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Wafers
This 2006 collection of short stories is in line with the unsettling, engrossing style of Ha’s other two collections that have been translated into English, the critical and commercial successes Flowers of Mold and Bluebeard’s First Wife. A best-seller in Korea, Ha Seong-nan is one of the stars of contemporary short fiction, writing edgy, socially conscious stories that bring to mind the novels of Han Kang and the film Parasite.
236 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 4, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 17, 2024
Sometimes rueful, sometimes poignant, sometimes grittily realist, Ha Seong-nan’s collection primarily deals in atmosphere, emotion and loss, frequently spurred on by a fast-changing Korea. Early entries like “Daydreams of a River” - partly inspired by Lorca’s poem - are a reminder of why Ha’s work has invited comparisons to writers like Alice Munro, here mixed with more than a dash of Raymond Carver. In Ha’s title piece, a woman’s thoughts move backwards and forwards in time, as she reflects on her past and an unlikely act of defiance in the face of almost-certain defeat. In “1984” a woman remembers the events of the year she left school comparing her reality, coming of age in a working-class area of Seoul, with Orwell’s dystopian vision. Nostalgia, upheaval and the ravages of rapid, urban development are central to the striking “House of Wafers” centred on a woman returning to her childhood home after ten years away. Stories like “Deathbed” and “Daytime to Daytime” deal in experiences of aging and grief. “That’s Life” set in a travelling circus and “Autobiography” - which features an unexpected act of stunning brutality - are harsher in their themes and tone, and felt more uneven than other stories. But Ha is consistently adept at conveying the minutiae of everyday life, place is always significant and settings are meticulously rendered: sights, sounds, smells all precisely documented. She’s often tender, compassionate towards her flailing characters. Many are individuals overwhelmed by a culture in flux; women are ground down by existence in a male-dominated society; men are often exposed as uneasy in their assigned roles and weighed down by a sense of confusion or failure. Translated by Janet Hong.
Thanks to Edelweiss and publisher Open Letter Books for an ARC
Thanks to Edelweiss and publisher Open Letter Books for an ARC
May 4, 2025
‘The bicycle, neglected for months, had rusted, and the pedals didn't turn smoothly. Crooked letters, written in white paint on the frame, spelled: Shinyeom (신념). Conviction. He traced the letters with his fingertips. The word had been his favourite since middle school.’
Every piece in this collection ends anticlimactically (the author’s intent or otherwise, I do not know, but it probably doesn’t matter), or at least that’s what I think/how I felt about it/them. But regardless of that, I ‘enjoyed’ the collection for the 분위기 (vibes) and setting in general, but the plot seems (not even ‘secondary’ but just) almost irrelevant (to my ‘enjoyment’ of the book). I often like books without any distinct/impressive plots so this wasn’t a problem for me. But I craved for ‘stronger’ and more deliciously complex characterisation; to me, they were a bit ‘shallow’/under-developed and because of that not as brilliant/memorable as they could’ve been.
‘The dog shot up and clamped down on the woman's wrist with every last bit of strength. Its fangs pierced the woman's flesh. Her arm turned numb. When she raised her arm, the dog's head came up as well. Her arm felt so heavy she felt as if it were going to snap off. Once the dog had latched onto her wrist, it refused to let go. She saw its eyes then. Rolled back to show mostly whites, its eyes were welled up with tears. Its saliva seeped into her veins—into her bloodstream, and she had the thought that she'd perhaps become half dog. Like a dog, she stared into the darkness. It seemed she could hear, even see, the rustling of a small insect inside the rushes. Y kicked the dog. Her arm was also kicked in the process.’
Surprisingly (to me anyway) my favourites are the two with ‘dogs’ (one 'active', and one 'passive'; make of that what you will, and besides it's best if I don't elaborate) in them. And the one with rented bicycles? An ‘honorary mention’, surely. Fuller RTC later.
‘It was Minho. He dragged me back into the bathroom and locked the door behind us. Before I knew it, his fist connected with my face. A metallic taste filled my mouth as my lip split open. His hands felt just as rough and calloused as I remembered.
"You asshole, you even have a conscience? Didn't you feel any shame as you were writing about us? Pricks like you deserve to get a beating."’
September 15, 2024
You know when you’re drunk, there are moments that are choppy, like slides in an old projector? Just a few scenes remain in my mind.
Wafers (2024) is Janet Hong's translation of a collection of stories 웨하스 (2006) by 하성란 (Ha Seong-nan), the third to appear in English after Flowers of Mold and Bluebeard's First Wife, all published by Open Letter Books.
My review of Flowers of Mold concluded:
Bluebeard’s First Wife I commented was "similar, equally unsettling although perhaps a little more rooted in the domestic, but with an undercurrent of violence in most of the stories and just as effective."
Wafers continues this trend away from the more disturbing - on Goodreads many readers have classified the previous two collections as 'horror' which seems less likely here - but her prose, in Hong's translation, remains unsettling, and the stories do typically involve characters on the edge.
As with the previous two collections in English, the story are remarkably uniform in length, all close to 20 pages - the 11 stories clocking in at 20, 20, 22, 22, 22, 20, 20, 26, 18, 20 and 22 pages, something the author must presumably work on, or indeed impose as a self-constraint. And that self-discipline makes it all the more remarkable how much is packed into many of the stories.
The first story Autobiography is perhaps closer to the 'horror' element of the previous collections. A man returns to the neighbourhood of his teenage years after more than 20 years and reunites with his gang of troublemakers from that time. He has since gone on to be a published novelist, his third book a fictionalisation of the time they were 17. But as he catches us he realises that some of the more sensationalised elements he added to the story may have been, or have somehow become, true.
This theme of revisiting a place many years later runs through the collection. House of Wafers, from which the collection takes its title , has a woman returning to her childhood home, where her mother still lives in a house as part of a development which went built 30 years ago was the epitome of modernisation, even featured in cinema news stories, but where the houses proved to be very poorly constructed. With redevelopment going on in the area, her mother's house is one of the few still standing, and when heavy rain lead to a flood the house, and the woman finds herself trapped in the collapsed building, remembering the excitement of the day they moved in.
That's Life is told from the perspective of a man who is part of a circus troupe, a dying art form, and a circus he joined as a child when the maid at his parent's house abducted him, and ever since then he has been trying to find his hometown, his only clue that the area was known for its peaches.
This air of a dying art form continues in perhaps my favourite of the collection, A Hotel At the End of the World, told from the perspective of a singer at the Moulin Rouge cabaret in Seoul. Here the blending of different times is particularly effective, with the singer recalling her time at the Moulin Rouge as the number of customers diminished over the years; a fire, likely insurance fraud, that ravaged the venue and where she unclear if she'd accidentally locked another performer in the building; her touring in the immediate aftermath including a particular lowpoint where she performed as part of a tribute evening (querying the poor appearance fee the proprietor says we never said we wanted genuine stars. Seems you misunderstood. Acting all high and mighty because she isn't an impersonator); and hints of some time she had to spend overseas waiting for a scandal to die down. Meanwhile she returns to the titular hotel, once a luxury beach resort, now abandoned, 17 years after her first visit there. The narration jumps between these different strands without warning, following her tangled thoughts and recollections. With so much going on it's perhaps not surprising that the story is longer than the others - but still at a mere 26 pages.
Another impressive collection and I hope Janet Hong is able to translate more of the author's work including her novels.
Story collections by the author, who has also published 5 novels:
루빈의 술잔 (1997) [title literally Rubin's Glass]
옆집 여자 (1999) - translated as Flowers of Mold [title literally: The Woman Next Door]
푸른 수염의 첫 번째 아내 (2002) - translated at Bluebeard's First Wife
웨하스 (2006) - translated as Wafers
여름의 맛 (2013) [title literally Summer's Taste]
Wafers (2024) is Janet Hong's translation of a collection of stories 웨하스 (2006) by 하성란 (Ha Seong-nan), the third to appear in English after Flowers of Mold and Bluebeard's First Wife, all published by Open Letter Books.
My review of Flowers of Mold concluded:
It is a very strong collection, beautifully crafted stories of everyday life, often remarkable in their banality, and yet of characters on the edge, with something deeply disturbing lurking underneath, of lives about to fracture. On the Todorov spectrum of uncanny-fantastic-marvellous, this is firmly at the uncanny end. There is nothing supernatural here, or at least nothing that may not simply have been imagined or dreamt, but there is something strongly unsettling.
Bluebeard’s First Wife I commented was "similar, equally unsettling although perhaps a little more rooted in the domestic, but with an undercurrent of violence in most of the stories and just as effective."
Wafers continues this trend away from the more disturbing - on Goodreads many readers have classified the previous two collections as 'horror' which seems less likely here - but her prose, in Hong's translation, remains unsettling, and the stories do typically involve characters on the edge.
As with the previous two collections in English, the story are remarkably uniform in length, all close to 20 pages - the 11 stories clocking in at 20, 20, 22, 22, 22, 20, 20, 26, 18, 20 and 22 pages, something the author must presumably work on, or indeed impose as a self-constraint. And that self-discipline makes it all the more remarkable how much is packed into many of the stories.
The first story Autobiography is perhaps closer to the 'horror' element of the previous collections. A man returns to the neighbourhood of his teenage years after more than 20 years and reunites with his gang of troublemakers from that time. He has since gone on to be a published novelist, his third book a fictionalisation of the time they were 17. But as he catches us he realises that some of the more sensationalised elements he added to the story may have been, or have somehow become, true.
This theme of revisiting a place many years later runs through the collection. House of Wafers, from which the collection takes its title , has a woman returning to her childhood home, where her mother still lives in a house as part of a development which went built 30 years ago was the epitome of modernisation, even featured in cinema news stories, but where the houses proved to be very poorly constructed. With redevelopment going on in the area, her mother's house is one of the few still standing, and when heavy rain lead to a flood the house, and the woman finds herself trapped in the collapsed building, remembering the excitement of the day they moved in.
That's Life is told from the perspective of a man who is part of a circus troupe, a dying art form, and a circus he joined as a child when the maid at his parent's house abducted him, and ever since then he has been trying to find his hometown, his only clue that the area was known for its peaches.
This air of a dying art form continues in perhaps my favourite of the collection, A Hotel At the End of the World, told from the perspective of a singer at the Moulin Rouge cabaret in Seoul. Here the blending of different times is particularly effective, with the singer recalling her time at the Moulin Rouge as the number of customers diminished over the years; a fire, likely insurance fraud, that ravaged the venue and where she unclear if she'd accidentally locked another performer in the building; her touring in the immediate aftermath including a particular lowpoint where she performed as part of a tribute evening (querying the poor appearance fee the proprietor says we never said we wanted genuine stars. Seems you misunderstood. Acting all high and mighty because she isn't an impersonator); and hints of some time she had to spend overseas waiting for a scandal to die down. Meanwhile she returns to the titular hotel, once a luxury beach resort, now abandoned, 17 years after her first visit there. The narration jumps between these different strands without warning, following her tangled thoughts and recollections. With so much going on it's perhaps not surprising that the story is longer than the others - but still at a mere 26 pages.
Another impressive collection and I hope Janet Hong is able to translate more of the author's work including her novels.
Story collections by the author, who has also published 5 novels:
루빈의 술잔 (1997) [title literally Rubin's Glass]
옆집 여자 (1999) - translated as Flowers of Mold [title literally: The Woman Next Door]
푸른 수염의 첫 번째 아내 (2002) - translated at Bluebeard's First Wife
웨하스 (2006) - translated as Wafers
여름의 맛 (2013) [title literally Summer's Taste]
July 23, 2024
Enjoyed! All of the stories felt surreal and poignant
Favorites were the circus, moulin rouge, and button
My one ding is the writing style - found my mind wandering frequently. The short, blunt sentences and disjointed story telling were not my favorite. Not sure if this is Ha Seong-Nan or the translator.
Favorites were the circus, moulin rouge, and button
My one ding is the writing style - found my mind wandering frequently. The short, blunt sentences and disjointed story telling were not my favorite. Not sure if this is Ha Seong-Nan or the translator.
October 7, 2024
There are no punch lines to be found in this short story collection. Having previously read Bluebeard’s First Wife, I’m inclined to accept the lack of fireworks or revelations as central to Ha’s style. Her subtlety is almost an extreme sport: her object of study seems to be the normalcy to be had in abnormal situations. For example: the daily going-ons of a circus troupe, a woman who travels to Switzerland to recover the corpse of her husband, or the final days of an elderly father succumbing to dementia. In spite of the extraordinariness of each situation, the stories are imbued with a paradoxical boredom. This phenomenon does not make for compulsive reading but is not without interest. The juxtaposition of normality with strangeness results in frustration, an untraceable tension which sometimes crystallizes in exquisite, weird small details, or terrifying suggestions which are left alone as soon as they are brought up. On the other hand, it’s the terrifying suggestions further analysed and taken seriously by the characters that prove harmless, leading to an unclimactic, almost disappointing, relief.
‘The pamphlet had promised a view of rolling hills and tributaries of the Han River that sparkled like silk strands, but the only view from the window was of six colossal, spherical tanks atop giant tripods, each marked with the company logo. […] These tanks now blocked the view of the river, but to save on costs, the sanitarium had decided not to print new pamphlets.’
‘The pamphlet had promised a view of rolling hills and tributaries of the Han River that sparkled like silk strands, but the only view from the window was of six colossal, spherical tanks atop giant tripods, each marked with the company logo. […] These tanks now blocked the view of the river, but to save on costs, the sanitarium had decided not to print new pamphlets.’
August 1, 2024
Listen to my review on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_HtN...
December 25, 2024
🇰🇷Вафлі, – це короткі оповідання від сучасної корейської письменниці HA SEONG-NAN.
Це наче чиїсь спогади, вплетені в канву розповіді, де не зовсім зрозуміло це вигадка чи реальність 🤔
Історії про старих друзів, які зустрілись через двадцять років, про перші співбесіди і боротьбу за роботу, мандрівний цирк, про зовсім інші поховальні традиції, вплив тайфунів та повені на звичайних жителів міста.
Вони такі життєві, але разом з тим наче і нічого такого особливого і не відбувається. Ти наче бачиш фрагменти чужого життя, якісь окремі сцени. Мені здається, що по таких розповідях можна краще відчути і побачити життя корейців як воно є. Не через призму популярності всесвітньо відомих гуртів k-pop чи дорам, а через справжні ситуації, які трапляють в житті кожного, навіть у нас.
Помітила, що досить часто герої оповідань дивляться із сумом на сво�� минуле... наче шкодують, що обрали не той шлях, і втратили можливість бути щасливими.. Але це не про ностальгію.. а коли ти бачиш як місце твого дитинства старіє і руйнується.. Бо щоб не трапилось, але з роками... ти стаєш іншою людиною.
А ще як завжди мене дивує і бентежить зухвале ставлення до жінок, стільки зневаги, що аж волосся дибки стає. Іноді огидно від такої неповаги і зверхності.
✔️кусатися і бути укушеним - це частина життя..
✔️Вони з подивом роззявили роти, дивлячись на двоповерховий будинок, який виглядав, наче зроблений з печива, наче з'явився прямо з казки.
Ніби підлога зроблена з вафель! Слухай, це звучить так, ніби ти кусаєш вафлю.
Таке життя.. і розповіді наче і не трагічні, в авторки є свій стиль, дуже багато прикольних метафор та порівнянь, але я ще не до кінця зрозуміла, чому мене не чіпляє.. Можливо, я не фанат оповідань, тому важко оцінити збірку😅
Це наче чиїсь спогади, вплетені в канву розповіді, де не зовсім зрозуміло це вигадка чи реальність 🤔
Історії про старих друзів, які зустрілись через двадцять років, про перші співбесіди і боротьбу за роботу, мандрівний цирк, про зовсім інші поховальні традиції, вплив тайфунів та повені на звичайних жителів міста.
Вони такі життєві, але разом з тим наче і нічого такого особливого і не відбувається. Ти наче бачиш фрагменти чужого життя, якісь окремі сцени. Мені здається, що по таких розповідях можна краще відчути і побачити життя корейців як воно є. Не через призму популярності всесвітньо відомих гуртів k-pop чи дорам, а через справжні ситуації, які трапляють в житті кожного, навіть у нас.
Помітила, що досить часто герої оповідань дивляться із сумом на сво�� минуле... наче шкодують, що обрали не той шлях, і втратили можливість бути щасливими.. Але це не про ностальгію.. а коли ти бачиш як місце твого дитинства старіє і руйнується.. Бо щоб не трапилось, але з роками... ти стаєш іншою людиною.
А ще як завжди мене дивує і бентежить зухвале ставлення до жінок, стільки зневаги, що аж волосся дибки стає. Іноді огидно від такої неповаги і зверхності.
✔️кусатися і бути укушеним - це частина життя..
✔️Вони з подивом роззявили роти, дивлячись на двоповерховий будинок, який виглядав, наче зроблений з печива, наче з'явився прямо з казки.
Ніби підлога зроблена з вафель! Слухай, це звучить так, ніби ти кусаєш вафлю.
Таке життя.. і розповіді наче і не трагічні, в авторки є свій стиль, дуже багато прикольних метафор та порівнянь, але я ще не до кінця зрозуміла, чому мене не чіпляє.. Можливо, я не фанат оповідань, тому важко оцінити збірку😅
October 2, 2025
"Wafers” was a really unsettling collection of short stories that felt very dense and were hard to get into at times. Some of the stories simply didn’t resonate with me and I couldn’t care less about the characters, but there are a few stand-outs.
As a writer, I really enjoyed “Autobiography,” about a writer who revisits his hometown after twenty years and the publication of his third novel, which borrows heavily from his real life. He meets up with old friends and they argue about how he portrayed them in his novel. It turns out his fiction is closer to the truth than he imagined. There is a trigger warning for animal abuse and death for this story.
“House of Wafers” was an absolutely heartbreaking story of a woman who returns to her childhood home after ten years abroad. The house was shoddily built and had begun deteriorating over the years and was now scheduled for demolition in the near future. She begins a situationship with one of her old neighbors when tragedy occurs.
“Button” was a tale of a woman kidnapping her close friend’s child, and “Daytime to Daytime” was about a woman recreating her late husband’s last itinerary from his trip to Switzerland, where he died.
Just writing this out feels depressing and suffocating. These are not fun stories by any means. I wish I knew enough Korean to read the original book, as at times it feels like the translation is a bit too heavy-handed, or perhaps that’s the writer’s style. Her style is very anticlimactic, very atmospheric, and all of her characters live in a world where nothing ever seems to go their way. It was a hard book to get through.
As a writer, I really enjoyed “Autobiography,” about a writer who revisits his hometown after twenty years and the publication of his third novel, which borrows heavily from his real life. He meets up with old friends and they argue about how he portrayed them in his novel. It turns out his fiction is closer to the truth than he imagined. There is a trigger warning for animal abuse and death for this story.
“House of Wafers” was an absolutely heartbreaking story of a woman who returns to her childhood home after ten years abroad. The house was shoddily built and had begun deteriorating over the years and was now scheduled for demolition in the near future. She begins a situationship with one of her old neighbors when tragedy occurs.
“Button” was a tale of a woman kidnapping her close friend’s child, and “Daytime to Daytime” was about a woman recreating her late husband’s last itinerary from his trip to Switzerland, where he died.
Just writing this out feels depressing and suffocating. These are not fun stories by any means. I wish I knew enough Korean to read the original book, as at times it feels like the translation is a bit too heavy-handed, or perhaps that’s the writer’s style. Her style is very anticlimactic, very atmospheric, and all of her characters live in a world where nothing ever seems to go their way. It was a hard book to get through.
Currently reading
March 9, 2025'Autobiography' is a disturbing tale of a former schoolmates' reunion twenty years later to reminisce and relive the unreported homicide and butchering of a guard dog. It is inconceivable that no one or any town authority has investigated these. While realistic about the antisocial behaviors of teenagers, the story nevertheless seems to convey that one can get away with crimes committed for teenage entertainment, not a good ethical way to create a piece of fiction. Perhaps I have been indoctrinated in academia with the idea that literature is a window into what the idealized life should be. But this could have been viewed as a fantasy piece for other readers.
February 21, 2025
I really enjoyed this book of short stories. I loved that the author doesn’t identify any of the characters in the stories by name, I feel like it helped me drop into the stories more. It’s definitely an atmospheric rather than plot driven collection. The stories are all bit dark in some ways but it is incredibly tender nonetheless.
The writing was lovely and the use metaphors and descriptive language was great. I love reading about other cultures too and the depictions of rural Korea were great. I could feel the distress and worry around a rapidly changing country and culture.
The writing was lovely and the use metaphors and descriptive language was great. I love reading about other cultures too and the depictions of rural Korea were great. I could feel the distress and worry around a rapidly changing country and culture.
January 17, 2025
I started this book before the new year came around after loving her other two books, but this one really didn’t keep me reading the same way the others did. two stories stood out to me, deathbed and button.
December 22, 2025
3.5 ⭐️
i mused that maybe life was just a formica table littered with the dregs of meals, and employment was simply a matter of finding your spoon and clinging to it for dear life.
my favorite stories from this collection are autobiography, 1984, house of wafers, and shadow child :)
i mused that maybe life was just a formica table littered with the dregs of meals, and employment was simply a matter of finding your spoon and clinging to it for dear life.
my favorite stories from this collection are autobiography, 1984, house of wafers, and shadow child :)
December 22, 2024
Another very good collection of eerie short stories from Ha Seong-nan, translated by Janet Hong, and published by Open Letter Books.
October 20, 2024
I almost always read novels for fiction, but I'm so glad I chanced upon this collection of short stories. This is the third collection published by Ha Seong-nan and it's a delight to read the work of one who has honed her craft. Every story is gripping / nostalgic / quietly poignant / atmospheric.
One of the standouts is House of Wafers, which comments on the rapid and shoddy construction of new homes amidst the economic boom and the human price that's paid as a result. I definitely want to read more of Ha.
One of the standouts is House of Wafers, which comments on the rapid and shoddy construction of new homes amidst the economic boom and the human price that's paid as a result. I definitely want to read more of Ha.
July 19, 2025
Korean translated writings I find to be a bit hard for me to comprehend. I do appreciate the short stories perspectives from Ha Seong-nam, especially the story that spoke to the title of the book. The stories are compelling no doubt, and somehow also paints me a picture of dystopia, and one which I found it hard to relate.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews