What do you think?
Rate this book
The Owl Cries
From the Shirley Jackson Award–winning author of The Hole, a slow-burning noir thriller with a touch of horror and the uncanny.
A lawyer asking questions. A disappearance. And a vast forest in the mountains—the western woods—where the trees huddle close together, emanating a crushing darkness, while a chill dampness fills the air. The forester, Bak Insu, is a recovering alcoholic. He claims no knowledge of the man who disappeared, even though the missing man had worked as a forester just before him. In the little village down the mountain, the shopkeepers will do the same and deny they ever saw or knew the man, though they’re less convincing, and his former supervisor at the forestry institute, Mr. Jin, dismisses his importance. But when an accident and a death derail the investigation and someone attempts to break into his office, Bak Insu finds himself conducting his own inquiry into the goings-on deep in the heart of the western woods—spurred by the mysterious words he discovers on a piece of paper in his desk “The owl lives in the forest.”
The Owl Cries is a treat for fans of Stephen King, David Lynch, and the nightmare dystopias of Franz Kafka.
A lawyer asking questions. A disappearance. And a vast forest in the mountains—the western woods—where the trees huddle close together, emanating a crushing darkness, while a chill dampness fills the air. The forester, Bak Insu, is a recovering alcoholic. He claims no knowledge of the man who disappeared, even though the missing man had worked as a forester just before him. In the little village down the mountain, the shopkeepers will do the same and deny they ever saw or knew the man, though they’re less convincing, and his former supervisor at the forestry institute, Mr. Jin, dismisses his importance. But when an accident and a death derail the investigation and someone attempts to break into his office, Bak Insu finds himself conducting his own inquiry into the goings-on deep in the heart of the western woods—spurred by the mysterious words he discovers on a piece of paper in his desk “The owl lives in the forest.”
The Owl Cries is a treat for fans of Stephen King, David Lynch, and the nightmare dystopias of Franz Kafka.
281 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 3, 2023
25 people are currently reading
433 people want to read
About the author
Hye-Young Pyun
29 books223 followers편혜영(片惠英,1972년~)은 대한민국의 소설가이다. 서울에서 태어났으며, 서울예대 문예창작과를 졸업하고 한양대학교 국어국문학과 대학원 석사과정을 졸업했다. 2000년 서울신문 신춘문예에 단편소설 〈이슬털기〉가 당선되면서 데뷔했다. 2007년 단편소설 〈사육장 쪽으로〉로 제40회 한국일보문학상을, 2009년 단편소설 〈토끼의 묘〉로 제10회 이효석문학상을, 2012년 소설집 〈저녁의 구애〉로 제42회 동인문학상을, 2014년 단편소설 〈몬순〉으로 제38회 이상문학상을 수상했다. 현재 명지대학교 문예창작학과 교수(2013~)로 재직 중이다.
Pyun Hye-young was born in Seoul in 1972. She earned her undergraduate degree in creative writing and graduate degree in Korean literature from Hanyang University. After receiving these degrees, Pyun worked as an office worker, and many office workers appear in her stories.
Pyun began publishing in 2000 and published three collections of stories, Aoi Garden, To The Kennels, and Evening Courtship as well as the novel Ashes and Red. In 2007, To the Kennels won the Hankook Ilbo Literary Award, in 2009 the short story O Cuniculi won the Yi Hyo-Seok Literature prize and then the Today’s Young Writer Award in 2010, while in 2011 Evening Courtship won the Dong-in Literary Award. Her works have several themes including alienation in modern life, an apocalyptic world, and they are often infused with grotesque images. The novel Ashes and Red explores irony and the dual nature of humanity.
Pyun Hye-young was born in Seoul in 1972. She earned her undergraduate degree in creative writing and graduate degree in Korean literature from Hanyang University. After receiving these degrees, Pyun worked as an office worker, and many office workers appear in her stories.
Pyun began publishing in 2000 and published three collections of stories, Aoi Garden, To The Kennels, and Evening Courtship as well as the novel Ashes and Red. In 2007, To the Kennels won the Hankook Ilbo Literary Award, in 2009 the short story O Cuniculi won the Yi Hyo-Seok Literature prize and then the Today’s Young Writer Award in 2010, while in 2011 Evening Courtship won the Dong-in Literary Award. Her works have several themes including alienation in modern life, an apocalyptic world, and they are often infused with grotesque images. The novel Ashes and Red explores irony and the dual nature of humanity.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
June 9, 2023
Hye-young Pyun plays with genre boundaries and reader expectations in this eerie, claustrophobic novel. At first every indication is that this is noir-ish crime centred on the mysterious disappearance of a forest ranger but Pyun suddenly shifts focus, exchanging mystery for an exploration of isolation and existential crisis through the experiences of the ranger’s replacement, recovering alcoholic In-su Park, who shares many of his predecessor’s characteristics. At the heart of Pyun’s piece is a vast, dark forest casting its shadow on everything around it, including a small village dependent on it for its very existence. The symbolism of the forest – which has a role similar to those of the woods in numerous fairy tales – mixes uneasily with a series of more mundane revelations about Park and the villagers’ dodgy dealings. However, although the pieces don’t always seem to fit together here, Pyun’s expert at creating an atmosphere of simmering tension, making it clear why she's labelled her work “anxiety fiction.” Here too, as in earlier work, are echoes of Stephen King, one of Pyun's favourite writers, particularly obvious in her depiction of Park’s relationship with his wife and son which is highly reminiscent of the fractured family dynamic in The Shining. But unlike King, Pyun’s narrative stirs clear of supernatural explanations, instead remaining firmly rooted in reality in order to present what’s, ultimately, a snapshot of South Korea’s wider social ills. The end result wasn’t nearly as satisfying, or coherent, as I’d hoped yet this remained surprisingly gripping from start to finish. Fluidly translated by Sora Kim-Russell.
Thanks to Edelweiss and publisher Arcade for an ARC
Rating: 3 to 3.5
Thanks to Edelweiss and publisher Arcade for an ARC
Rating: 3 to 3.5
January 19, 2025
INTHEFORESTTHEOWLLIVES
The more times he read this very obvious sentence out loud, the more he bgan to feel unbearably lonely. He was that owl, holding its breath in the pitch-bakc shadow of trees. An owl forced to lift its heavy wings with each stir of the wind. An owl rotating its head and rolling its eyes to keep watch over its surroundings. An owl waiting for prey that was very close to hand, was always far off and hard to find.
숲에 부엉이가 산다.
그 당연한 문장을 여러 번 되풀이해 읽어나가는 동안 박인수는 참을 수 없이 외로워졌다. 자신이 검은 나무숲에 숨죽여 앉은 부엉이같이 느껴졌다. 바람이 불면 무거운 날개를 쳐올려야 하는 부엉이가 된 것 같았다. 사방을 감시하며 머리통을 돌려 눈을 굴리는 부엉이 같았다. 가까운 곳에는 없는, 먼 곳에 있어 간혹 눈에 띄는 먹이를 하염없이 기다리는 부엉이 같았다.
The Owl Cries is Sora Kim-Russell's 2023 translation of the 2012 Korean novel 서쪽 숲에 갔다 by 편혜영 (Hye-Young Pyun).
