Thankfully, Kim Dong-Ni accomplishes this in his highly-praised story, The Cry of the Magpies – which follows the struggles of Bong-Su, a battle-scarred survivor of the Korean War. The tale begins rather strangely with the discovery of a book entitled, Give Me Back My Life: A Confession by a Murderer. This, we learn, is none other than Bong-Su’s account of his own experiences upon returning to his hometown after the armistice. Although less than two years have passed since his departure for the front, much has changed. His mother, previously ill, has become a total invalid, and his sister has transformed from a girl into a beautiful young woman. The most significant alteration, however, relates to Bong-Su’s fiancé, Jeong-Sun, who, we learn, has been tricked into marriage by another man.

Each new situation Bong-Su encounters seems to fuel the rage that has been building since his return. The persistent cries of the magpies (traditionally thought to herald death) coupled with the ominous title of his memoir add to the tension. The confrontation with the man who has stolen his wife is one of the story's many highlights, but nothing can rival the unexpected turn that Kim Dong-Ni delivers on the story’s final page.

In contrast to the suspenseful unraveling of the title story, Deungsin-bul presents an eerily understated history of an unusual statue housed in a temple somewhere ‘to the north of the Yangtze River’. The unnamed narrator, a deserter from the Imperial Japanese Army, seeks refuge in the temple only to become apprenticed to the monk charged with caring for the peculiar statue. A strange connection between the narrator and the statue (known as Deungsin-bul) is evident from the outset, but the exact nature of the tie remains obscure even after the story is finished. 

Closure in the conventional sense eludes the reader in both of the tales that make up The Cry of the Magpies, but much of the allure of Kim Dong-Ni’s writing lies in its refusal to put the world comfortably back in order. Anyone eager to be unsettled by accounts of the psychological tolls of war will find what they’re looking for here.

            Elton LaClare