Short stories
나상
Not translated into English
Yi Ho-cheol · 1956
Synopsis
During the Korean War, two brothers are taken prisoner and led north, in a column marched along the east coast. The elder is twenty-seven; according to Eum Yeong-cheol's study, he is slow, frank to the point of danger, somewhat simple, and the younger is twenty-two. During the march, the elder rejoices in the first snow more than he worries about his fate, and tries to protect his brother, while the road leads them ever further.
Context
The text appeared in 1956 in Munhak Yesul, after a first story in 1955; these two texts marked their author's entry into literature. Its setting is the east coast, the very one that the author, a prisoner in 1950, had walked up under escort. Eum Yeong-cheol sees in it, through the fate of the elder brother, the collapse of old principles of life in the face of reality, and places it in a trajectory that runs from exile to return. In an interview with the Munhwa Ilbo, the author considered it the best of his stories and the most esteemed abroad.
Who it is for
A short story; a French collection by the author published in 2005, La Vallée vide, perhaps contains it under the title Nu.
Prizes and reception
One of the two texts through which the author entered literature, recommended by the novelist Hwang Sun-won.
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