This is the fourth novel I've read by the same translator-author after:
The Hole (홀, 2016) - my review
The Law of Lines (선의 법칙. 2015) - my review.
City of Ash and Red (재와 빨강, 2010) - my review
as well as a collection of short-stories from another translator (and where the translation was unfortunately an issue): Evening Proposal (저녁의 구애, 2011) - my review
This is one where my review has to be preceded with a disclaimer - reading all the translated Korean literature I can find does inevitably mean I venture into genres that aren’t my usual literary fare (e.g. I wouldn't typically read a Stephen King novel), and my reviews/ratings are personal subjective ones rather the objective judgements on the quality of the work. And with 편혜영 this means that my ratings haven't risen above 3 star - while her Shirley Jackson Award winning Hole in particular was a great example of its type, it wasn't really for me - and this is no exception.
The Owl Cries has an intriguing set up - In-su Park (oddly the translation presents the family names of characters last rather), a recovering alcoholic has rather lucked a well-paid job as a ranger at a large forest in the mountains, his only real job to prevent hikers from entering the woods, particularly during the dangerous winter season. He prepares to turn away another visitor only to find that the man is looking for him:
Ha-in Lee got out of the car and looked around. The woods pressed in close and tight, encroaching on the edges of his vision. The air was cool and the wind brisk, but the effect was damp and chilly rather than refreshing. It wasn't the fault of the weather. He blamed it on the way the trees huddled together, making themselves look dark. He hunched his shoulders and stepped toward the shadows, thinking as he went that nature wasn't always right.
In-su Park stared hard at the man approaching the ranger station. He was wearing a nice jacket, with a dress shirt and tie. Judging from his clothing, he might work for the government or maybe a corporation, someplace conservative and stiflingly hier-archical. Either way, it wasn't an outfit for hiking in the woods. In-su wondered if he was a researcher.
Lee, a lawyer, tells Park that he believes his estranged brother was the previous incumbent of the role, but has mysteriously gone missing, his last communication a garbled and emotional message to their mother saying that the trees were attacking him and the owl was crying.
As a newbie, Park is unable to help but refers Lee to some longer-standing residents of the small village that has grown up around the forest research centre - but they deny having ever heard of Lee's brother, although Lee's lawyerly instincts tell him they are lying. And leaving a bar, where he had been speaking to Professor Jin, director of the research centre, Park is killed in a hit-and-run accident.
In-su is alerted to Lee's death by his paralegal who comes to visit, rather suspicious of the circumstances in which it happened:
It was midday, the sun overhead, and yet the forest was casting a long, deep shadow, as if all those trees had been pulverised and compressed into a single, giant mass so thick he couldn't possibly enter. As he gazed into its depths, it occured to him that maybe what he needed to know wasn't what had happened to this one person who was no longer there but rather what was happening under these trees.
숲은 그가 접근할 수 없을 정도로 어마하게 큰 덩어리로 뭉쳐진 채, 대낮인데도 검은 그림자를 깊숙이 내밀고 있었다. 그 거대한 숲을 바라보고 있자니 문득 그가 알아야 할 것은 지금은 없는 한 사람의 일이 아니라 저 숲에서 일어나는 일인지도 모른다는 생각이 들었다.
When In-su finds a piece of paper (see the opening quote) in his office desk which seems to link to Lee's brother's story, he starts to make his own investigations into what happened and the reason for other odd goings-on (a mysterious cellar to his ranger's home, odd noises from the woods, what seems to be stalkers outside his office), but at the same time, inticed by Professor Jin, falls back into drinking.
As with The Law of Lines, the author consciously frustrates the reader expecting surprise revelations at the novel's end, indeed this is much more of a psychological tale than a whodunit thriller, with In-su's own memories of various goings-on contradicted by evidence after the event - either his alcoholism is worse than even his wife fears, or Professor Jin is doing a masterly job of gaslighting him (at one point Jin offers an explanation, involving a cover-up of illegal logging, as to what might have happened, which he then dismisses as the sort of ridiculous fantasy an emotional drunk like In-su might dream up).
Where for me the novel goes astray is that it's third person PoV leaps between character's heads - e.g. the quote where Lee and Park first meet above. In particular we get the view (but a partly withheld, drip-drip one) of some of the other denizens of the area who do see to know some of what happened to Lee's brother, and which supports Jin's 'ridiculous' explanation. From one of the characters, a former forest worker who now runs a small business in the area:
If he thought about trying to pay down his debt, the stress overwhelmed him, but when he told himself not to bother, every-thing was fine again. He owed a tremendous amount of money already and would owe more in the future, but he could embrace all that debt and live with it. He could live forever in this village regardless of how much he owed. So long as he uttered no facts, revealed nothing he'd experienced, and told not a soul what he had seen.
He knew that the collateral for this enormous loan wasn't the bookstore nor even his house. Of course, both of those things were listed on paper as collateral, but as Mr. Jin had said, that was merely a formality. The true collateral was what he had done in the woods, what he had witnessed, and what he had conspired in.
Which all rather diminishes from the novel's other key strand i.e. the suggestion that this might all be In-su's alcohol fuelled paranoia. For me the story works far better when it stays with In-su Park and his (possibly incorrect) memories of the action.
On the positive side, the menacing character of the forest itself does grip the reader's attention. And there is a interesting hint both towards the novel's end and, particularly, in the three references given by the author, that there may be an element of the forest itself taking revenge. One of these references is 나무의 죽음 (Death of Trees) by the ecologist 차윤정, and the other The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness, and Greed. The Golden Spruce is the true story of a bizarre incident involving the deliberate felling of a sacred tree by a forest engineer Grant Hadwin in a rather odd protest against excessive logging (I believe Hadwin was trying, successfully, to demonstrate that felling one 'sacred' tree would provoke more angst - and unite loggers, indigenous people and scientists - than the destruction of whole woodlands). And then on his way to trial Hadwin mysteriously disappeared. Hadwin's own manifesto:
2.5 stars for personal taste rounded to 3
The more times he read this very obvious sentence out loud, the more he bgan to feel unbearably lonely. He was that owl, holding its breath in the pitch-bakc shadow of trees. An owl forced to lift its heavy wings with each stir of the wind. An owl rotating its head and rolling its eyes to keep watch over its surroundings. An owl waiting for prey that was very close to hand, was always far off and hard to find.
숲에 부엉이가 산다.
그 당연한 문장을 여러 번 되풀이해 읽어나가는 동안 박인수는 참을 수 없이 외로워졌다. 자신이 검은 나무숲에 숨죽여 앉은 부엉이같이 느껴졌다. 바람이 불면 무거운 날개를 쳐올려야 하는 부엉이가 된 것 같았다. 사방을 감시하며 머리통을 돌려 눈을 굴리는 부엉이 같았다. 가까운 곳에는 없는, 먼 곳에 있어 간혹 눈에 띄는 먹이를 하염없이 기다리는 부엉이 같았다.
The Owl Cries is Sora Kim-Russell's 2023 translation of the 2012 Korean novel 서쪽 숲에 갔다 by 편혜영 (Hye-Young Pyun).
This is the fourth novel I've read by the same translator-author after:
The Hole (홀, 2016) - my review
The Law of Lines (선의 법칙. 2015) - my review.
City of Ash and Red (재와 빨강, 2010) - my review
as well as a collection of short-stories from another translator (and where the translation was unfortunately an issue): Evening Proposal (저녁의 구애, 2011) - my review
This is one where my review has to be preceded with a disclaimer - reading all the translated Korean literature I can find does inevitably mean I venture into genres that aren’t my usual literary fare (e.g. I wouldn't typically read a Stephen King novel), and my reviews/ratings are personal subjective ones rather the objective judgements on the quality of the work. And with 편혜영 this means that my ratings haven't risen above 3 star - while her Shirley Jackson Award winning Hole in particular was a great example of its type, it wasn't really for me - and this is no exception.
The Owl Cries has an intriguing set up - In-su Park (oddly the translation presents the family names of characters last rather), a recovering alcoholic has rather lucked a well-paid job as a ranger at a large forest in the mountains, his only real job to prevent hikers from entering the woods, particularly during the dangerous winter season. He prepares to turn away another visitor only to find that the man is looking for him:
Ha-in Lee got out of the car and looked around. The woods pressed in close and tight, encroaching on the edges of his vision. The air was cool and the wind brisk, but the effect was damp and chilly rather than refreshing. It wasn't the fault of the weather. He blamed it on the way the trees huddled together, making themselves look dark. He hunched his shoulders and stepped toward the shadows, thinking as he went that nature wasn't always right.
In-su Park stared hard at the man approaching the ranger station. He was wearing a nice jacket, with a dress shirt and tie. Judging from his clothing, he might work for the government or maybe a corporation, someplace conservative and stiflingly hier-archical. Either way, it wasn't an outfit for hiking in the woods. In-su wondered if he was a researcher.
Lee, a lawyer, tells Park that he believes his estranged brother was the previous incumbent of the role, but has mysteriously gone missing, his last communication a garbled and emotional message to their mother saying that the trees were attacking him and the owl was crying.
As a newbie, Park is unable to help but refers Lee to some longer-standing residents of the small village that has grown up around the forest research centre - but they deny having ever heard of Lee's brother, although Lee's lawyerly instincts tell him they are lying. And leaving a bar, where he had been speaking to Professor Jin, director of the research centre, Park is killed in a hit-and-run accident.
In-su is alerted to Lee's death by his paralegal who comes to visit, rather suspicious of the circumstances in which it happened:
It was midday, the sun overhead, and yet the forest was casting a long, deep shadow, as if all those trees had been pulverised and compressed into a single, giant mass so thick he couldn't possibly enter. As he gazed into its depths, it occured to him that maybe what he needed to know wasn't what had happened to this one person who was no longer there but rather what was happening under these trees.
숲은 그가 접근할 수 없을 정도로 어마하게 큰 덩어리로 뭉쳐진 채, 대낮인데도 검은 그림자를 깊숙이 내밀고 있었다. 그 거대한 숲을 바라보고 있자니 문득 그가 알아야 할 것은 지금은 없는 한 사람의 일이 아니라 저 숲에서 일어나는 일인지도 모른다는 생각이 들었다.
When In-su finds a piece of paper (see the opening quote) in his office desk which seems to link to Lee's brother's story, he starts to make his own investigations into what happened and the reason for other odd goings-on (a mysterious cellar to his ranger's home, odd noises from the woods, what seems to be stalkers outside his office), but at the same time, inticed by Professor Jin, falls back into drinking.
As with The Law of Lines, the author consciously frustrates the reader expecting surprise revelations at the novel's end, indeed this is much more of a psychological tale than a whodunit thriller, with In-su's own memories of various goings-on contradicted by evidence after the event - either his alcoholism is worse than even his wife fears, or Professor Jin is doing a masterly job of gaslighting him (at one point Jin offers an explanation, involving a cover-up of illegal logging, as to what might have happened, which he then dismisses as the sort of ridiculous fantasy an emotional drunk like In-su might dream up).
Where for me the novel goes astray is that it's third person PoV leaps between character's heads - e.g. the quote where Lee and Park first meet above. In particular we get the view (but a partly withheld, drip-drip one) of some of the other denizens of the area who do see to know some of what happened to Lee's brother, and which supports Jin's 'ridiculous' explanation. From one of the characters, a former forest worker who now runs a small business in the area:
If he thought about trying to pay down his debt, the stress overwhelmed him, but when he told himself not to bother, every-thing was fine again. He owed a tremendous amount of money already and would owe more in the future, but he could embrace all that debt and live with it. He could live forever in this village regardless of how much he owed. So long as he uttered no facts, revealed nothing he'd experienced, and told not a soul what he had seen.
He knew that the collateral for this enormous loan wasn't the bookstore nor even his house. Of course, both of those things were listed on paper as collateral, but as Mr. Jin had said, that was merely a formality. The true collateral was what he had done in the woods, what he had witnessed, and what he had conspired in.
Which all rather diminishes from the novel's other key strand i.e. the suggestion that this might all be In-su's alcohol fuelled paranoia. For me the story works far better when it stays with In-su Park and his (possibly incorrect) memories of the action.
On the positive side, the menacing character of the forest itself does grip the reader's attention. And there is a interesting hint both towards the novel's end and, particularly, in the three references given by the author, that there may be an element of the forest itself taking revenge. One of these references is 나무의 죽음 (Death of Trees) by the ecologist 차윤정, and the other The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness, and Greed. The Golden Spruce is the true story of a bizarre incident involving the deliberate felling of a sacred tree by a forest engineer Grant Hadwin in a rather odd protest against excessive logging (I believe Hadwin was trying, successfully, to demonstrate that felling one 'sacred' tree would provoke more angst - and unite loggers, indigenous people and scientists - than the destruction of whole woodlands). And then on his way to trial Hadwin mysteriously disappeared. Hadwin's own manifesto:
I don’t care much for ‘freaks’ whether they teach in University classrooms, sit in corporate board rooms, perform in the circus or are put on display as examples of old growth forest.
I mean this action to be an expression of my rage and hatred towards university trained professionals and their supporters whose ideas, ethics, denials, part truths and attitudes appear to be responsible for most of the abominations done towards life on this planet made in the name of ‘progress’.
I didn’t enjoy butchering this magnificent creature, but you apparently need a wake-up call that even you should be able to understand.
2.5 stars for personal taste rounded to 3
May 10, 2024
(read in April)
right about 3.5, not rounded up
full post here at my reading journal:
https://www.readingavidly.com/2024/05...
I first came across the author when I read her novel The Hole a few years ago and I've been buying her books ever since. That novel was absolutely chilling, not only in the telling but also in its implications once that last page had been turned. Her latest novel, published last year is The Owl Cries, which like The Hole, involves a master of manipulation.
A man's (Ha-in Lee) search for his missing brother Gyeong-in is what launches this story. Gyeong-in had a job at a mountain forest as a ranger, but when he leaves behind a bizarre phone call to both his brother and his mother and they never hear from him again, the mom becomes worried and thus Ha-in steps in to look for him. Traveling to where he was last known to be and in speaking to the current forest ranger, In-su Park, who hasn't been there very long, he discovers that In-su knows nothing about his predecessor. As Ha-in goes into the small village at the bottom of this mountain, it seems the villagers can't recall anything about his brother either. By now though, In-su makes a strange discovery that also sets him on the path of the missing Gyeong-in, while Ha-in's search is abruptly ended. From there, strangeness ensues ...
