of translated Korean fiction over the past year for Honford Star, including the runaway success of the International Booker Prize shortlisted “Cursed Bunny” by Bora Chung (translated by Anton Hur). Taylor also filled us in on his personal process for selecting the “best” East Asian literature and some unexpected hits from 2022.
We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Tweet us (Beth @_paperfetishist / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at bethhong@heraldcorp.com or ngnaomi@heraldcorp.com.
Taylor co-founded Honford Star in 2016 with Anthony Bird with a mission to publish the best literature from East Asia. In this episode, we look back on highlights of translated Korean fiction over the past year for Honford Star, including the runaway success of the International Booker Prize shortlisted “Cursed Bunny” by Bora Chung (translated by Anton Hur). Taylor also filled us in on his personal process for selecting the “best” East Asian literature and some unexpected hits from 2022.
We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Tweet us (Beth @_paperfetishist / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at bethhong@heraldcorp.com or ngnaomi@heraldcorp.com.
September 15, 2022
Love is a Physiological Act.
I admit that I knew very little about this author, until a brief google search told me that I was missing out.
This is a short story collection and like any other, I have a few favourites. I will focus on two of my favourites. The companion stories 'The Age of Darkness' and 'The Age of Doubt'..
In the first story, we follow Soonyoung who lost her husband to the war and had to raise her children in post war poverty, barely able to feed them. "If we get sick, we'll have no other option than to die", so when her son finds himself in the hospital, medical incompetence and negligence rampant in the post-war time led to his death. And as always, any mother would point the finger within. In this story we see Pak Kyongni string the helplessness of poverty with a bloody hand clinging unto life.
The second story follows Jinyoung who clings to religion hoping it would fill in the hole caused by the death of her son. She soon realises that religion is not there to soothe her ache but to empty her already scant pockets.
.
These stories show the strength and fragility of fear and love. The power that women in the post-war era learnt through vulnerability, loss and humiliation. And the resilience of self-identity, sacrifice and hope in the face of devastation.
There is also the story 'The Era of Fantasy' which shows that Pak was not just blunt with her observation of love during the war but she understand the importance and necessity of it.
Her story telling is raw, poignant, with an eternal quality to it. Each story feels current and tangible yet distant and ephemeral, the brevity of it signifying the importance of history and context in women empowerment and relationships.
Thanks to Honford star for making a copy of this book available to me.
I admit that I knew very little about this author, until a brief google search told me that I was missing out.
This is a short story collection and like any other, I have a few favourites. I will focus on two of my favourites. The companion stories 'The Age of Darkness' and 'The Age of Doubt'..
In the first story, we follow Soonyoung who lost her husband to the war and had to raise her children in post war poverty, barely able to feed them. "If we get sick, we'll have no other option than to die", so when her son finds himself in the hospital, medical incompetence and negligence rampant in the post-war time led to his death. And as always, any mother would point the finger within. In this story we see Pak Kyongni string the helplessness of poverty with a bloody hand clinging unto life.
The second story follows Jinyoung who clings to religion hoping it would fill in the hole caused by the death of her son. She soon realises that religion is not there to soothe her ache but to empty her already scant pockets.
.
These stories show the strength and fragility of fear and love. The power that women in the post-war era learnt through vulnerability, loss and humiliation. And the resilience of self-identity, sacrifice and hope in the face of devastation.
There is also the story 'The Era of Fantasy' which shows that Pak was not just blunt with her observation of love during the war but she understand the importance and necessity of it.
Her story telling is raw, poignant, with an eternal quality to it. Each story feels current and tangible yet distant and ephemeral, the brevity of it signifying the importance of history and context in women empowerment and relationships.
Thanks to Honford star for making a copy of this book available to me.
October 27, 2024
I was absolutely captivated by this collection of short stories by Pak Kyongni. Although each story in this novel is heartbreakingly intense, the depth of its themes and characters left a lasting impression. I loved how the commentary in the end by Professor Kang Ji Hee (translated by You Jeong Kim) accurately summarized the stories and made me appreciate the narratives even more deeply.
The stories depicts some of Korea's most turbulent times, from the consequences of the Korean war to the painful memories of Japanese occupation. The book also exposes how corrupted the medical system back then in Korea, what can only be described as medical 'murders'. Through vivid descriptions, the author brings to life the adversaries that individuals, especially women, had to overcome in their fight for independence and dignity.
The author's personal history adds even more weight to these stories. Knowing that her husband was executed on accusations of pro-communist beliefs and how she tragically lost her son in an accident. "The Age of Darkness" and "The Age of Doubt" were closely related to this incident.
I would definitely recommend this hidden gem to everyone to know more about post-war literature!
"History, premonitions, dreams, they're all just coincidences. But Munsu's death, wasn't it a clear case of manmade blunder? And to say that we all die anyway someday...of course we do, of old age...Even if the child was going to die anyway from the accident, he never should've been killed that way, like some calf in a slaughterhouse...People, it's people I must hate."
The stories depicts some of Korea's most turbulent times, from the consequences of the Korean war to the painful memories of Japanese occupation. The book also exposes how corrupted the medical system back then in Korea, what can only be described as medical 'murders'. Through vivid descriptions, the author brings to life the adversaries that individuals, especially women, had to overcome in their fight for independence and dignity.
The author's personal history adds even more weight to these stories. Knowing that her husband was executed on accusations of pro-communist beliefs and how she tragically lost her son in an accident. "The Age of Darkness" and "The Age of Doubt" were closely related to this incident.
I would definitely recommend this hidden gem to everyone to know more about post-war literature!
"History, premonitions, dreams, they're all just coincidences. But Munsu's death, wasn't it a clear case of manmade blunder? And to say that we all die anyway someday...of course we do, of old age...Even if the child was going to die anyway from the accident, he never should've been killed that way, like some calf in a slaughterhouse...People, it's people I must hate."
November 30, 2025
Some of the most captivating and impactful short stories I have ever read. They are stories about lives in post-war Korea, depicting how the war made a lasting impact on society and individuals, especially women. With the stories being based on Pak Kyongni’s own life and experiences, it only made it that much more powerful. Each story unique and heartbreaking in its own way, they have definitely made a lasting impact on me.
I have gotten curious about more of Pak’s work and her memoir as well. I’ll be sure to check those out sooner rather than later.
I have gotten curious about more of Pak’s work and her memoir as well. I’ll be sure to check those out sooner rather than later.
August 28, 2025
3.5 ⭐️
it took me forever to finish the sixth story, "the era of fantasy" cause it is almost a hundred pages. definitely loved how pak kyongni wrote her female characters as independent women of post-war life. as the commentary said, "ironically, these women seem more complete when they finally acknowledge their solitude and decide to leave the men behind."
it took me forever to finish the sixth story, "the era of fantasy" cause it is almost a hundred pages. definitely loved how pak kyongni wrote her female characters as independent women of post-war life. as the commentary said, "ironically, these women seem more complete when they finally acknowledge their solitude and decide to leave the men behind."
July 6, 2023
FINALLLLLLYY FINISHED THIS BOOOOK. I remember 5 short stories. Some were a headache some I found interesting SOME I LOVED. but eh most short stories were hella boring ☠️☠️
June 2, 2025
3.25 - A collection of sad and thought-provoking stories written during post war with the occupation of Japan in Korea. There were lots of ideas and themes in here that felt very important and reflective of the time. I liked the focus on certain adversity or corrupt situations and thought it was a good read. Due to the way that it was written, there were points where I wasn't following or I got lost, which kind of took me out of it. Whilst other times the imagery felt very strong that I wanted more (as is the case for a lot of short stories). I'm glad I got to this, as I didn't know what to expect, and it has left me with ideas and respect. I also liked the wrap up at the end by the translator, explaining each story, as it showed the significance and importance even more.
April 11, 2023
Maybe i’ll pick this book up another time… it is too depressing.
May 18, 2023
I read this collection while I was the International Writer-in-Residence for the month of May 2023 at the Toji Cultural Foundation Residency Program, which Pak Kyong-ni established in 1999 to support writers and artists, and give them a peaceful place to foster their creativity. So this book has extra resonance for me in this context; plus, the copy I read was loaned to me by the head of the foundation, who is also Pak's grandson.
These stories were originally published in the 1950s, and the style Pak employed (at least, what is evident in translation) goes further back than that, which feels very evident in the reading. But there's also a timeless quality to them; these characters, with all their foibles and traumas, could easily exist now.
Taking place largely in the aftermath of the Korean Civil War (the exception being the longest story, a novella, which is set during WWII, when the country was still occupied by Japan), these stories are heartbreaking yet compelling; horrible things happen to these characters, but I couldn't look away. It would be easy to ascribe to Pak a defeatist worldview in this light, but instead the pieces ultimately feel optimistic; you know that these characters will go on, regardless of how difficult their lives have been expressed here.
These stories were originally published in the 1950s, and the style Pak employed (at least, what is evident in translation) goes further back than that, which feels very evident in the reading. But there's also a timeless quality to them; these characters, with all their foibles and traumas, could easily exist now.
Taking place largely in the aftermath of the Korean Civil War (the exception being the longest story, a novella, which is set during WWII, when the country was still occupied by Japan), these stories are heartbreaking yet compelling; horrible things happen to these characters, but I couldn't look away. It would be easy to ascribe to Pak a defeatist worldview in this light, but instead the pieces ultimately feel optimistic; you know that these characters will go on, regardless of how difficult their lives have been expressed here.
October 10, 2024
Pak Kyongni is an important twentieth century Korean writer and author of Toji, a 21-volume epic. This is a collection of some of her short stories from before that was published although I believe there are some characters/situations that show up in Toji as well.
The stories are set in the post war years and throughout the various dicatorships and feature the high cost of survival for the ordinary people and women in particular. The hardship and corruption and misfortune that befalls the war widows and other women make for fairly bleak stories, and there appear to be some autobiographical details incorporated in the stories. The patriarchy is infuriating and the women are holding onto ideals and a sense of who they are despite it all (or at least are trying to). It's not an easy read in many ways but it was rewarding.
Calculations
Black is Black, White is White
The Age of Darkness
The Age of Doubt
Retreat
The Era of Fantasy
The Sickness No Medicine Can Fix
Translated by Sophie Bowman, Anton Hur, Slin Jung, You Jeong Kim, Paige Aniyah Morris, Mattho Mandersloot, Emily Yae Won, and Dasom Yang.
The stories are set in the post war years and throughout the various dicatorships and feature the high cost of survival for the ordinary people and women in particular. The hardship and corruption and misfortune that befalls the war widows and other women make for fairly bleak stories, and there appear to be some autobiographical details incorporated in the stories. The patriarchy is infuriating and the women are holding onto ideals and a sense of who they are despite it all (or at least are trying to). It's not an easy read in many ways but it was rewarding.
Calculations
Black is Black, White is White
The Age of Darkness
The Age of Doubt
Retreat
The Era of Fantasy
The Sickness No Medicine Can Fix
Translated by Sophie Bowman, Anton Hur, Slin Jung, You Jeong Kim, Paige Aniyah Morris, Mattho Mandersloot, Emily Yae Won, and Dasom Yang.
November 13, 2024
The Age of Doubt is a short story collection by Pak Kyongni about the struggle of women during the postwar and the occupation of Japan in Korea. It has about 7 short stories and some are my favorite. The only reason that I didn't give this book 5-star is because one of the story, the longest one in the collection, failed to reach me. It took me many days just to finish it and I understand almost nothing. I feel like some part was lost in translation and I simply couldn't get a hold of that story. The others, meanwhile, I enjoyed it a lot. I liked the way the author depicted the emotions and the struggles of living a life as a woman during that time and I can't help but thinking about what women have to deal with in modern days, which I think, is not so different. I can feel the emotion, the frustration of helplessness and how ridiculous all those things were. I think this book is quite good and I enjoyed my times reading this, at the very least.
November 24, 2025
4/5
Pak provides an invaluable window into women’s lives in colonial and postwar Korea. I also love how Pak also pays special attention to the quotidian–her detailed descriptions of postwar urban life, postwar hospital procedures, and colonial era school life are fascinating to me. Kang Ji Hee’s commentary at the end of the collection (translated by You Jeong Kim) is also wonderful!
My favorite stories:
• “Black is Black, White is White” (trans. Slin Jung)
• “Age of Doubt” (trans. Anton Hur): Heartbreakingly beautiful and deeply human. A sharp critique of healthcare and religion in the postwar era.
• “Retreat” (trans. Emily Yae Won)
• “The Era of Fantasy” (trans. Matthew Mandersloot): A richly detailed coming of age story that explores themes of anti-imperialism and queer coming of age. This short story also offers a valuable glimpse into S-relationship culture (a romantic relationship between female students that was regarded as socially acceptable) in 1940s Korea.
Pak provides an invaluable window into women’s lives in colonial and postwar Korea. I also love how Pak also pays special attention to the quotidian–her detailed descriptions of postwar urban life, postwar hospital procedures, and colonial era school life are fascinating to me. Kang Ji Hee’s commentary at the end of the collection (translated by You Jeong Kim) is also wonderful!
My favorite stories:
• “Black is Black, White is White” (trans. Slin Jung)
• “Age of Doubt” (trans. Anton Hur): Heartbreakingly beautiful and deeply human. A sharp critique of healthcare and religion in the postwar era.
• “Retreat” (trans. Emily Yae Won)
• “The Era of Fantasy” (trans. Matthew Mandersloot): A richly detailed coming of age story that explores themes of anti-imperialism and queer coming of age. This short story also offers a valuable glimpse into S-relationship culture (a romantic relationship between female students that was regarded as socially acceptable) in 1940s Korea.
Read
December 12, 2023on hold!
a lot of my summer books are on hold bcus i just wasn’t in the mood for reading but i will get back to this short stories collection soon when im in the mood to read post-war korea bcus it is quite heavy. i’m currently reading japanese occupation korea bcus i don’t know much about that period as the war period.
anyways ill be back
a lot of my summer books are on hold bcus i just wasn’t in the mood for reading but i will get back to this short stories collection soon when im in the mood to read post-war korea bcus it is quite heavy. i’m currently reading japanese occupation korea bcus i don’t know much about that period as the war period.
anyways ill be back
October 20, 2025
Un ritratto tangibile della corea post guerra che raccoglie l'esperienza femminile dell'autrice in questo contesto. Alcuni racconti cone The age of darkness e The age of doubt ho letto avidamente, altri hanno richiesto piu lavoro e attenzione. Ognuno ha qualcosa da raccontare a livello storico/sociale e qualcosa da donare a livello emotivo.
May 29, 2023
3.5⭐️really. I liked some stories more than others.
January 4, 2024
bored in the house and im in the house bored
Read
February 11, 2024Sadly a dnf. I usually have hard time with short stories and as hard as I tried, I just didn’t feel like continuing after the first 3.
June 25, 2025
enjoyed only 3 stories out of the 7 …
February 15, 2025
3.25💫
I think my expectations were a little too high. As a Korean historical fiction lover I expected this to wow me, but it was just ✨good✨, so I was a little disappointed.
Also I just feel like some of the stories really dragged on, while others were short and crisp, so the reading experience was a bit unbalanced. But I’d love to read an actual novel from the author, to get a better gauge of her writing style^^
I think my expectations were a little too high. As a Korean historical fiction lover I expected this to wow me, but it was just ✨good✨, so I was a little disappointed.
Also I just feel like some of the stories really dragged on, while others were short and crisp, so the reading experience was a bit unbalanced. But I’d love to read an actual novel from the author, to get a better gauge of her writing style^^
June 7, 2025
short story collection of the author, some were good but others were rlly boring that it felt like a chore to finish
April 27, 2023
So far, I have read the title story. (Hear my review on YouTube here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhfyy...)
KBS Korea 24 @KBSKorea24
For #KoreaBookClub, @barrypwelsh reviews Pak Kyongni’s 'The Age of Doubt,' a short story about a widow struggling to survive the aftermath of the Korean War. The story, translated by @AntonHur, was published as part of a collection by @HonfordStar last year. #박경리 #불신시대 #KBSWORLDRadio #KBS월드라디오 #Korea24 #코리아24 #bookstagram #북스타그램 #책스타그램 #KoreanLiterature
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!
http://world.kbs.co.kr/service/progra...
KBS Korea 24 @KBSKorea24
For #KoreaBookClub, @barrypwelsh reviews Pak Kyongni’s 'The Age of Doubt,' a short story about a widow struggling to survive the aftermath of the Korean War. The story, translated by @AntonHur, was published as part of a collection by @HonfordStar last year. #박경리 #불신시대 #KBSWORLDRadio #KBS월드라디오 #Korea24 #코리아24 #bookstagram #북스타그램 #책스타그램 #KoreanLiterature
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!
http://world.kbs.co.kr/service/progra...
September 18, 2024
Picked up a copy of this collection while abroad in Malaysia before starting my master's thesis on Korean women's literature. Pak is an underrated figure in terms of translations of historical Korean women's lit, but her stories in this little collection embody what a lot of women in the period were writing about. Pick it up if you interested in women's stories during the late colonial period and postwar era.
Full review on my blog: https://www.ashleyhajimirsadeghi.com/...
Full review on my blog: https://www.ashleyhajimirsadeghi.com/...
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