Unexpected Letter
“At Dusk” by Hwang Sok-yong is translated by Sora Kim-Russell. The novel is only under 200 pages long, but it captures a vast array of narratives with the politics and culture of South Korea. "At Dusk” deals with nostalgia, memories, and suicide. I find the novel refreshing, touching though somewhat depressive. Hwang Sok-yong has a great way to tell devastating truths. Below is my favorite lines from the novel.
"The thing about memory is that two people can end up with different versions of the same event. Either the storyline gets distorted because of your emotional state at the time, or you inadvertently forget it happened once time has moved on."
The main character of the book, Park Minwoo, was born from struggling parents living in a poor neighborhood in Seoul. Park’s life was a classic rags-to-riches story. He became the director of a large architectural firm playing a role in changing the country by developing and gentrifying small towns and poor neighborhoods. Park chose not to revisit his painful childhood memories until he received an unexpected letter from Cha Soona, a girl — now a woman — he used to be in love with. Will Park begin to examine his past because of an unexpected letter..?