I liked this book, didn't love it. What I did enjoy very much is the author's beautiful descriptions of the landscape and her portrayal of the monstrous (albeit very human, not supernatural) presence who looms over this story, extremely skilled in the art of manipulation and the exercising of power, preying upon others for his own purposes. I love when authors spend time on examining psychologies and she is so very good at that here. On the other hand, The Owl Cries didn't get tiptop reviews on goodreads or at any of the usual places, and I can sort of understand why. For one thing, whoever was in charge of the dustjacket blurb overdid it with the comparisons to "Stephen King, David Lynch, and the nightmare dystopias of Franz Kafka." I know from reading about the author that King and Kafka are two authors whose work has been an influence on her own, but really, what is written here is overhyping the novel's content, kind of setting up false expectations. (I keep swearing to myself that I will stop reading these blurbs, but I do it anyway, and in some instances it is to my own detriment as a reader.) And while I normally don't mind bleak, this book has absolutely no breaks in the darkness, and it is more than a bit on the murky side heading into the reveals so that even though answers came, for some reason the experience was less than fulfilling. I know it's unfair to compare books, but The Hole was so bloody good that I supposed I expected more of the same here, and it was a bit of a disappointment when The Owl Cries just didn't measure up. I feel bad about saying that, but, well, there it is. It actually killed me not to love this novel, but I can't help it.
That's not to say someone else may not enjoy it; I'm a bit on the demanding side as a reader. I'll try again with her Law of Lines which I haven't yet read, although it will be a while.
right about 3.5, not rounded up
full post here at my reading journal:
https://www.readingavidly.com/2024/05...
I first came across the author when I read her novel The Hole a few years ago and I've been buying her books ever since. That novel was absolutely chilling, not only in the telling but also in its implications once that last page had been turned. Her latest novel, published last year is The Owl Cries, which like The Hole, involves a master of manipulation.
A man's (Ha-in Lee) search for his missing brother Gyeong-in is what launches this story. Gyeong-in had a job at a mountain forest as a ranger, but when he leaves behind a bizarre phone call to both his brother and his mother and they never hear from him again, the mom becomes worried and thus Ha-in steps in to look for him. Traveling to where he was last known to be and in speaking to the current forest ranger, In-su Park, who hasn't been there very long, he discovers that In-su knows nothing about his predecessor. As Ha-in goes into the small village at the bottom of this mountain, it seems the villagers can't recall anything about his brother either. By now though, In-su makes a strange discovery that also sets him on the path of the missing Gyeong-in, while Ha-in's search is abruptly ended. From there, strangeness ensues ...
I liked this book, didn't love it. What I did enjoy very much is the author's beautiful descriptions of the landscape and her portrayal of the monstrous (albeit very human, not supernatural) presence who looms over this story, extremely skilled in the art of manipulation and the exercising of power, preying upon others for his own purposes. I love when authors spend time on examining psychologies and she is so very good at that here. On the other hand, The Owl Cries didn't get tiptop reviews on goodreads or at any of the usual places, and I can sort of understand why. For one thing, whoever was in charge of the dustjacket blurb overdid it with the comparisons to "Stephen King, David Lynch, and the nightmare dystopias of Franz Kafka." I know from reading about the author that King and Kafka are two authors whose work has been an influence on her own, but really, what is written here is overhyping the novel's content, kind of setting up false expectations. (I keep swearing to myself that I will stop reading these blurbs, but I do it anyway, and in some instances it is to my own detriment as a reader.) And while I normally don't mind bleak, this book has absolutely no breaks in the darkness, and it is more than a bit on the murky side heading into the reveals so that even though answers came, for some reason the experience was less than fulfilling. I know it's unfair to compare books, but The Hole was so bloody good that I supposed I expected more of the same here, and it was a bit of a disappointment when The Owl Cries just didn't measure up. I feel bad about saying that, but, well, there it is. It actually killed me not to love this novel, but I can't help it.
That's not to say someone else may not enjoy it; I'm a bit on the demanding side as a reader. I'll try again with her Law of Lines which I haven't yet read, although it will be a while.
October 4, 2025
This book was incredibly difficult to put down. Everything about this is stunning; it’s definitely got a Twin Peaks vibe to it, where you aren’t quite sure what it happening but you’re along for the ride.
I also loved how immersive the writing was, The Owl Cries was such an amazing, slow-burn, character-driven story.
I also loved how immersive the writing was, The Owl Cries was such an amazing, slow-burn, character-driven story.
November 30, 2023
This a dark and atmospheric novel that begins like a missing person noir but from part 2 on it becomes something else, I’m not sure what. There’s lots of intriguing characters, a dark unknowable forest and some obvious violent crimes. There’s also characters with regrets and failings. There’s still mystery at the end and it’s a slow ride and in some books this would annoy me but I really enjoyed this one.
January 14, 2024
The Owl Cries is a prime example of high potential and substandard execution. Part of this may be because of its origin in a different language — how it's easy to lose a lot of a work's strength and beauty in translation — but I do think that the work suffers from a multitude of missteps. Mild spoilers ahead.
The premise, in and of itself, is intriguing. A forest ranger goes missing and his estranged brother investigates. The forest is dauntingly beautiful and untamed, and the populace of the adjacent town is not exactly who you'd be eager to invite to Sunday brunch. Trust no one, trust nothing. Great! Let's solve this mystery!
Except, there doesn't appear to be strong incentive to really solve anything. For one, the novel's protagonist, who ought to be the very individual who anchors the readers to the story, is not firmly established until the second part. The first part relies heavily on a series of perspective shifts, vignettes that touch upon characters that ought to be kept in mind, while also alluding to omitted details regarding the answers we seek. The problem, however, is that these omissions are so blatant and so frequent that it makes the third part feel like a massive, continuous info dump. The descriptions may at times be vivid and enticing (particularly regarding nature) but simply put, there is more effort placed into stating the backstory than there is into the creation of a truly mysterious, unsettling environment.
Plot presentation aside, I also think that the translation was... For lack of a better term, kind of "clunky." Repetition can be a powerful tool in making a piece more poetic, but there are times when it comes across as wearisome. One example that comes to mind: there's a mention of "young men" becoming "old men"; would it not be more effective to make the comparison between "boys" and "(old) men?" I understand the importance of staying true to the original text, but I do also think that there ought to be some space to allow for reinterpretations, so as to account for the distinctions between languages.
I have seen The Owl Cries classified as a "thriller," and so I fully went into it expecting that my interest would be swept away in an instant. Instead, what I found was difficulty in sitting through it, so much so that it took me several attempts to do so. Due to the overall presentation of the story, I would actually go so far as to re-classify this read as more of "general fiction" and/or "drama."
Thank you to the author, the publisher (Skyhouse Publishing), and NetGalley for providing the opportunity to read an eARC of this work.
The premise, in and of itself, is intriguing. A forest ranger goes missing and his estranged brother investigates. The forest is dauntingly beautiful and untamed, and the populace of the adjacent town is not exactly who you'd be eager to invite to Sunday brunch. Trust no one, trust nothing. Great! Let's solve this mystery!
Except, there doesn't appear to be strong incentive to really solve anything. For one, the novel's protagonist, who ought to be the very individual who anchors the readers to the story, is not firmly established until the second part. The first part relies heavily on a series of perspective shifts, vignettes that touch upon characters that ought to be kept in mind, while also alluding to omitted details regarding the answers we seek. The problem, however, is that these omissions are so blatant and so frequent that it makes the third part feel like a massive, continuous info dump. The descriptions may at times be vivid and enticing (particularly regarding nature) but simply put, there is more effort placed into stating the backstory than there is into the creation of a truly mysterious, unsettling environment.
Plot presentation aside, I also think that the translation was... For lack of a better term, kind of "clunky." Repetition can be a powerful tool in making a piece more poetic, but there are times when it comes across as wearisome. One example that comes to mind: there's a mention of "young men" becoming "old men"; would it not be more effective to make the comparison between "boys" and "(old) men?" I understand the importance of staying true to the original text, but I do also think that there ought to be some space to allow for reinterpretations, so as to account for the distinctions between languages.
I have seen The Owl Cries classified as a "thriller," and so I fully went into it expecting that my interest would be swept away in an instant. Instead, what I found was difficulty in sitting through it, so much so that it took me several attempts to do so. Due to the overall presentation of the story, I would actually go so far as to re-classify this read as more of "general fiction" and/or "drama."
Thank you to the author, the publisher (Skyhouse Publishing), and NetGalley for providing the opportunity to read an eARC of this work.
September 20, 2025
Listen to my review on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7syj...
Watch my Pyun Hye-young Roundup on YouTube here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIz9G...
Read my review on Substack here - https://open.substack.com/pub/barrywe...
Watch my Pyun Hye-young Roundup on YouTube here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIz9G...
Read my review on Substack here - https://open.substack.com/pub/barrywe...
October 22, 2025
Ugh, I absolutely LOVED this. I loved The Hole too, but this went to just a completely different level.
The first 100 pages, or the first part, to me was quite literally perfect - I loved the perspective of the lawyer mixed with the different townspeople, the mystery of the missing brother, and just how ruthlessly and unrelentingly dark their inner workings all were.
The book does take a turn in terms of narrative from that point on, which does emphasize just how powerful the first section was in retrospect, and the kind of book it is also more or less changes. There are still threads to the mystery, but what we uncover and the truth behind the town is secondary to what is really just a dark exploration of the human psyche, society, hierarchy, and meaning or purpose to anything at all.
This is a powerful, layered look at the darkest corners of the human mind, the harm we cause others and unto ourselves. The writing is just phenomenal from beginning to end, and it's the kind of book that is clear enough to understand its metaphors and meanings from a superficial enough glance, but if you look harder, especially when the text becomes more ambiguous, you can uncover so much more than you'd previously imagined. I absolutely love that in a book and this was a delight to read from beginning to end. Some parts do drag a little in the final third, but the conclusion, and the epilogue, were literary wallops in the face and I loved how this ended.
If you're looking for a conventional mystery or thriller with a wild or crazy reveal or twist, you won't find it here. But what it's actually trying to say and do is so much more meaningful than that. I loved this so, so much.
The first 100 pages, or the first part, to me was quite literally perfect - I loved the perspective of the lawyer mixed with the different townspeople, the mystery of the missing brother, and just how ruthlessly and unrelentingly dark their inner workings all were.
The book does take a turn in terms of narrative from that point on, which does emphasize just how powerful the first section was in retrospect, and the kind of book it is also more or less changes. There are still threads to the mystery, but what we uncover and the truth behind the town is secondary to what is really just a dark exploration of the human psyche, society, hierarchy, and meaning or purpose to anything at all.
This is a powerful, layered look at the darkest corners of the human mind, the harm we cause others and unto ourselves. The writing is just phenomenal from beginning to end, and it's the kind of book that is clear enough to understand its metaphors and meanings from a superficial enough glance, but if you look harder, especially when the text becomes more ambiguous, you can uncover so much more than you'd previously imagined. I absolutely love that in a book and this was a delight to read from beginning to end. Some parts do drag a little in the final third, but the conclusion, and the epilogue, were literary wallops in the face and I loved how this ended.
If you're looking for a conventional mystery or thriller with a wild or crazy reveal or twist, you won't find it here. But what it's actually trying to say and do is so much more meaningful than that. I loved this so, so much.
January 18, 2025
Lawyer Ha-in Lee has no love for his brother, by whom he was bullied. Gyeong-in. Not only did he make his childhood a misery, as an adult is a failure who scrounges money from him and their mother. When his brother vanishes after a stressed phone-call, Ha-in sets out to find him.
He was employed as a forest ranger, though the current ranger, In-su Park, has no knowledge of him. Ha-in continues to investigate, though clearly annoys someone, as he is hit by a car and killed.
This has all happened early in the piece, and the bulk of the novel addresses the questions as to what happened to the brothers, why the villagers have no interest, and what secret lurks in the forest.
As with her earlier novel, The Hole, this isn't quite a thriller, nor does it fit into the horror category. There is a general sense of unease throughout that adds to the tension Pyun builds. One of the pleasing things about the plot is that it is difficult to know exactly where it is headed, helped by the fact that the supposed protagonist meets his demise after less than a quarter of the book.
He was employed as a forest ranger, though the current ranger, In-su Park, has no knowledge of him. Ha-in continues to investigate, though clearly annoys someone, as he is hit by a car and killed.
This has all happened early in the piece, and the bulk of the novel addresses the questions as to what happened to the brothers, why the villagers have no interest, and what secret lurks in the forest.
As with her earlier novel, The Hole, this isn't quite a thriller, nor does it fit into the horror category. There is a general sense of unease throughout that adds to the tension Pyun builds. One of the pleasing things about the plot is that it is difficult to know exactly where it is headed, helped by the fact that the supposed protagonist meets his demise after less than a quarter of the book.
June 14, 2023
The Owl Cries was a book that really defied genre description. I considered it one genre at first but then changed my mind several times as the story progressed, and even now I am not sure how to classify it, though I have gone with "thriller". The story initially intrigued me, but my attention wavered a little towards the end. I guess I found the ending a bit less climatic than I'd expected from the slow build up. But it was certainly an atmospheric read and the forest itself really came to life as a character in its own right. Overall, I am glad I read this book and I would pick up more works by this author in the future even if this one was a middle-of-the-road read for me overall. If you like genre-bending works with a mysterious vibe, The Owl Cries by Pyun Hye-young is worth checking out. I am giving it 3.5 stars.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
June 28, 2022
Troisième roman de cette autrice que je lis, et encore une fois, je suis déçue. Ambiance top, déroulement franchement pas bon... Je vais arrêter de me faire du mal, je passe mon tour pour son prochain ouvrage. Le meilleur était tout de même La loi des lignes, mais pas extraordinaire non plus...
August 30, 2023
Weird little book that is thoroughly disorienting to read...
This book starts out as a mystery, then morphs into an... existential crisis? The mystery premise is that our main character gets a new job as a forest ranger in a small (and creepy) village. One day, a man comes poking around the ranger station looking for his missing brother. Turns out the missing brother was the previous forest ranger. This news makes our ranger concerned for his own safety. He becomes increasingly preoccupied with this constant trickle of, what he perceives to be, strange occurrences in the forest, village, and ranger station. This paranoia takes root in his mind, and he starts drinking to cope. From that point, he becomes pretty unreliable as a narrator, and the book becomes more about his state of mind than anything else. In addition, he might be being manipulated by those around him, so it becomes nearly impossible to know what to believe.
