Description
Book SynopsisThere a Petal Silently Falls is a selection of works from contemporary Korean author Ch’oe Yun. Elegantly crafted and quietly moving, Ch’oe Yun’s stories are among the most incisive portrayals of the psychological and spiritual reality of post-World War II Korea.
Trade ReviewThere a Petal Silently Falls, by one of contemporary South Korea's most respected authors, was an early attempt to confront the scandal of the Kwangju Massacre. Faced with censorship and a regime that denied the atrocities it had committed, Ch'oe Yun evokes in narrative form a trauma that defied narration. Today the vagaries of memory, rather than censorship, threaten to silence the history of Kwangju. May this most welcome of translations serve as a timely reminder of those events of spring 1980. -- Janet Poole, assistant professor of East Asian studies, University of Toronto
Haunting, painful and affirming, full of illusions and hallucinations while rooted in the graphically physical.... Everything about Yun's work is brilliant. * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *
These three stories are the work of a fiction writer of the very highest order. * Booklist (starred review) *
Ch'oe is a versatile writer who cloaks stark perceptions of individual and social trauma with elegant craft, poignant metaphor, and occasional, sardonic flashes of humor. -- Barbara Lloyd McMichael * Seattle Times *
A very welcome addition to existing works of Korean literature in English translation. * Acta Koreana *
It is a great pleasure to see this book added to the Weatherhead Books on Asia list. -- David McCann * Pacific Affairs *
Beyond Korean Studies... [this] book should also be read widely by scholars engaged in trauma studies. -- Youngju Ryu * Journal of Asian Studies *
A superb collection * Tony's Reading List *
Table of ContentsThere a Petal Silently Falls
Whisper Yet
The Thirteen-Scent Flower
Afterword
