People who do no harm to me

<내게무해한사람> <쇼코의미소>

■We are all harmless people, and we have all hurt others.
50 Korean writers voted for the best novels of 2016 and 2018.
BLACKPINK member Kim Ji-soo sincerely recommends the award-winning debut work of Choi Eun-won, a highly anticipated post-80s talented female writer, who has won seven Korean literary awards, for the first time.
Eight stories, personal memories intertwined with historical memories, from pure youth to mottled old age, let us be engraved in each other's lives until we are never separated.
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■Are you the person who thinks you are kind and harmless, but is actually cold and cruel?
"People Who Do No Harm to Me" collects eight stories written by Cui Enrong. In the author's words, those relationships that ended silently with sobs, those betrayals that were ignored and realized belatedly, and those cold and resolute turns and disregards together construct an emotional network more complex than the plot of the story.
The wives of prisoners suffering injustice, students suffering domestic violence, Christians fleeing to Africa for penance, families of shipwreck victims, and close friends isolated by war... The people in these stories exist on the margins of the secular world, often weak and quiet, harmless yet repeatedly wounded, unable to escape depression and pain. Their hearts are etched with inherent wounds, a unique texture that cannot be erased or repaired. And the perpetrators are often just as harmless.
The comfort and happiness we yearn for are always achieved only after shielding ourselves from the loneliness and suffering of others. Cui Enrong tenderly captures these cruel stories, which radiate a chill beneath the warm sunlight and a profound sense of loss amidst intimacy. As memories silently crackle, half the characters in these stories move forward without hesitation, while the other half remain forever stuck, leaving only loneliness to echo.
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■Media & Reader Reviews: "I want to be harmless. I don't want to cause pain to others. I've experienced firsthand how destructive pain people can inflict. But have I achieved that? I haven't been able to become that person... Do we truly understand each other? Do we truly want to understand? Every time I write fiction, I feel firsthand how far apart we are from each other, and how we can never fully understand one another... Many people are despised and hated simply for being who they are. I want to see the world and people from their perspective. I want to be that kind of writer." - Choi Eun-young. This is undoubtedly a remarkable debut. - Washington Independent Book Review. Choi Eun-young, like Sally Rooney, Banana Yoshimoto, and Marilynne Robinson, writers from diverse cultural backgrounds who unabashedly examine interpersonal relationships and the female experience, is a writer worth watching. - Penguin Publishing. These stories are painful and complex, but not depressing. They show what it's like for ordinary people with painful pasts and uncertain futures to live out their lives under the cold sun. - The Observer. Choi Eun-young leaves readers with moments that are both gems and burning coals. Every moment like this is like a painful gift. —New York Times Book Review Choi Eun-young uses the power of a writer to illuminate the world as a place that is lonely but shining with transparent light. —Jiang Zhixi (Korean literary critic)
This is a rare example of a short story in recent times. — Kwon Yeo-sun (Korean writer)
The core of every story in this book is drifting away. Separation doesn't necessarily mean a heart-wrenching loss; it can also quietly remove a piece of your flesh and blood when you're not paying attention. —Goodreads reader Eve
The books are all about how people lose people, because of time, death, mistakes and some reasons that you don’t understand and will never understand, which happens to each of us. -Goodreads reader Edeh
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■About the selection of articles:
The stories in this book are selected from two representative short story collections of writer Cui Enrong, "Xiangzi's Smile" and "People Who Do No Harm to Me".
The short story "Xiangzi's Smile" included in this book is the author's award-winning debut and the work that made her famous. "Hello, Goodbye," "Sister, My Little Sister Sun-ae," "Han Ji and Young-joo," and "Michael" are all included in the collection of the same name, "Xiangzi's Smile" (Korea Literature Village Publishing, 2016). Furthermore, "601, 602," "Helping Hands," and "Building a Home in Sand" are included in the collection of the same name, "People Who Do No Harm to Me" (Korea Literature Village Publishing, 2018). These two original works share highly similar themes and styles, telling the stories of "harmless, ordinary people" around us.
"These characters' hearts are imbued with the emotions I've experienced in real life. When readers connect with the hearts of my characters, we meet where we can't see each other." — Choi Eun-young

2023-10-08

中国友谊出版公司

Grinding Iron·Dayu Reading

292

9787505756854