This isn't a book where you know how the character is feeling because the author writes 'he was confused', or 'he was anxious'. You know exactly what he's feeling because you are feeling it too. Suffering right along with him. It's both the book's blessing, and its curse. To me, it's a sign of good writing when it evokes strong emotion. At the same time, it was not fun to read something that just made me feel anxious and paranoid and confused.
My landing place with this is that I respect it, but I didn't really enjoy it. I'd recommend it to anyone that likes a lot of ambiguity, is okay with open endings, and if you like horror novels where the horrific aspect is more about the person being trapped within their own mind and feelings, as opposed to coming from an external threat.
This book starts out as a mystery, then morphs into an... existential crisis? The mystery premise is that our main character gets a new job as a forest ranger in a small (and creepy) village. One day, a man comes poking around the ranger station looking for his missing brother. Turns out the missing brother was the previous forest ranger. This news makes our ranger concerned for his own safety. He becomes increasingly preoccupied with this constant trickle of, what he perceives to be, strange occurrences in the forest, village, and ranger station. This paranoia takes root in his mind, and he starts drinking to cope. From that point, he becomes pretty unreliable as a narrator, and the book becomes more about his state of mind than anything else. In addition, he might be being manipulated by those around him, so it becomes nearly impossible to know what to believe.
This isn't a book where you know how the character is feeling because the author writes 'he was confused', or 'he was anxious'. You know exactly what he's feeling because you are feeling it too. Suffering right along with him. It's both the book's blessing, and its curse. To me, it's a sign of good writing when it evokes strong emotion. At the same time, it was not fun to read something that just made me feel anxious and paranoid and confused.
My landing place with this is that I respect it, but I didn't really enjoy it. I'd recommend it to anyone that likes a lot of ambiguity, is okay with open endings, and if you like horror novels where the horrific aspect is more about the person being trapped within their own mind and feelings, as opposed to coming from an external threat.
April 24, 2024
https://www.instagram.com/p/C6JyjYpLq...
"The Owl Cries" (서쪽 숲에 갔다), by Pyun Hye-young (편혜영), was originally written in Korean in 2012 . It was translated into English by Sora Kim-Russell and published by Arcade Publishing, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, in 2023.
This is Pyun Hye-young's fourth novel translated into English to date, as well as the fourth novel written by her that I read. She is one of my favorite authors, whose writing style and hopelessness infused story lines continue to impress and keep me immersed in every time. "The Owl Cries" definitely did not let down.
Like in her other novels, there lurks an almost supernatural eeriness all throughout. The novel is set in a small town, surrounded by vast woods. It sets off in a small ranger station, where a lawyer comes by inquiring about his brother, who used to be the ranger at the station and disappeared. Throughout the search for the former ranger, some of the stories of the different locals from the small town become intertwined and lead to what was for me, an unexpected resolution.
I really enjoyed reading "The Owl Cries." It was a good blend of suspense, character study, and psychological thriller. It definitely felt like a slow burn, but that is very characteristic of Pyun Hye-young's writing.
For Pyun Hye-young fans, there's exciting news! 🎉
A new collection of short stories, "To the Kennels: And Other Stories", translated by Sora Kim-Russell and Heinz Insu Fenkl, will be coming out on October 1st, 2024, at Arcade Publishing as well! I'm so excited! 😍
"The Owl Cries" (서쪽 숲에 갔다), by Pyun Hye-young (편혜영), was originally written in Korean in 2012 . It was translated into English by Sora Kim-Russell and published by Arcade Publishing, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, in 2023.
This is Pyun Hye-young's fourth novel translated into English to date, as well as the fourth novel written by her that I read. She is one of my favorite authors, whose writing style and hopelessness infused story lines continue to impress and keep me immersed in every time. "The Owl Cries" definitely did not let down.
Like in her other novels, there lurks an almost supernatural eeriness all throughout. The novel is set in a small town, surrounded by vast woods. It sets off in a small ranger station, where a lawyer comes by inquiring about his brother, who used to be the ranger at the station and disappeared. Throughout the search for the former ranger, some of the stories of the different locals from the small town become intertwined and lead to what was for me, an unexpected resolution.
I really enjoyed reading "The Owl Cries." It was a good blend of suspense, character study, and psychological thriller. It definitely felt like a slow burn, but that is very characteristic of Pyun Hye-young's writing.
For Pyun Hye-young fans, there's exciting news! 🎉
A new collection of short stories, "To the Kennels: And Other Stories", translated by Sora Kim-Russell and Heinz Insu Fenkl, will be coming out on October 1st, 2024, at Arcade Publishing as well! I'm so excited! 😍
September 23, 2024
I am a big fan of the author and regard her The Hole as one of the best Korean novels, genre or otherwise, in recent years. I liked The Law of Lines almost as much as Hole, and and also liked City of Ash and Red, though not quite as much. But The Owl Cries is different. Everything that I expect from her is there - the style, the mood, her distinctive choices in plots and characters -, but the book just didn't work for me.
The character who seemed at the start to be the protagonist turned out not to be, the character who seemed to take on the role really didn't, and the character who finally emerged as as close to a protagonist as things were going to get was so weak (by nature, and made even more so by extreme alcoholism) as to be little more than a passive observer of what was happening around him. And none of the secondary characters, of which there were about a half dozen, were very interesting. And finally the plot was intriguing but ultimately delivered too little too late.
I admit I was disappointed by the book, but I'm still a fan, and look forward to her books to come.
The character who seemed at the start to be the protagonist turned out not to be, the character who seemed to take on the role really didn't, and the character who finally emerged as as close to a protagonist as things were going to get was so weak (by nature, and made even more so by extreme alcoholism) as to be little more than a passive observer of what was happening around him. And none of the secondary characters, of which there were about a half dozen, were very interesting. And finally the plot was intriguing but ultimately delivered too little too late.
I admit I was disappointed by the book, but I'm still a fan, and look forward to her books to come.
August 4, 2023
I received an early reader copy for this book from NetGalley for free.
Do you ever read a book and after you finish it you're like what was the point? I have that feeling with this one. The Owl Cries has the premise of a classic thriller mystery story with a missing person and a small town with colorful characters yet there's no suspense. We're told a lot about lives of the different people living in the town and mostly it just feels like padding to the story.
There's some nice writing here and there and some good points surrounding alcoholism and capitalism, but it's not enough to make the disjointed narrative of the plot to feel rewarding.
Overall this book made me loose interest to one of my favorite hobbies that is reading and if you decide to pick this one up I hope you get more out of it than I did.
Do you ever read a book and after you finish it you're like what was the point? I have that feeling with this one. The Owl Cries has the premise of a classic thriller mystery story with a missing person and a small town with colorful characters yet there's no suspense. We're told a lot about lives of the different people living in the town and mostly it just feels like padding to the story.
There's some nice writing here and there and some good points surrounding alcoholism and capitalism, but it's not enough to make the disjointed narrative of the plot to feel rewarding.
