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Une nuit bleue et profonde
Le roman du désenchantement de deux Coréens aux Etats-Unis, qui ne trouvent finalement qu'une dénaturation profonde en lieu et place du rêve doré de l'émigration.
- GenresShort Stories
96 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
2 people are currently reading
84 people want to read
About the author
In-ho Choi
35 books6 followersChoi In-ho was born in 1945 in Seoul and graduated from English literature from Yonsei University. He first came to public notice when three of his stories were selected in competitions sponsored by the Hanguk ilbo and Chosun ilbo newspapers and the journal Sasanggye (World of Thought), in 1963, 1967, and 1968. In 1982 he received the sixth Yi Sang Literature Prize.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 20, 2015
"Los Angeles is a fictitious place; it does not exist in this world."
-In-ho Choe, Deep Blue Night-
This line caught my imagination, reminding me of Carlos Bulosan’s poem, “I Want the Wide American Earth,” in which he expressed his Marxist desires that the world be like American, that all countries had no abject poverty, that all were socially and economically equal . He had the perception that America had this prosperous life since it was the richest country in the world during his generation, so the American Dream came into existence.
Lost Angeles is a melting pot in the US where you can meet different races of the world. If you plan to migrate to America, there is the best place you should choose for a greener pasture. You are for sure secure from some problems because you can turn to your “ kababayan” ( countryman ) for help ( if you have this bayanihan ( cooperative endeavor ) and damayan ( mutual sympathy ) culture, typical of Filipinos overseas ) just like what happened to the story of this book.
Jun-ho and Hyeong are both Koreans who ventured to the US to escape their shady pasts. Jun-Ho was a tourist who had the opportunity to travel to the US to take his mind off the bitter experiences he had left behind in Korea. He used to be a popular and successful musician but past his prime eventually due to taking marijuana. However, he ended up flat broke for he had squandered all his money. To make ends meet, he tried to do the same job in some States in the US but backslid to his bad shadows . In the end, he became an exile from one State to another. To survive, he needed to get to Los Angeles by stolen car, believing that someone or something there could help him back to Korea. Accidentally, on his way, he met Hyeong who has little description in the story.
It is now my second book of The Portable Library of Korean Literature translation. Comparatively, its prose and tone are heavier and more emotionally indifferent than of the A Dwarf Launches a Ball by Cho Se-hui. The latter one, on the other hand, is lighter and more gently heartbreaking. In addition, the narration of the story is somehow misleading. You could have the idea that the narrator is Hyeong, but there seems to be another unknown narrator, telling the other part of the story.
In a simpler perspective, you might take it literally that the story has something to do with what an exiled tourist experiences in a country that is alienated to him. I could buy that way though. However, I want to put it on the fact that I liked the way Cho In-Ho used the persona of Jun-ho in the story ; he embodies people who, like him , are unable to move up on to the next step of their life where they got in a conundrum- people ,who have been torn , unknowing where and how they should turn over a new leaf with the fact that they have been bothered by a pang of conscience for the things they have committed, but in the end, with their heuristic moments, would realize that they have been taken possession of their “ seven deadly sins”, innocence, or ignorance. The story, in the other words, is an epitome of the existential point of view that “ Life is a matter of moral choice.”
All the rage in the story is the car they rode on a journey . For me it represents the vehicle of their life. No matter what happens , you can pull up along the road and chill out, then keep on driving. Moreover, in order to add fuel to the energy, you should make a fortune regardless of how much it could be. Otherwise, you would remain stagnant unless you choose it to be that way.
In fact, reading it reminded me of the drop-out students in our village or somewhere else where I usually meet around. I have this imaginary judgment that they must be prejudiced as shiftless or the dregs of humanity. But, Mac, do not judge such people. Like what I have put above: “ They do not know HOW and WHERE to begin.” Just like what happened to Jun-ho in the story.
I really liked the story because I can relate to it. Like both the main characters above, there are times that I am in the bad habit of running away from my bitter experience or from whatever a fait accompli I leave behind that I regret I should not have done . Rather, I leave it unresolved , trying to keep up appearances until I come to a standstill. Nevertheless, upon reading it, I have learned more that the life I may be choosing is not optimal at all. (sighs!)
As far as I learned, the story is the author's autobiography. In other words, this must be the product of his feelings he must have had suppressed for a long time. As a result, it is a beautifully written masterpiece. ^^
-In-ho Choe, Deep Blue Night-
This line caught my imagination, reminding me of Carlos Bulosan’s poem, “I Want the Wide American Earth,” in which he expressed his Marxist desires that the world be like American, that all countries had no abject poverty, that all were socially and economically equal . He had the perception that America had this prosperous life since it was the richest country in the world during his generation, so the American Dream came into existence.
Lost Angeles is a melting pot in the US where you can meet different races of the world. If you plan to migrate to America, there is the best place you should choose for a greener pasture. You are for sure secure from some problems because you can turn to your “ kababayan” ( countryman ) for help ( if you have this bayanihan ( cooperative endeavor ) and damayan ( mutual sympathy ) culture, typical of Filipinos overseas ) just like what happened to the story of this book.
Jun-ho and Hyeong are both Koreans who ventured to the US to escape their shady pasts. Jun-Ho was a tourist who had the opportunity to travel to the US to take his mind off the bitter experiences he had left behind in Korea. He used to be a popular and successful musician but past his prime eventually due to taking marijuana. However, he ended up flat broke for he had squandered all his money. To make ends meet, he tried to do the same job in some States in the US but backslid to his bad shadows . In the end, he became an exile from one State to another. To survive, he needed to get to Los Angeles by stolen car, believing that someone or something there could help him back to Korea. Accidentally, on his way, he met Hyeong who has little description in the story.
It is now my second book of The Portable Library of Korean Literature translation. Comparatively, its prose and tone are heavier and more emotionally indifferent than of the A Dwarf Launches a Ball by Cho Se-hui. The latter one, on the other hand, is lighter and more gently heartbreaking. In addition, the narration of the story is somehow misleading. You could have the idea that the narrator is Hyeong, but there seems to be another unknown narrator, telling the other part of the story.
In a simpler perspective, you might take it literally that the story has something to do with what an exiled tourist experiences in a country that is alienated to him. I could buy that way though. However, I want to put it on the fact that I liked the way Cho In-Ho used the persona of Jun-ho in the story ; he embodies people who, like him , are unable to move up on to the next step of their life where they got in a conundrum- people ,who have been torn , unknowing where and how they should turn over a new leaf with the fact that they have been bothered by a pang of conscience for the things they have committed, but in the end, with their heuristic moments, would realize that they have been taken possession of their “ seven deadly sins”, innocence, or ignorance. The story, in the other words, is an epitome of the existential point of view that “ Life is a matter of moral choice.”
All the rage in the story is the car they rode on a journey . For me it represents the vehicle of their life. No matter what happens , you can pull up along the road and chill out, then keep on driving. Moreover, in order to add fuel to the energy, you should make a fortune regardless of how much it could be. Otherwise, you would remain stagnant unless you choose it to be that way.
In fact, reading it reminded me of the drop-out students in our village or somewhere else where I usually meet around. I have this imaginary judgment that they must be prejudiced as shiftless or the dregs of humanity. But, Mac, do not judge such people. Like what I have put above: “ They do not know HOW and WHERE to begin.” Just like what happened to Jun-ho in the story.
I really liked the story because I can relate to it. Like both the main characters above, there are times that I am in the bad habit of running away from my bitter experience or from whatever a fait accompli I leave behind that I regret I should not have done . Rather, I leave it unresolved , trying to keep up appearances until I come to a standstill. Nevertheless, upon reading it, I have learned more that the life I may be choosing is not optimal at all. (sighs!)
As far as I learned, the story is the author's autobiography. In other words, this must be the product of his feelings he must have had suppressed for a long time. As a result, it is a beautifully written masterpiece. ^^
September 9, 2025
Watch my review on YouTube here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fy1nM...
Read my review on Substack here - https://open.substack.com/pub/barrywe...
KBS Korea 24 @KBSKorea24
“"He saw a room he didn't recognize. Where was he? …he searched his foggy mind for the answers. … his brain was a dizzying chaos.”
“Deep Blue Night (#깊고푸른밤)” by the highly influential author Choi In-ho opens with a writer ✒️, simply known as Hyeong, waking up with a hangover in the aftermath of a big party, looking for his musician friend Jun-Ho 🎵. The two have fled their homes, families, and the oppression of 1970s Korea, only to find themselves leading an itinerant life of drink, drugs, and partying in the US 🍻. As they embark on a quintessential American road trip 🚙, they desperately search for meaning in their rootless new lives.
Originally published in 1981, and translated by Bruce and Ju-chan Fulton in 2002, @barrywelsh helps us explore this significant short story for #KoreaBookClub. 📚
#KBSWORLDRadio #KBS월드라디오 #Korea24 #코리아24 #bookstagram #북스타그램 #책스타그램 #KoreanLiterature #한국문학 #책추천 #단편소설 #shortstory #DeepBlueNight #ChoiInho #최인호 #최인호작가 #BruceFulton #JuchanFulton #PortableLibraryofKoreanLiterature #LiteratureTranslationInstituteofKorea #LTIKorea #LTI #한국문학번역원 #Jimoondang #이상문학상 @ltikorea_official
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...
Read my review on Substack here - https://open.substack.com/pub/barrywe...
KBS Korea 24 @KBSKorea24
“"He saw a room he didn't recognize. Where was he? …he searched his foggy mind for the answers. … his brain was a dizzying chaos.”
“Deep Blue Night (#깊고푸른밤)” by the highly influential author Choi In-ho opens with a writer ✒️, simply known as Hyeong, waking up with a hangover in the aftermath of a big party, looking for his musician friend Jun-Ho 🎵. The two have fled their homes, families, and the oppression of 1970s Korea, only to find themselves leading an itinerant life of drink, drugs, and partying in the US 🍻. As they embark on a quintessential American road trip 🚙, they desperately search for meaning in their rootless new lives.
Originally published in 1981, and translated by Bruce and Ju-chan Fulton in 2002, @barrywelsh helps us explore this significant short story for #KoreaBookClub. 📚
#KBSWORLDRadio #KBS월드라디오 #Korea24 #코리아24 #bookstagram #북스타그램 #책스타그램 #KoreanLiterature #한국문학 #책추천 #단편소설 #shortstory #DeepBlueNight #ChoiInho #최인호 #최인호작가 #BruceFulton #JuchanFulton #PortableLibraryofKoreanLiterature #LiteratureTranslationInstituteofKorea #LTIKorea #LTI #한국문학번역원 #Jimoondang #이상문학상 @ltikorea_official
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...
April 6, 2022
“Never again could he see the scenes that had sped by at seventy miles an hour, lingering for an instant in the car window before disappearing. Encountered once, they had vanished into the eternal past.”
I believe that this line is the one that caught my attention the most during the book, as it describes the feeling that is the most experienced by Hyeong throughout their journey, seeing all the beautiful yet common things as time passed. The author makes us aware through Hyeong’s thoughts and feelings that the things we do today might have no importance tomorrow and the other way around, putting the character in a very intriguing state of mind, which in my opinion establishes the most important aspect that should be taken into consideration in our real lives, but I will get back on that in the next paragraph.
Choe In-ho’s manner of writing is truly absorbing. It feels like he wants you to encounter a beautiful yet terrifying experience in analogy with his character’s feelings and events, which I decided to associate with a tempest in the middle of an ocean, felt by the reader during the book. He starts as putting you at the bottom of the water: in confusion, in mystery, trying to get to the top, just like Hyeong is described in the beginning. Everything is “a dizzying chaos”. But then, slowly, he helps you swim towards the surface: when you find out a little bit more about what happened, about how and why you ended where you ended. Then, when you finally reach the surface, when you gain consciousness regarding what is that surrounds you, you realise that what just happened doesn’t matter. It is quite disappointing, but it hits you, the first unexpected wave which makes you aware of the fact that you can never be again where you’ve just been, never see or do anything like that. As the two friends leave the house, it is highlighted the fact that again, gets us to the same point: you’ll never encounter such things.
“Pesky clouds had concealed the sun from time to time, drapping the earth with shadow. Sometimes the clouds would bring a sprinkle, sometimes before vanishing they would seem to gently caress the earth as if combing tousled hair. A playful sprinkle from a flating cloud, a moment’s gloom coasting cool shadow everywhere as if to relieve boredom - never again could he see them.”
The association of the visual images and the clouds feel, for me, very blue. I think that the author tried to show us how easily beautiful things are cast away, fade into the unknown in a manner that doesn’t use any sad words or bitter epithets until the end, when everything gets wrecked by the final phrase - never again could he see them - vanishing away from the image he created, making space for the nostalgia that’s going to float around for a while. The author assimilates the events with the clouds. They both tell you something, both make you feel somehow, but once they’re gone, things get uneasy, you feel hollow and the only thing you know for sure is that they’re gone forever.
However, after you get hit by the wave, you manage to get to the surface again, after it took you under again. The ocean got quiet and peaceful, but you notice the sky getting a deep blue color. A storm is approaching, one that brings regrets, pity and epiphany. It is the moment when all the answers come to you and you have to face what you’ve been put through, until the end, looking for a deserted island to shelter on. But there’s nothing to be seen in offshore. The endless dark blue water almost seems to combine with the nearly same colour sky. There are thunders, lightning and heavy rain, but somehow all of these aren’t increasing your fear. You try to swim away, even though you know that trying to run from it won’t help in any way. You don’t feel scared, but everything around you is starting to get messier and messier, so you realise that you shouldn’t be where you are right now, not at all. In that moment, the sky gets clearer and the sea gets calmer, as you’re starting to see the shore, diving into the comprehensive feeling brought by the short moral story at the end. This is how the book made me feel, and these are the types of feelings the characters are going through.
The book is about the self-discovery journey of Hyeong and Jun-ho, two friends who visit the United States because of Jun-ho’s exile from South Korea, due to drug consumption. They visit several touristic places and struggle because of the lack of money, ending up staying over the night in a house that happens to host a party in order to celebrate the end of the week, where they get very drunk and don’t remember anything the next day, pointing out Hyeong’s fixed thought about how things will be forgotten and about how everything is so evanescent. During their trip back to Los Angeles, we see how things are escalating mentally for Jun-ho, who continues to smoke marijuana, the fact that made Hyeong feel uneasy several times. It feels like every single thing happening to them adds a drop of water in Jun-ho’s almost filled cup, which triggers his burst in the finale. He can’t escape his darkened past, and he “ruined” his chance by starting over in the US by getting back to his old habits.
Jun-ho’s character is a representation of the person that can’t move on, who keeps living in the past, not being able to overcome the harsh moments he has been put through, so he thinks the best thing is to try and survive in the deep pit he has fallen in. Although he doesn’t say this, I think this leads to the result of his actions.
As for Hyeong, we don’t really get to discover his past, but he is a witness of what Jun-ho has become, the narrator showing us through his eyes how “fine” he seemed to be on the surface, portraying an innocent figure in the passenger’s life. However, even though we don’t know his story, Hyeong is a complex character who gives perspective and which embodies every feeling in a sentimental and unique way.
They go to Los Angeles, but only when they get stuck on the road do they realise that the city won’t be any better, that Los Angeles isn’t gonna erase everything that happened -There’s no city such as Los Angeles-. The city wasn’t the salvation. The moment they arrived there, they knew for sure that things were never gonna change, and they would never leave it again. -
-It’s all in the imagination-
The book concludes with The Poplar Tree, the short and sweet story of a blacksmith who loses his family and keeps on hoping that one day he will reach his literally high expectations. With daily improvements, he fulfils his dream, reaching the top of the tree he wanted to jump over, becoming unseen in the clouds. He emerged into the next level, as this world he lived in was, in my opinion, only the beginning of something greater, just as the narrator tells us.
I personally enjoyed reading the book a lot. It was, as I described in my second paragraph, a truly interesting journey for me as a reader, as I managed to empathise with the characters. It definitely made me think a bit more about how I let things influence me and how I deal with facing the bad stuff that sometimes intrudes in my life.
It’s a beautiful self-reflecting story that I would totally recommend.
I believe that this line is the one that caught my attention the most during the book, as it describes the feeling that is the most experienced by Hyeong throughout their journey, seeing all the beautiful yet common things as time passed. The author makes us aware through Hyeong’s thoughts and feelings that the things we do today might have no importance tomorrow and the other way around, putting the character in a very intriguing state of mind, which in my opinion establishes the most important aspect that should be taken into consideration in our real lives, but I will get back on that in the next paragraph.
Choe In-ho’s manner of writing is truly absorbing. It feels like he wants you to encounter a beautiful yet terrifying experience in analogy with his character’s feelings and events, which I decided to associate with a tempest in the middle of an ocean, felt by the reader during the book. He starts as putting you at the bottom of the water: in confusion, in mystery, trying to get to the top, just like Hyeong is described in the beginning. Everything is “a dizzying chaos”. But then, slowly, he helps you swim towards the surface: when you find out a little bit more about what happened, about how and why you ended where you ended. Then, when you finally reach the surface, when you gain consciousness regarding what is that surrounds you, you realise that what just happened doesn’t matter. It is quite disappointing, but it hits you, the first unexpected wave which makes you aware of the fact that you can never be again where you’ve just been, never see or do anything like that. As the two friends leave the house, it is highlighted the fact that again, gets us to the same point: you’ll never encounter such things.
“Pesky clouds had concealed the sun from time to time, drapping the earth with shadow. Sometimes the clouds would bring a sprinkle, sometimes before vanishing they would seem to gently caress the earth as if combing tousled hair. A playful sprinkle from a flating cloud, a moment’s gloom coasting cool shadow everywhere as if to relieve boredom - never again could he see them.”
The association of the visual images and the clouds feel, for me, very blue. I think that the author tried to show us how easily beautiful things are cast away, fade into the unknown in a manner that doesn’t use any sad words or bitter epithets until the end, when everything gets wrecked by the final phrase - never again could he see them - vanishing away from the image he created, making space for the nostalgia that’s going to float around for a while. The author assimilates the events with the clouds. They both tell you something, both make you feel somehow, but once they’re gone, things get uneasy, you feel hollow and the only thing you know for sure is that they’re gone forever.
However, after you get hit by the wave, you manage to get to the surface again, after it took you under again. The ocean got quiet and peaceful, but you notice the sky getting a deep blue color. A storm is approaching, one that brings regrets, pity and epiphany. It is the moment when all the answers come to you and you have to face what you’ve been put through, until the end, looking for a deserted island to shelter on. But there’s nothing to be seen in offshore. The endless dark blue water almost seems to combine with the nearly same colour sky. There are thunders, lightning and heavy rain, but somehow all of these aren’t increasing your fear. You try to swim away, even though you know that trying to run from it won’t help in any way. You don’t feel scared, but everything around you is starting to get messier and messier, so you realise that you shouldn’t be where you are right now, not at all. In that moment, the sky gets clearer and the sea gets calmer, as you’re starting to see the shore, diving into the comprehensive feeling brought by the short moral story at the end. This is how the book made me feel, and these are the types of feelings the characters are going through.
The book is about the self-discovery journey of Hyeong and Jun-ho, two friends who visit the United States because of Jun-ho’s exile from South Korea, due to drug consumption. They visit several touristic places and struggle because of the lack of money, ending up staying over the night in a house that happens to host a party in order to celebrate the end of the week, where they get very drunk and don’t remember anything the next day, pointing out Hyeong’s fixed thought about how things will be forgotten and about how everything is so evanescent. During their trip back to Los Angeles, we see how things are escalating mentally for Jun-ho, who continues to smoke marijuana, the fact that made Hyeong feel uneasy several times. It feels like every single thing happening to them adds a drop of water in Jun-ho’s almost filled cup, which triggers his burst in the finale. He can’t escape his darkened past, and he “ruined” his chance by starting over in the US by getting back to his old habits.
Jun-ho’s character is a representation of the person that can’t move on, who keeps living in the past, not being able to overcome the harsh moments he has been put through, so he thinks the best thing is to try and survive in the deep pit he has fallen in. Although he doesn’t say this, I think this leads to the result of his actions.
As for Hyeong, we don’t really get to discover his past, but he is a witness of what Jun-ho has become, the narrator showing us through his eyes how “fine” he seemed to be on the surface, portraying an innocent figure in the passenger’s life. However, even though we don’t know his story, Hyeong is a complex character who gives perspective and which embodies every feeling in a sentimental and unique way.
They go to Los Angeles, but only when they get stuck on the road do they realise that the city won’t be any better, that Los Angeles isn’t gonna erase everything that happened -There’s no city such as Los Angeles-. The city wasn’t the salvation. The moment they arrived there, they knew for sure that things were never gonna change, and they would never leave it again. -
-It’s all in the imagination-
The book concludes with The Poplar Tree, the short and sweet story of a blacksmith who loses his family and keeps on hoping that one day he will reach his literally high expectations. With daily improvements, he fulfils his dream, reaching the top of the tree he wanted to jump over, becoming unseen in the clouds. He emerged into the next level, as this world he lived in was, in my opinion, only the beginning of something greater, just as the narrator tells us.
I personally enjoyed reading the book a lot. It was, as I described in my second paragraph, a truly interesting journey for me as a reader, as I managed to empathise with the characters. It definitely made me think a bit more about how I let things influence me and how I deal with facing the bad stuff that sometimes intrudes in my life.
It’s a beautiful self-reflecting story that I would totally recommend.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 28, 2021
Ils roulent, roulent vers Los Angeles sur la N1 qui borde le Pacifique. Ils sont deux. Plus très jeunes, mais pas très vieux. Il y a Chunho, l'artiste, le chanteur, qui a vu sa carrière stoppée nette parce qu'il consommait de la marijuana. Humilié, ruiné, il a laissé femme et enfants à Séoul et volé vers les States mais il s'enfonce un peu plus chaque jour ..
Et il y a Lui , qui a fui la Corée du Sud . Il a choisi l'exil pour essayer de combattre la colère qui est en lui et qui ne demande qu'à exploser. Lui aussi a laissé derrière lui femme et enfants. Ils roulent vers L.A et la nuit les surprend, les pensées les ramènent vers leur passé, leur pays et les questions fusent: pourquoi, pourquoi ? trouveront ils leurs réponses?
Un texte fort court qui fait mouche. Une écriture puissante qui plonge le lecteur dans un monde où rêve et réalité se côtoient, où chacun souhaite tracer sa route mais le peut-il?
A découvrir
Et il y a Lui , qui a fui la Corée du Sud . Il a choisi l'exil pour essayer de combattre la colère qui est en lui et qui ne demande qu'à exploser. Lui aussi a laissé derrière lui femme et enfants. Ils roulent vers L.A et la nuit les surprend, les pensées les ramènent vers leur passé, leur pays et les questions fusent: pourquoi, pourquoi ? trouveront ils leurs réponses?
Un texte fort court qui fait mouche. Une écriture puissante qui plonge le lecteur dans un monde où rêve et réalité se côtoient, où chacun souhaite tracer sa route mais le peut-il?
A découvrir
December 9, 2023
2 short stories, both of them pretty good, although I didn't find either as compelling as "Another Man's City".
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews