(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Contemporary Fiction Views: A wild epic of magic realism [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-25 Blue whale It's never easy being a woman, but in Cheon Myeong-Kwan's Whale, some of the hazards are more onerous than others. These may include being extraordinarily large and strong, or a one-eyed woman who is constantly surrounded by bees, or even a woman who seeks the wind and is amazed by a whale and movies. However, this is not a morose book. Filled with dark and ribald humor and glorious descriptions, Whale is a story of magic realism that first was published in Korea 10 years ago. It has recently been published in the UK and now the U.S., and is on the list for the upcoming International Booker Prize. The multi-generational story begins with Chunhui making her way back to the brickworks where she grew up with her mother, Geumbok, and her stepfather, who taught her how to make bricks. Chunhui is silent. She also weighted 15 pounds at birth, and has been strong and sturdy ever since. She is resembles the great love of her mother's life. Although he wasn't around when she was conceived. No human beings are there when she arrives, after nine days of walking since her release from prison. She recalls her mother, who built a movie theater in the same of a whale. That theater is gone, and when it was destroyed, the town died too. The author then goes back in time to the story of an old crone who lived there once, too, and her wild, hardscrabble life. When she is at the end of her life, her one-eyed daughter returns. She was sold by her mother for two jars of honey and now is surrounded by bees wherever she goes. Guembok as a teenager returns to the narrative forefront, from the time she ran away from her mournful, alcoholic father to the time Chinhui was a youngster and her best friend was an old circus elephant. Who communicated with her. This is after Guembok has created her first fortune for an old fishmonger, fallen in love with a strong, simple man and been enchanted by a gangster who owns a movie theater. And mesmerized by the sight of a whale the first time she sees the ocean. That's just the first of three parts to this epic. The magic realism ebbs and flows, and there is an Orlando twist to the story. The story takes place during the era of the Korean conflict, and that warfare and trauma are there in the background concerning the ways people move around the countryside. But in many ways, the village in which most of the story is set is isolated. This way, current events can be used as needed to propel the story, but do not control it until the end, when they play a crucial role. (And the third part of the novel is brutal with its descriptions of cruel prison life.) What does it all add up to? That’s up to the reader, says the author, adding later: Anyway, then as now, it must be human nature to want to say this or that about something that has already happened. One of the most remarkable things about this novel is no matter how outlandish the descriptions or the actions, there is an ongoing wonder about the marvel that makes up human beings. Especially women. Written by a male author. For example, the humble wildflower daisy fleabane follows Chunhui wherever she is, much the same way that the wind is connected to her mother. She takes notice of the flower and everything else growing around it, the way that she takes note of everything she sees: Her senses were so sharp that she could detect not only the moist and sticky texture of the rice balls her mother handed her, and the nutty smell of sesame seeds sprinkled throughout, but also the warm, kind hands of the twins who had made them. It’s a good thing she has that ability, because she cannot decipher what people say and cannot imagine that she could do the same thing — talk. It is only by paying attention to expressions and gestures that she understands anything of other people. When it comes to why things happened to the characters, the author turns philosophical about fate and human nature. We become ourselves according to our behavior. This, in turn, becomes a rumination on the fiction writing process as well as human nature: Did this miraculous good luck befall Geumbok because she is the protagonist of this story, or is she the protagonist because this good luck came to her? Later events turn into ruminations on capitalism and religion, in ways that spring naturally from the story. This was Cheon Myeong-Kwan's debut novel. I'm looking forward to discovering more. Congratulations are due to translator Chi-Young Kim, whose work has resulted in a seamless narrative that brings the whimsy and the underlying deep emotions in the story to every page. 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