Overall this book made me loose interest to one of my favorite hobbies that is reading and if you decide to pick this one up I hope you get more out of it than I did.
October 31, 2022
Such a beautifully described atmosphere but the story itself is just…. Maaah 🥴
June 13, 2023
LOVED THE BOOK and damn i knew that Jin was real sus!!! Once i started reading it was hard to put it down!!
August 17, 2022
Un roman d'épouvante coréen qui ne correspond pas vraiment à l'idée que je m'en faisais. Une suite de personnages tous plus énigmatiques les uns que les autres évolue au sein d'une petite communauté rurale et forestière. On apprend à connaître Yi Ha-in, avocat de son métier, récemment arrivé dans le village, à la recherche de son frère dont il n'a plus de nouvelles. Il rencontre In-su qui a reprit le poste de garde forestier laissé vacant par ce dernier. Dans ce roman à la construction originale, les éléments se mettent en place lentement avec une force grandissante. Petit à petit l'atmosphère s'alourdit pour devenir irrespirable. Les personnages dévoilent leur côtés sombres et on comprend l'inquiétude et l'angoisse que certains peuvent éprouver. Le personnage de In-su est complexe avec son rapport à l’alcool et à son statut de père et de mari, qui fait que l'on ne sait jamais si ce qui lui arrive est réel ou s'il s'agit d'une de ces nombreuses hallucinations générées par sa consommation excessive d'alcool. Sa vie de famille part en lambeau sans que rien ne puisse l'empêcher.
J'ai trouvé plusieurs longueurs qui donnent à la lecture des coupures de rythme, notamment lors de répétitions fréquentes, c'était assez dérangeant. L'auteure aurait pu nous emmener dans cette forêt qu'elle décrit comme noire, labyrinthique qui ouvre dans notre imaginaire la porte aux plus grandes peurs et pourtant , elle choisit de nous y faire pénétrer que trop tardivement à mon goût. L'épouvante n'a finalement pas été au rendez vous en ce qui me concerne. La nuit du hibou nous offre un instantané de ce qu'est la culture coréenne, travail, hiérarchie, politesse et la famille comme valeur fondamentale. Je ne peux que reconnaître un style dérangeant que j'avais déjà apprécié à la lecture du Jardin, ainsi qu'une indéniable maîtrise de tout ce qui a trait à la manipulation psychologique des consciences. Bonne lecture.
http://latelierdelitote.canalblog.com...
J'ai trouvé plusieurs longueurs qui donnent à la lecture des coupures de rythme, notamment lors de répétitions fréquentes, c'était assez dérangeant. L'auteure aurait pu nous emmener dans cette forêt qu'elle décrit comme noire, labyrinthique qui ouvre dans notre imaginaire la porte aux plus grandes peurs et pourtant , elle choisit de nous y faire pénétrer que trop tardivement à mon goût. L'épouvante n'a finalement pas été au rendez vous en ce qui me concerne. La nuit du hibou nous offre un instantané de ce qu'est la culture coréenne, travail, hiérarchie, politesse et la famille comme valeur fondamentale. Je ne peux que reconnaître un style dérangeant que j'avais déjà apprécié à la lecture du Jardin, ainsi qu'une indéniable maîtrise de tout ce qui a trait à la manipulation psychologique des consciences. Bonne lecture.
http://latelierdelitote.canalblog.com...
February 27, 2024
Part I
Ok, I found the first part of this story really intriguing and couldn't stop reading until I finish it. Definetly I have some theories and I was expecting maybe a little too much with respect to the "mysteries". That ending was a total "cliffhanger".
Part II
I felt that the second part was ok but I began to find difficult to be inmersed. The end of the part I made begin as soon as possible the second but even with the revelations of the village characters I couldn't get the same intriguing vibes like before.
Part III
Well... maybe I was expecting so much? This ending wasn't close to any of my theories and I kinda didn't like the final as well. I kinda maintained hope on having a suprising plot twist of something impressive for the final but that didn't happened. Also, I kinda understood why the story took that decisions but at the end it's not a reading I would like to reread.
Family doesn't mean knowing each other's every little secret. Maybe the people there are so bound to each other because they know secrets even their own families don't know. Chapter 7
Ok, I found the first part of this story really intriguing and couldn't stop reading until I finish it. Definetly I have some theories and I was expecting maybe a little too much with respect to the "mysteries". That ending was a total "cliffhanger".
Part II
Then why raise it? Because it's an owl. Chapter 18
I felt that the second part was ok but I began to find difficult to be inmersed. The end of the part I made begin as soon as possible the second but even with the revelations of the village characters I couldn't get the same intriguing vibes like before.
Part III
Well... maybe I was expecting so much? This ending wasn't close to any of my theories and I kinda didn't like the final as well. I kinda maintained hope on having a suprising plot twist of something impressive for the final but that didn't happened. Also, I kinda understood why the story took that decisions but at the end it's not a reading I would like to reread.
Let's try that on for size. Do you exist? Do nay of the villagers know you? Chapter 28
June 20, 2023
Tw: alcoholism, violence, suicide attempt, murder, physical abuse
The Owl Cries claustrophobic atmospheric writing felt tense and choke full of anxiety. There must be a deeper meaning behind the owl as a theme and the forest but I guess I was too dumb to understand it because the ending left me baffled and struck me as a confusing conclusion to what I feel could be better. Divided into 3 parts: Part 1 felt like a slowburn thriller which captivated me upon first read then the genre suddenly shifted with self exploration crisis become prominent in Part 2 and a mystery noir in Part 3. The narrative felt very much messy in my opinion and gets me out of my concentration on reading it.
If you are a fan of thriller read, this is not the book because I honestly think it could be better but it gets very stifling to read at some point.
Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
The Owl Cries claustrophobic atmospheric writing felt tense and choke full of anxiety. There must be a deeper meaning behind the owl as a theme and the forest but I guess I was too dumb to understand it because the ending left me baffled and struck me as a confusing conclusion to what I feel could be better. Divided into 3 parts: Part 1 felt like a slowburn thriller which captivated me upon first read then the genre suddenly shifted with self exploration crisis become prominent in Part 2 and a mystery noir in Part 3. The narrative felt very much messy in my opinion and gets me out of my concentration on reading it.
If you are a fan of thriller read, this is not the book because I honestly think it could be better but it gets very stifling to read at some point.
Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
July 9, 2023
Made it to 60% on this one, so I’m considering it read.
This is about a forest ranger who goes missing. His brother comes looking for him, but no one wants to admit to having seen him. Things spiral from there…
This one reminded me of The Whispers by Audrey Audrain which I DNFed just recently. I thought I was getting a thriller, but I got drama instead. Same here - there’s so much more backstory and drama going on than mystery/thriller, which was disappointing.
My intrigue varied a lot which helped me get to 60% instead of DNFing earlier. Whenever something sinister and mysterious happened I’d perk up, but then there would be lots of repetition and domestic drama again.
I enjoyed The Hole, but I see this is actually an older book by the author. It’s only newly translated. So I think I’d try whatever she writes next but maybe not any other backlist.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
This is about a forest ranger who goes missing. His brother comes looking for him, but no one wants to admit to having seen him. Things spiral from there…
This one reminded me of The Whispers by Audrey Audrain which I DNFed just recently. I thought I was getting a thriller, but I got drama instead. Same here - there’s so much more backstory and drama going on than mystery/thriller, which was disappointing.
