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Buja's Diary
From Korea comes a collection of incisive observant short stories by a leading artist. Reading these thirteen exceptional stories is an experience similar to appreciating a touching poem or watching a series of stills from a silent movie. Combining the traits of different artistic genres, O has indeed created his own world of comic art. While eloquently presenting a universal human experience, O also brings a delightful and exotic insight into Korean society. Whereas Manwa (Korean comics) can be much more than we expect.
280 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2005
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47 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
May 7, 2021
This is one of the greatest things I've ever seen. It's a shame not many people know about it!
To sum it up, Buja's Diary is a collection of short stories set in early to mid 20th century Korea that seeks to illustrate what life is like for the different members of society from the rich to the poor, the country folk to the city goers. With incredibly rich illustrations and deep and provocative storytelling, there's much to like about this book. The meticulous detail added to every frame, the moving, realistic expressions on the characters faces make it hard not to get immersed. And thanks to the author's keen perception, the book has a treasure trove of insight to offer about the human experience.
To sum it up, Buja's Diary is a collection of short stories set in early to mid 20th century Korea that seeks to illustrate what life is like for the different members of society from the rich to the poor, the country folk to the city goers. With incredibly rich illustrations and deep and provocative storytelling, there's much to like about this book. The meticulous detail added to every frame, the moving, realistic expressions on the characters faces make it hard not to get immersed. And thanks to the author's keen perception, the book has a treasure trove of insight to offer about the human experience.
January 18, 2020
The moralizing tone and exaggerated character designs make the debt to Will Eisner clear, but (as with much of Eisner's work) the storytelling tends to be simplistic and obvious, making it hard to take the work seriously.
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March 22, 2016When a book is a series of stories it has to be looked at slightly differently than a book that is just one story. Most of the time having many short stories together makes a book that contains various degrees of quality; Buja’s diary doesn’t have that problem. Every single story from a child watching his mother become a prostitute, to a father accidently destroying all of his daughter’s dreams, is equally sad and well made. I would recommend reading each story separately, first so you don’t accidently try to connect them and not focus on the one you are reading, and second so you aren’t completely overwhelmed by the sadness. I would absolutely recommend this because even though seeing the messed up things Koreans have to go through is extremely sad, it is still very well written and drawn so it can still be enjoyable to read through.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 28, 2008
I abandoned this halfway through. It feels like a cross between the overwhelming darkness of Yoshihiro Tatsumi and the simple-minded hokiness of Will Eisner's "serious" work. The art is nice to look at but there is a simple-mindedness to the storytelling.
February 26, 2009
the anti-commie rhetoric in the book got tiresome and i was expecting a much more nuanced portrayal of modern korean history and war...
November 5, 2019
I did not like reading this- that's the only reason I couldn't give it 5 stars. If the rating was strictly based on amount of enjoyment this would get ** out of me. BUT it's ***** in terms of quality- specifically presentation and importance.
"The Snake Catchers Brothers' Dream" is my favorite because he did such an excellent job telling it and it's one of the timeless stories that I can remember.
I must give credit to the guest contributors- two different names, who I assume were the writers (the art is the same throughout), are listed on the title pages of three of best of the thirteen short stories within the 275 pages of agonizing stories that focus on the DEEP issues that have been viciously tearing the tenuous fabric Korean society for over a century with disturbing regularity.
I highly recommend conscious reading of the afterword for those who aren't familiar with the Korean experience and/or lack technical knowledge of graphic novel presentation technique. It's VERY academic and allows appreciation that may have been missed without justification of the quality through desperate pandering (get it?) like the similar dissection of my recently reviewed turd entitled "Cola Madnes". Don't make my usual mistake- you should read it through first THEN spend however long it takes you to fully understand it during a second read.
Internationally speaking:
This book suffers far beyond the usual disadvantages when read in translation. Those who don't have insight into the day-to-day Korean past and present that has struggled through the many events that have and haven't been related in newspapers won't have NEARLY the same experience as one who does. BUT the "take away" -which comes to you naturally through his harshly objective presentation- transcends the stories with the spectrum of heavy emotions that make the reader additionally analyze society and humanity as a whole.
"The Snake Catchers Brothers' Dream" is my favorite because he did such an excellent job telling it and it's one of the timeless stories that I can remember.
I must give credit to the guest contributors- two different names, who I assume were the writers (the art is the same throughout), are listed on the title pages of three of best of the thirteen short stories within the 275 pages of agonizing stories that focus on the DEEP issues that have been viciously tearing the tenuous fabric Korean society for over a century with disturbing regularity.
I highly recommend conscious reading of the afterword for those who aren't familiar with the Korean experience and/or lack technical knowledge of graphic novel presentation technique. It's VERY academic and allows appreciation that may have been missed without justification of the quality through desperate pandering (get it?) like the similar dissection of my recently reviewed turd entitled "Cola Madnes". Don't make my usual mistake- you should read it through first THEN spend however long it takes you to fully understand it during a second read.
Internationally speaking:
This book suffers far beyond the usual disadvantages when read in translation. Those who don't have insight into the day-to-day Korean past and present that has struggled through the many events that have and haven't been related in newspapers won't have NEARLY the same experience as one who does. BUT the "take away" -which comes to you naturally through his harshly objective presentation- transcends the stories with the spectrum of heavy emotions that make the reader additionally analyze society and humanity as a whole.
August 15, 2023
This is an unusual work and all the better and more interesting for that. O is best known as a poet of Korea, and it may be better to approach this collection of scenes and situations in this light. Most are set in the early/mid-twentieth century, around the years of the Japanese occupation. Plainly written language, subtly rendered black and white graphics, unexpected endings (not always conclusions or resolutions), nuanced questions of justice for vice, suffering, ignorance . . . I paused after each to challenge myself about what I had experienced. Is it what I expected it to be?
And that is partly the experience, I think. My expectations (partly as a Western reader, partly as one familiar with more traditional east Asian texts) were seldom met. Instead, I met people ugly and grating, quiet and enduring, and wondered at their "fortunes." Wherever we meet them, however, three absences struck me as constants: there seems little/no power beyond the local, there seems little in terms of an economic future, and there is little still in any power beyond the impotent human.
All this makes for some bleak reading (at times with uncomfortable laughter), but together O offers a fascinating moral telling of the human condition, nonetheless.
And that is partly the experience, I think. My expectations (partly as a Western reader, partly as one familiar with more traditional east Asian texts) were seldom met. Instead, I met people ugly and grating, quiet and enduring, and wondered at their "fortunes." Wherever we meet them, however, three absences struck me as constants: there seems little/no power beyond the local, there seems little in terms of an economic future, and there is little still in any power beyond the impotent human.
All this makes for some bleak reading (at times with uncomfortable laughter), but together O offers a fascinating moral telling of the human condition, nonetheless.
September 17, 2023
I enjoyed each of these stories though I wish almost all of them had been longer and developed a bit more.The titular story was a highlight with a clever switch between the child's story and reality. Many of these also looked and felt like they were from the 1950's, so I was pretty surprised to find out they were done 30-40 years later.
March 8, 2021
This was my second attempt at reading a Graphic Novel, and it just wasn't a good choice for me. I was looking for Stories told through Art, but since the subject matter protrayed in the book is heavy, and it wasn't until I read the Afterword that I understood what was actually being conveyed.
July 6, 2021
Some really strong stories and loved the illustrations.
August 25, 2022
One finds really great stories full of emotions and tragedy in Buja's Diary, accompanied by amazingly detailing and fully realized emotions in the artwork.
April 17, 2023
Stark, hard-hitting, hyper realistic.
November 4, 2016
“In other words, past mistakes he wanted to forget gradually disappear. But he subconsciously
feels he must make amends for his mistakes.” The graphic novel Buja’s Diary by Seyeong O is a graphic
novel comprised of short stories. Many of the characters remain anonymous, but the most prominent
characters Park, Ahn, and Seo remain important characters. The novel is mainly about a man who is
trying to remember life moments, but he can only remember them in fragments. As if he has amnesia
and cannot collect his thoughts anymore. The storyline does not progress in chronological order, rather
it continues in a rather jumbled motion, hopping between his childhood, adulthood, and everything in
between.
This book would be enjoyed by readers that are searching for a moral in their novels because
this book is comprised of numerous short stories that all have separate messages but tie together into
one big theme.
The novel uses a lot of intense imagery. For example, in the first short story, “The Little Alley
Watcher,” the story begins with a strong line of “Child is crying.” The three words can easily portray
anguish and desperation along with the pictures of a child sitting alone on a hill watching over an empty
village. As the short story progresses, we ride along as the child quickly becomes a teenage boy. On page
42, when the boy becomes angry and throws a flaming stick into the window of the orchard’s hut, the
quote “The gong could still be heard in the distance. Apple trees wavered with the dancing flames. The
cuckoo continued crying,” we can easily picture the apple trees dancing with flames as the loud bangs
of the gong rings in the background and the birds caw in the distance, singing their sad song. Sensory
words are used in such a way that the apple trees almost come alive as you read the book and see the
pictures of the flames embracing the trees. A final example is on page 161, there are little words but the
pictures almost come alive. The pictures come from different angles that show first the bowl of rice wine
that pours into the bowl while the words “Gush gush gush gush,” follow the liquid that overflows the
small bowl, then the second, which is the man who’s mouth is evidently drooling while looking at the
wine, and lastly, the two pictures that show his hand reaching for the wine and pouring it greedily into
his mouth.
The second most obvious attribute of this book that makes it so unique, is the connotation that
is used to portray emotion. For example, on page 111 “The unknown man’s tongue seemed to flicker
and mock them from his bonfire. They stared at the fire until it died out.” The author brings the fire
alive. He uses the words such as “flicker,” “unknown,” and “mock,” to create a sort of ominous tone
for the readers to feel, as if they were there too with the two men, staring at the fire. Another example
is on page 132, “The days after that were filled with tears. I trapped wild cats and begged for rice to
feed my mother. She was still skin and bones, and losing her hair.” This quote illustrates a melancholy
sadness that can only be expressed through loss. Loss of hair, loss of body structure, even loss of dignity.
The words “tears,” “trapped,” “begged,” “skin and bones,” and “losing,” all create a mood that is almost
desperate or tortured.
Finally, the most exceptional part of this book is the way the author hops between time periods
but still allows for the reader to make sense of all of it. The story goes between first childhood, to
middle aged, to older, back to adolescent, and then finally to the most basic infant stage.
I do recommend this book, but this book is aimed more towards those that are emotionally
more mature. If you do not understand the emotion of this book, you will most likely not understand the
morals of the story at all. However, it is still definitely a good read and it is an inspiring book that people
should read.
feels he must make amends for his mistakes.” The graphic novel Buja’s Diary by Seyeong O is a graphic
novel comprised of short stories. Many of the characters remain anonymous, but the most prominent
characters Park, Ahn, and Seo remain important characters. The novel is mainly about a man who is
trying to remember life moments, but he can only remember them in fragments. As if he has amnesia
and cannot collect his thoughts anymore. The storyline does not progress in chronological order, rather
it continues in a rather jumbled motion, hopping between his childhood, adulthood, and everything in
between.
This book would be enjoyed by readers that are searching for a moral in their novels because
this book is comprised of numerous short stories that all have separate messages but tie together into
one big theme.
The novel uses a lot of intense imagery. For example, in the first short story, “The Little Alley
Watcher,” the story begins with a strong line of “Child is crying.” The three words can easily portray
anguish and desperation along with the pictures of a child sitting alone on a hill watching over an empty
village. As the short story progresses, we ride along as the child quickly becomes a teenage boy. On page
42, when the boy becomes angry and throws a flaming stick into the window of the orchard’s hut, the
quote “The gong could still be heard in the distance. Apple trees wavered with the dancing flames. The
cuckoo continued crying,” we can easily picture the apple trees dancing with flames as the loud bangs
of the gong rings in the background and the birds caw in the distance, singing their sad song. Sensory
words are used in such a way that the apple trees almost come alive as you read the book and see the
pictures of the flames embracing the trees. A final example is on page 161, there are little words but the
pictures almost come alive. The pictures come from different angles that show first the bowl of rice wine
that pours into the bowl while the words “Gush gush gush gush,” follow the liquid that overflows the
small bowl, then the second, which is the man who’s mouth is evidently drooling while looking at the
wine, and lastly, the two pictures that show his hand reaching for the wine and pouring it greedily into
his mouth.
The second most obvious attribute of this book that makes it so unique, is the connotation that
is used to portray emotion. For example, on page 111 “The unknown man’s tongue seemed to flicker
and mock them from his bonfire. They stared at the fire until it died out.” The author brings the fire
alive. He uses the words such as “flicker,” “unknown,” and “mock,” to create a sort of ominous tone
for the readers to feel, as if they were there too with the two men, staring at the fire. Another example
is on page 132, “The days after that were filled with tears. I trapped wild cats and begged for rice to
feed my mother. She was still skin and bones, and losing her hair.” This quote illustrates a melancholy
sadness that can only be expressed through loss. Loss of hair, loss of body structure, even loss of dignity.
The words “tears,” “trapped,” “begged,” “skin and bones,” and “losing,” all create a mood that is almost
desperate or tortured.
Finally, the most exceptional part of this book is the way the author hops between time periods
but still allows for the reader to make sense of all of it. The story goes between first childhood, to
middle aged, to older, back to adolescent, and then finally to the most basic infant stage.
I do recommend this book, but this book is aimed more towards those that are emotionally
more mature. If you do not understand the emotion of this book, you will most likely not understand the
morals of the story at all. However, it is still definitely a good read and it is an inspiring book that people
should read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 20, 2011
I highly recommend this book. It is a graphic novel about life in Korea. It has nudity so i would suggest this book only if the reader is mature. The graphic novel is broken into different stories but teaches a morals or a message. Chapter 1: The Little Alley Watcher. In chapter 1 it is about a little girl who waits for her parents to return from farming. Nari the little girl and her parents are the only one in the town because everyone else left he village to Seoul. Nari is lonely and only has the comfort of her loyal dog that tries to comfort her when she is lonely (aww dogs, man's best friend). Chapter 2: Fire. Ki-Su a boy that comes from a poor family. His mother is very pretty and his dad is lazy. One day Ki-Su is dared to get a apple from the Orchard. While taking an apple from the Orchard he sees his mother with the Orchard owner lying under the tree (intercourse). The Orchard owner is providing support to Ki-Su's family. Ki-Su is traumatized and is angry at what he sees. Things where never the same. Until one day a game festival is held at the same time a fire is started. Ki-Su hears his fathers laughter in the flames. Ki-Su joins in and throws a fire stick at the Orchards hut and watches it burn. I guess that is one way to release stress. The mother is very strong because she is willing to do anything to support her family. She is very brave and sadly this still happens in today's society, people have to make sacrifices to achieve things. Chapter 3: There is a man and he is working at a office and has a dream. He dreams that the city has been in a disaster and people and being captured by a gang of hunters. Either being captured for food or slavery. He wakes up and realizes it was a dream and heads to the lobby of the office and realizes that everyone is a slave at the office. They all have messy clothe and are dirty. Makes me think of work, it enslaves all of us. There is 13 more chapters but i dont want to bore you. My favorite chapter is Chapter 6: The Snake-Catcher Brothers' Dream. It is my favorite because their is 2 brothers who catch snakes for a living and sell them to the snake medicine shop. They put all of the savings into a black can and hope to buy their own shop one day. Until one day another snake catcher comes and is trying to steal their territory for catching snakes. The brothers are watching him carefully. A couple of days later the new snake catcher finds a white snake and people say it is worth a lot of money and he becomes rich and famous. While the brothers are angry and jealous of his fortune. They wondered when will their day come. They decide to be like the other snake catcher and do nothing and depend on their luck to find a white snake. They use up all of their money from the black can on alcohol and girls. Until they ran out of money. They yell at the black can and smashes the can to the floor. They have no more money. This is my favorite chapter because the black can was their white snake. They could have used the money for better things and could of had a better life. They were blind to see that the black can was their ticket out of poverty. Also it was pretty fun when the brothers broke the can because they blamed their failure on the can... What fools. Most of the stories talk about life and society. It brings to light the most corrupt things in society and how things are in life. This book also makes me think about today's society and how things that happened in the past still happen in today's society. Even in today's society there is more technology and knowledge. Yet, society is still corrupt and unfair.
August 10, 2012
These were some great short stories. The stories were very nicely drawn and eerie, in the way that good short stories are. My only big complaint is the cover art actually. It looks more like an academic monograph than a collection of graphic format stories. They should redo the cover! I think this was my first read of Korean comics too. Very pleasant experience.
August 13, 2009
good, but depressing as all get-out.
Want to read
July 4, 201219.95
June 4, 2016
Apart, mooi, soms gevoelig, soms cru. Een blik in een andere cultuur in een vorm waar ik van hou.
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