Are you familiar with the short story "Kun's Journey" from "Complete Edition: Korea, Feminism, Japan"? The story begins with "I", who has been "clinging to the back of Kun" all my life, removing him. This strange being called "Kun" is never explained in detail. At first, "Kun" was "a mushy, grayish white lump similar to tokoroten or konnyaku", but "when fully grown, he solidified into the appearance of an expressionless 40-year-old woman". Kun holds hands with her husband in place of "I" and even gives birth (!). What kind of creature is he? Or is he even a living thing? That is something the reader must think about. It is a mystery that the reader must solve.

The author of this short story, "Kun's Journey," is Yoon Yi-hyun. And "The Little Hearts Club" is Yoon Yi-hyun's first collection of short stories to be translated. First of all, I am pleased that the works of this author have been translated into a format that can be read as a whole.

The books included here are, first and foremost, short stories that can be read straight through to the end. There are clear feminist elements in "Small Hearts Club," in which women who connect online turn their voices into a book, and "Pickles," in which the protagonist looks back on her past after being asked for advice by a junior colleague. "Seung-hye and Mio," in which the protagonist reexamines her relationship with her same-sex lover, with whom she has been constantly at odds, and "Forty-Three," about the interaction between a transgender brother and sister, are works that look at minorities in society.

And from the "good neighbor" who actually saved his child's life, "Kun" in "Kun's Journey" - that is, "the mystery that the reader must solve" - begins to lurk. Is the benefactor of the "good neighbor" really...? What is the dragon and dragon knight in "Doubting Dragon, Hazraf 1"? Why do women in the same situation share the same fantasy in "Qualifications of a Dragon Knight, Hazraf 2"? What in reality does the strange situation depicted in "This is Our Love" correspond to? What is the robot in "Sua"? There are no answers to these questions. At least, not in the work. If there is an answer, it is in the mind and life of each reader. Is this something I experienced at that time, or is it something that those people are complaining about? The reader will continue to ask these questions. In that sense, this book promises to be a reading that you will not stop even if you put the book down.

I would like to write here the answers to the questions posed by each story and ask someone, "Is this correct?" But I can't. Finding questions and coming up with answers for yourself - not checking the answers - is what reading a book is all about.

 

 

 

I grew up in Tohoku and moved to Osaka. I've lived there for quite a long time, but I can't speak the Kansai dialect. I've loved foreign literature since I was a child. I'm best at Japanese, English, Spanish, and French, in that order, but I'm not good at speaking any of them. Besides books, I also love movies, and I've made original covers for UMEDA TSUTAYA BOOKS for movie originals, and held a panel exhibition for "Parasite" and sold Korean literature. I would love to collaborate with any other movies I find interesting in the future. "The Three Braids," "Central Station," "Summer Outside," "Bel Canto," "Hidden Scream"...I've written reviews for many wonderful books so far. I'm going to continue to boldly ask, "Can I write reviews?" What I'm interested in now is the reprinting of out-of-print books. There are so many books I want to see resurrected, such as "Leaving Las Vegas" and "To the Friend Who Didn't Save My Life." I also love mysteries.

 

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