My intrigue varied a lot which helped me get to 60% instead of DNFing earlier. Whenever something sinister and mysterious happened I’d perk up, but then there would be lots of repetition and domestic drama again.
I enjoyed The Hole, but I see this is actually an older book by the author. It’s only newly translated. So I think I’d try whatever she writes next but maybe not any other backlist.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
September 8, 2023
2.5⭐️
Thank you to Skyhorse Publishing for an ARC of The Owl Cries in exchange for an unbiased review.
I really loved the idea of this book, but I don’t think it delivers. There are too many ever changing POVs, the timeline is confusing, and the reveal is a weird let down. I also think the translation may not be the best? This reads really clunky and awkward.
I am not sure what we were supposed to take from the book and the motivations. The reveal left me somewhat more confused, why would any of the cast of characters be in this deep for something that anti-climactic? There were also times where the reader is left just as, if not more, confused than the characters themselves about what actually happened.
Since I don’t speak Korean, I am not sure if this is purely an issue in translation or of the writing itself. I found this book somewhat confusing in both the what and why. I wouldn’t recommend this, unfortunately.
Thank you to Skyhorse Publishing for an ARC of The Owl Cries in exchange for an unbiased review.
I really loved the idea of this book, but I don’t think it delivers. There are too many ever changing POVs, the timeline is confusing, and the reveal is a weird let down. I also think the translation may not be the best? This reads really clunky and awkward.
I am not sure what we were supposed to take from the book and the motivations. The reveal left me somewhat more confused, why would any of the cast of characters be in this deep for something that anti-climactic? There were also times where the reader is left just as, if not more, confused than the characters themselves about what actually happened.
Since I don’t speak Korean, I am not sure if this is purely an issue in translation or of the writing itself. I found this book somewhat confusing in both the what and why. I wouldn’t recommend this, unfortunately.
September 8, 2023
Thank you to Skyhorse Publishing for an ARC of The Owl Cries in exchange for an unbiased review.
I really loved the idea of this book, but I don’t think it delivers. There are too many ever changing POVs, the timeline is confusing, and the reveal is a weird let down. I also think the translation may not be the best? This reads really clunky and awkward.
I am not sure what we were supposed to take from the book and the motivations. The reveal left me somewhat more confused, why would any of the cast of characters be in this deep for something that anti-climactic? There were also times where the reader is left just as, if not more, confused than the characters themselves about what actually happened.
Since I don’t speak Korean, I am not sure if this is purely an issue in translation or of the writing itself. I found this book somewhat confusing in both the what and why. I wouldn’t recommend this, unfortunately. My rating would be a 2.5/5
I really loved the idea of this book, but I don’t think it delivers. There are too many ever changing POVs, the timeline is confusing, and the reveal is a weird let down. I also think the translation may not be the best? This reads really clunky and awkward.
I am not sure what we were supposed to take from the book and the motivations. The reveal left me somewhat more confused, why would any of the cast of characters be in this deep for something that anti-climactic? There were also times where the reader is left just as, if not more, confused than the characters themselves about what actually happened.
Since I don’t speak Korean, I am not sure if this is purely an issue in translation or of the writing itself. I found this book somewhat confusing in both the what and why. I wouldn’t recommend this, unfortunately. My rating would be a 2.5/5
March 22, 2024
This is an atmospheric and uneasy book. It has a few different sections told from different viewpoints. I liked the first part best, which was a mystery of a missing forest ranger. The largest section focused on the current ranger who is struggling with alcoholism and family struggles. I just found this character and story so depressing, and I felt towards the end he was being gaslit, but it's a bit of an unreliable narrator situation so I'm not really sure. There is also a section that delves into the time before the missing ranger, some long held secrets in the town. Throughout the whole thing, the forest is a looming and dark presence. It's a slow book, and I didn't really feel it paid off.
July 10, 2024
On pieni kylä keskellä metsää. Ennen kylää elävöitti Metsäinstituutti tutkijoineen, mutta nyt toiminnot ovat siirtymässä muualle ja kylän palvelut ovat lakastumassa. Paikalle saapuu asianajaja Ha-in, joka haluaa selvittää metsänvartijana toimineen isoveljensä katoamisen. Kukaan ei kuitenkaan tunnu tietävän isoveljestä mitään. Pian kylää kohtaa onnettomuus ja kuolema. Miksi pöllö huutaa ja mitä kyläläiset salailevat? Klaustrofobinen, painostava tunnelma, jonka pääarkkitehteinä epämiellyttävät henkilöhahmot. Jotain jäi kuitenkin puuttumaan - jatkuva rypeminen alkoi kyllästyttää jossain vaiheessa. Suosittelen silti.
August 10, 2024
3/5. This was a weird little read because there were some parts that were so arresting and then long stretches of things that felt as if they had no bearing on the overall plot… and even though they did at the end, the connections were so tenuous that they payoff didn’t feel worth the confusion. That being said, the entire book made me feel unsettled and I genuinely couldn’t put it down.
“He stood still to listen: the mechanical sound with its rhythmic humming and hooting reminded him of an owl’s cry spelled out in onomatopoeia. He felt like he had come to the forest purely to hear that sound. Amid all this uncertainty, he was getting closer to an owl.”
“He stood still to listen: the mechanical sound with its rhythmic humming and hooting reminded him of an owl’s cry spelled out in onomatopoeia. He felt like he had come to the forest purely to hear that sound. Amid all this uncertainty, he was getting closer to an owl.”
June 21, 2023
Very, Very underwhelmed by this story. I kept waiting for something to happen. It never did.
The writing was so vivid in spots and I enjoyed the author's perspective on a few different things however the story itself just wasn't there.
Curious if I'm missing something because it was translated from Korean?
"The terror of those childhood days was carved into his adult bones and flesh and veins as deeply as ever. He waited in silence, disappointed at how fear was still such a reflex for him."
The writing was so vivid in spots and I enjoyed the author's perspective on a few different things however the story itself just wasn't there.
Curious if I'm missing something because it was translated from Korean?
"The terror of those childhood days was carved into his adult bones and flesh and veins as deeply as ever. He waited in silence, disappointed at how fear was still such a reflex for him."
October 10, 2023
A slow burn. A book about people who have made the wrong choices in life and are now stagnant with no prospects of a better future. Almost every character is an alcoholic. None of them are likeable. The village has secrets and they will do anything to keep it that way. I've read two other of Pyun's books and liked them much better than this. This is a depressing story and I do like a good depressing book but I found the ending predictable and pointless. I did think it was readable and it managed to keep me engaged.
October 9, 2023
My simple thought on this: “The Owl Cries” is Korea’s literary answer to “The Overstory”, and it’s a good one if you don’t go into it with high expectations of a literary thriller that would knock your socks off.
September 9, 2023
I have enjoyed Hye-young Pyun's other books and was happy to read this.
This book is full of unlikable people and I am here for it.
I just reviewed The Owl Cries by Hye-young Pyun. #NetGalley
This book is full of unlikable people and I am here for it.
I just reviewed The Owl Cries by Hye-young Pyun. #NetGalley
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews