All About Animals discussion

June Kim has written a fine novel of redemption.
It is set in modern day Korea and concerns Jinho, the dog butcher. One day, as he is asked to slaughter a mangy, skinny, one eyed dog, he realizes he cannot do it. The dog befriends him and shortly after Jinho is diagnosed with advanced brain cancer and has only about 6 months to live. He takes the remaining dogs from the slaughterhouse and gives them to a caring lady who runs a shelter.
He then sets out on a journey to the countryside with the one eyed dog. The ends up living in a tent outside a village, and eventually the villagers get to know him and accept him. The dog seems to know Jinho is ill, and helps him through his violent headaches and dizzy spells.

As his cancer advances Jinho experiences vivid memories of his past, especially childhood. These are more like flashbacks. These episodes are described very vividly and include his recollection of his hatred for his father for taking his pet dog to the hills and eating it with his friends in a drinking and dog eating session which some lower class Korean men like to indulge. He refuses to speak to his father for months. To try to make amends, his father goes to Seoul to buy his son a toy train, taking all the family savings. He is arrested by the political education police and taken to a re orientation camp where he is almost beaten to death.

Though written in English, the author is Korean, and she seems to capture the nature of Korean village culture. The dialogue of Jinho and the villagers feels very authentic. The writing style is simple, direct and economical, and seems to suit the Korean characters.

This is not a conventional dog story, in that the “character” of the dogs is not really developed. It is a moving and compassionate account of a lonely man’s quest for redemption and reconciliation with his past; and with his father, even after death. The dog serves as a mediator and facilitator of this redemptive process.

I greatly enjoyed this book, and would recommend it to anyone with an interest in human - dog relationships, family relationships or East Asian culture.

Thanks for the review on this book. I may have to look into it once I read everything else. I'm so far behind on my book reading.

I have bought the book (paper version), but it will be a while before I'll get around to read it. I am drowning in TBRs.