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단 하나의 문장
“생각할 수 없다면 그것을 소유하라. 소유할 수 없다면 부수라.”
약동하고 전복되는 언어와 세계의 스펙터클
오늘의작가상 수상 작가, 구병모 신작 소설집
등단 10년, 이야기의 힘은 여전히 강력하고, 사유는 한 발 더 깊은 곳으로 나아간다
구병모의 신작 소설집이 문학동네에서 출간되었다. 2015년 오늘의작가상을 수상한 『그것이 나만은 아니기를』 이후 처음 출간하는 소설집으로, 2018년 이상문학상 우수상을 수상한 「한 아이에게 온 마을이」와 2017년 문학과지성사에서 주관하는 ‘이 계절의 소설’에 선정된 「지속되는 호의」 등 총 8편이 수록되어 있다. 그간 『네 이웃의 식탁』 『아가미』 『파과』 『한 스푼의 시간』 『위저드 베이커리』 등에서 한계가 보이지 않는 상상력을 속도감 있는 서사로 거침없이 펼쳐 보여 독자들을 매료시킨 구병모. 그는 이번 소설집을 통해 그 어느 때보다도 현실적인, 말 그대로 우리가 발 딛고 살아가는 세계 그 자체를 재현함으로써 지금-여기에 대해 이야기한다.
우리는 이 소설집에서 지금까지와는 조금 다른 구병모를 만나게 될 것이다. 『단 하나의 문장』은 주로 아이를 기르는 여성, 소설을 쓰는 여성을 중심인물로 내세워 사회적 존재로서의 개인, 실존적 불안, 다가올 시대의 윤리 등에 대해 나름의 답을 제시하고 있다. 동시에 새로운 질문을 야기하며 삶과 사회를 바라보는 다층적 시각을 제공한다. 현재는 물론이고 아직 당도하지 않은 시대의 기미를 감지하는 데에도 탁월한 감각을 지닌 구병모는 상상이라는 도구를 통해 삶의 표층을 뚫고 들어가 그 어느 때보다도 깊은 심층부에 가닿는다. 공상과 실재를 이토록 긴밀하고도 집요하게 접속시키는 작가가 국내에 또 있을까?
그는 책 말미 ‘작가의 말’에 “이제는 이야기의 너머에 또는 기저에 닿고 싶어진 것이다. 현전의 재현을 넘어 보이지 않는 것을 보고 잡히지 않는 것을 만질 수 있는 날이, 내게도 올까”라고 썼다. 작가는 마치 『단 하나의 문장』을 통해 그 질문에 대해 자답하는 듯하다. 독자를 빨아들이는 이야기의 힘은 여전히 강력하고, 세계에 대한 통찰은 더욱 폭넓어졌으며, 사유는 한 발 더 깊은 곳으로 나아간다.
약동하고 전복되는 언어와 세계의 스펙터클
오늘의작가상 수상 작가, 구병모 신작 소설집
등단 10년, 이야기의 힘은 여전히 강력하고, 사유는 한 발 더 깊은 곳으로 나아간다
구병모의 신작 소설집이 문학동네에서 출간되었다. 2015년 오늘의작가상을 수상한 『그것이 나만은 아니기를』 이후 처음 출간하는 소설집으로, 2018년 이상문학상 우수상을 수상한 「한 아이에게 온 마을이」와 2017년 문학과지성사에서 주관하는 ‘이 계절의 소설’에 선정된 「지속되는 호의」 등 총 8편이 수록되어 있다. 그간 『네 이웃의 식탁』 『아가미』 『파과』 『한 스푼의 시간』 『위저드 베이커리』 등에서 한계가 보이지 않는 상상력을 속도감 있는 서사로 거침없이 펼쳐 보여 독자들을 매료시킨 구병모. 그는 이번 소설집을 통해 그 어느 때보다도 현실적인, 말 그대로 우리가 발 딛고 살아가는 세계 그 자체를 재현함으로써 지금-여기에 대해 이야기한다.
우리는 이 소설집에서 지금까지와는 조금 다른 구병모를 만나게 될 것이다. 『단 하나의 문장』은 주로 아이를 기르는 여성, 소설을 쓰는 여성을 중심인물로 내세워 사회적 존재로서의 개인, 실존적 불안, 다가올 시대의 윤리 등에 대해 나름의 답을 제시하고 있다. 동시에 새로운 질문을 야기하며 삶과 사회를 바라보는 다층적 시각을 제공한다. 현재는 물론이고 아직 당도하지 않은 시대의 기미를 감지하는 데에도 탁월한 감각을 지닌 구병모는 상상이라는 도구를 통해 삶의 표층을 뚫고 들어가 그 어느 때보다도 깊은 심층부에 가닿는다. 공상과 실재를 이토록 긴밀하고도 집요하게 접속시키는 작가가 국내에 또 있을까?
그는 책 말미 ‘작가의 말’에 “이제는 이야기의 너머에 또는 기저에 닿고 싶어진 것이다. 현전의 재현을 넘어 보이지 않는 것을 보고 잡히지 않는 것을 만질 수 있는 날이, 내게도 올까”라고 썼다. 작가는 마치 『단 하나의 문장』을 통해 그 질문에 대해 자답하는 듯하다. 독자를 빨아들이는 이야기의 힘은 여전히 강력하고, 세계에 대한 통찰은 더욱 폭넓어졌으며, 사유는 한 발 더 깊은 곳으로 나아간다.
312 pages, Paperback
Published November 10, 2018
3 people want to read
About the author
Gu Byeong-mo
24 books204 followersAssociated Names:
* 구병모 (Korean)
* Gu Byeong-mo (English)
* คูบยองโม (Thai)
Gu Byeong-mo is a South Korean writer. She made her literary debut in 2009 when her novel Wizard Bakery won the 2nd Changbi Prize for Young Adult Fiction. Her 2015 short story collection Geugeosi namaneun anigireul received the Today's Writer Award and Hwang Sun-won New Writers' Award.
* 구병모 (Korean)
* Gu Byeong-mo (English)
* คูบยองโม (Thai)
Gu Byeong-mo is a South Korean writer. She made her literary debut in 2009 when her novel Wizard Bakery won the 2nd Changbi Prize for Young Adult Fiction. Her 2015 short story collection Geugeosi namaneun anigireul received the Today's Writer Award and Hwang Sun-won New Writers' Award.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 15, 2025
All the eight short stories in this book are like bouncy balls. If I were to pick one, the most interesting one is "Never Ever Think about Bears" in which the main characters are authors. In this story, there is a character who is tired of the critics' commend that her novel is very earthy and fermented and aged well (’gom-sak-da’ in korean) despite her age. Because of these comments, she becomes neurotic about every word that includes ‘gom’, and even hates the animal bear, which also pronounces as ‘gom’ in Korean. The process of trying to escape from her obsession against those words is really fun to read. Also, I could feel the beauty of using Korean so skillfully in this story.
Among the eight short stories in this collection, authors appear as main characters in four stories. At the end of the book, the author Gu, Byeong-mo writes that she deliberately tried not to make the author or aspiring writer as a character in the stories, but she ends up including four stories featuring authors. I could not help but smile at the fact that Gu consciously try to avoid writing certain stories just like the character in “Never Ever Think about Bears” tried to avoid using certain words. The paradox of the outcome comes alive with this book itself.
I believe writers can indeed write a story totally outside of their experience. Ethics of creating a novel might be a different issue, but apart from that, I strongly believe authors can present a character who is completely different from the authors themselves, whether age, gender, background or in any other way. In this regard, I understand how Gu felt that putting a writer as a character seemed like ‘an easy way to write as she already dipped her toe in the world of creation she already knows in part’. However, it is also true that I could feel the agony of writer characters in her novel very vividly. In fact, the two most memorable stories in this collection are "The life of PC-ist" (in Korean, it means Mr/s P or implies political correctness) and "Never Ever Think about Bears".
Another collection I read this year, 전하영(Jeon Ha-young)'s 시차와 시대착오(Time and Anachronism), featured creators as the main characters of all the short stories. Compare to that, the characters in Gu’s short novels had a completely different meaning. I would give credit to Gu’s words that those characters showed "traces of her repeated thoughts and troubles about writing itself”. In that regard, I think it is safe to say that the stories in this book were necessary for her to further develop as a writer.
The title of the novel collection is also meaningful. It is rather a common practice to name the collection with one of the stories in the book, but it is not the case with this book. Have I gone too far to speculate that the author gave the title because she agonized over each and every sentence in her endeavor with writing? I would not want to give too much meaning on my guesses, but the composition of the short novels and the author’s words at the end of the book open up so much things to think about. At the end, as a reader, I had much fun of freely exploring my thoughts on who an author is, and what kind of author Gu is.
Among the eight short stories in this collection, authors appear as main characters in four stories. At the end of the book, the author Gu, Byeong-mo writes that she deliberately tried not to make the author or aspiring writer as a character in the stories, but she ends up including four stories featuring authors. I could not help but smile at the fact that Gu consciously try to avoid writing certain stories just like the character in “Never Ever Think about Bears” tried to avoid using certain words. The paradox of the outcome comes alive with this book itself.
I believe writers can indeed write a story totally outside of their experience. Ethics of creating a novel might be a different issue, but apart from that, I strongly believe authors can present a character who is completely different from the authors themselves, whether age, gender, background or in any other way. In this regard, I understand how Gu felt that putting a writer as a character seemed like ‘an easy way to write as she already dipped her toe in the world of creation she already knows in part’. However, it is also true that I could feel the agony of writer characters in her novel very vividly. In fact, the two most memorable stories in this collection are "The life of PC-ist" (in Korean, it means Mr/s P or implies political correctness) and "Never Ever Think about Bears".
Another collection I read this year, 전하영(Jeon Ha-young)'s 시차와 시대착오(Time and Anachronism), featured creators as the main characters of all the short stories. Compare to that, the characters in Gu’s short novels had a completely different meaning. I would give credit to Gu’s words that those characters showed "traces of her repeated thoughts and troubles about writing itself”. In that regard, I think it is safe to say that the stories in this book were necessary for her to further develop as a writer.
The title of the novel collection is also meaningful. It is rather a common practice to name the collection with one of the stories in the book, but it is not the case with this book. Have I gone too far to speculate that the author gave the title because she agonized over each and every sentence in her endeavor with writing? I would not want to give too much meaning on my guesses, but the composition of the short novels and the author’s words at the end of the book open up so much things to think about. At the end, as a reader, I had much fun of freely exploring my thoughts on who an author is, and what kind of author Gu is.
October 25, 2024
눈 앞의 사람에게 온 힘을 다해 서사와 질서를 부여한다
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews