A Temporary Marriage

  • On page 4, she describes a villa in the hills as a medieval castle. Is this describing something as western in Korea, or is it merely talking about the time period? Still an interesting description in a Korean setting.
  • Shin’s perception of men seems to be a little twisted. This might be from her previous relationship or for some other scorn, but either way it seems to be an unfair assumption. Her view seems to be distorting her reality.
  • Going back to my last thought, she seems to understand that her perception dehumanizes men. Paired with the fact that she invites danger and hostility into her life secretly, she’s becoming a less reliable character to tell the truth. It’s hard to believe that her daughter was kidnapped.
  • In the last few paragraphs of the story, it seems that Mrs. Shin wants pain. She wants people to discipline her and appears to egg people on to do so. Therefore Mr. Shin left her and took legal custody with their daughter. There is this duality dynamic of wanting one thing and the opposite at the same time.

At the Edge of The World

  • The characters cast in this story do not seem to be tied together to the previous characters. In fact, they are named differently from the Mrs. and Mr. to first names. This is the first book we’ve read that hasn’t had a somewhat short story cycle.
  • On page 27, the father says he is “happy all the time.” Based on how Krys Lee has been writing, I do not think he is happy. Similar to Peter Bacho, there seems to be a false sense of hope in each of the stories.
  • The father going to the Shaman shows that he is fighting his new way of life. The mother wants him to forget north Korea and the past, but he still lingers on. With all the hints at suicide, he will probably take his own life.
  • Instead of killing himself, he kills Mark. Initially it felt as if the Father was going to kill himself but takes the life of his son instead. There is a consistent theme of Losing some one you love and suicide, possibly insanity as well.

The Pastor’s Son

  • Even thought the son despises the new mother, he still sympathizes with her. There is this debate in the characters, both loving and hating at the same time. A duality is present.
  • On page 58, we see the dynamic of the New Mother and Father. Unlike most of the stories, where the woman holds less power than the man, in this one New Mother is able to keep Father and the Narrator under her thumb.
  • The character’s that Lee makes are surreal, at least to me. They carry this duality that you see in everyday people and less in fictional characters. But even then, they don’t feel completely realistic. Kind of like a drama or a soap opera.
  • Unlike the other short story collections, we have read, we haven’t really seen the perspective of being American in a foreign country that your family knew well, and you were completely unfamiliar with. It’s like the immigrant perspective in America but the location is different but there seems to be a lack of community behind it.

The Goose Father

  • On page 73, the description of Wuseong is, “he was almost to pretty to be a boy.” Suggest that the plot will be a coming out story, partially, for Gilho. When Wuseong blushes on page 74, it appears to cement my prediction.
  • Both characters seem to share the duality of liking one another but finding it out of character for themselves and so they despise it a little. Again, dualities in characters seem to be a common theme in this book.
  • It appears that Soonah fears for him the same way he used to fear himself, afraid of failing. He might have changed to accommodate that fear, but he also passed it down to his family members.
  • I think the story was about fighting who he used to be and returning to what he originally was before he married and had children. The introduction to Wuseong seems to bring him back to his older more comfortable ways.

The Salaryman

  • Krys Lee has now brought her story in to the tense of 2nd This makes the character a little more personal because she is describing what has happened to “you”, and not another character.
  • When your wallet is stolen on page 99, “you are no longer needed.” Again, this theme of suicide seems to be very prevalent in Lee’s stories. In this situation, men are only as valuable as the money they make for their families and once the money runs out, they are useless.
  • Money appears to be the only thing keeping “you” alive. It changes who you are and gives you hope that you can get yourself out of the situation you put yourself in. It’s weird thinking that “you” put yourself in this position by labeling “yourself” as useless.
  • The use of 2nd person in this story makes it very uncomfortable to read. As a reader, you distance yourself from the character’s actions, but they are “your” actions. Lee has a little more control over how we feel creating another duality.

Drifting House

  • From the description of Famine and the description of the “The Dear Leader” I assume that this is in North Korea. This story is about the journey of immigrants not to the US, but to China where they hear about hope over there similar to the hopes the idea of “America” gives.
  • Woncheol thinks it is better to kill his sister here instead of having her die slowly and painfully. Similar to the second story where the Father kills Mark, thinking he is better off this way. It appears to be a common theme, either killing someone our themselves to better the lives of the killed or their loved ones.
  • Instead of being in the same character, there is a duality between the brothers. One believes that he killed someone, and the other sees it as the ultimate result of their current situation. They are both right in their own sense creating this duality of ignoring reality and accepting reality.
  • Based on the last few words and the previous stories, I don’t think they made it. This shows another theme of incompleteness, not being able to achieve their goal even through the hardships that they have faced.

A Small Sorrow

  • On page 130, Eunkang says that sending her husband to jail like her mother as a bad thing, even though it is for adultery. This is an interesting perspective for a character to have. Again, there is a duality that appears in both of these characters.
  • On page 137, Eunkang is attracted to Mina’s sexual territory. Like “The Goose Father” it might be implying that she is sexually attracted to Mina and not just admiring her position in Eunkang’s and Seongwon’s relationship.
  • On page 142, she is mad and delighted when she is ordered around by her husband. This duality shows this power dynamic between her and her husband and how she is comfortable with it and also despises it.
  • At the end of the story, the power dynamic has seemed to shift. Seongwon seems to be at the will of Eunkang, where earlier it seemed to be the opposite. She sees who her husband is and sees herself above him, even if he was the one in control originally.

The Believer

  • The initial description of the family is very off putting, the daughter is conflicted about the relationship between her and God, and her and her Mother. The father seems to be not only emotionally attached but also addicted to his wife. And the mother has this delusional perception of what god and the devil are.
  • Similar to Yamamoto’s story, God has seemed to leave jenny like it did with the earthquake story. However, Jenny still believes that God exists and yet she also doesn’t. More so, God is an excuse for her to use depending on the situation.
  • As the father describes on page 159, by leaving Korea he is being haunted with this image of everyone back home is making fun of him. That, unlike other stories from other communities, leaving Korea is a sign for failure and not a way to get ahead in life.
  • Jenny says that “God forgives his sinners” to her father on page 166. But, the internal monologue within her shows that she isn’t completely sure he exists in her life anymore. She is almost using it as an excuse to have sex with her father in place of her mother.

Beautiful Women

  • The way drunkards are portrayed in these stories is usually always negative. But with Sergeant Brown, he is portrayed as a “happy drunk”, one that doesn’t abuse his with or daughter and is instead more of a lighthearted individual. This is an interesting take and is somewhat realistic.
  • While Brown and Mina might not be related, she sees him as her only father. He was there in her early years of her life, so she doesn’t understand when her mother tells her that she isn’t his daughter. To her it doesn’t matter.
  • On page 190, Mina kisses Hana on the lips. This might be implying homosexuality as it did in “The Goose Father” and a little in “A Small Sorrow.” But later in the story, it doesn’t turn out to be the case. Krys Lee keeps similar themes in her stories but doesn’t tend to repeat them.
  • Again, the idea of disappearing from someone’s life to better it is a common theme in Lee’s stories. This time it is implied and left incomplete, but the sentiment is still there.