Time Difference

K-Fiction Series

by Sou Linne Baik, 백수린, Jeon Miseli (Translator)

Since her literary debut in 2011 with her short story, 거짓말 연습(Lying Practice), Baik Sou linne has won a lot of literary awards, emerging as the new talent in Korean literature. She is well-known for her detailed and realistic storytelling about Korean women’s lives.

The story unfolds when the main character meets her aunt’s son who was adopted to the Netherlands.

111 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2015

Reviews

[Radwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Korean novella, that has some European elements and Van Gogh references? yes, please!

The novella takes a look at two characters, the protagonist and her cousin, both have different ways of perceiving things that happened to them, while one catches on quickly, the other takes years to realize how life had drastically changed, that's where the novella title comes from.

Two characters both suffer from a specific event that happened, and both wonder how their life would've been if they could avoid that specific point in time. "Time Difference" would imply a different kind of story, but I liked the way this turned out.

[Stephane Mot · Rating 3 out of 5]

In “Time Difference”, a married woman is tasked by her mother with meeting Jung-hun / Vincent, a cousin from the Netherlands whose existence is hidden from the rest of the family. Their secret encounters spice up her predictable life, and she is troubled by this man who is seven years older, but looks younger than her. Vincent is at the same time so similar and so different, like an inaccessibly free alien brother. She has a mission, a message for him, but she keeps procrastinating, and simply lives these lively moments. Yet she can’t fully enjoy them, because she already knows that she can lose a brother.

[Mara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not going to lie, I mainly read this to test and practice my Korean, and not for the plot or the author. But it was nice. Not a lot happens, but it's a slice of life novella, where the main character meets her cousin that she did not know existed until very recently (both are very much adults).
What I really like about this series is that the left pages are in the original Korean, and on the right pages there's the English translation. I definitely did not understand everything, but compared to the previous time I read a book from this series (그 날 The Day, about teenaged lesbians), I did notice that I needed the English less time around (although still very regularly).

[Ocean G · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short novella that is a pleasure to read, with some difficult moments. The "Time difference" could also be "Different timeline" or something along those lines, although it also ties together Korea with Europe.


The author has a smooth, pleasant writing style. I will be looking for more by her.


https://4201mass.blogspot.com/

[Sunny · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short story- read it after reading the author's most recent essay collection.
It feels like this piece can be a model for 'this is how you write a short story'- good prose, unreeling of the story is masterful.

[Ralique · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 read english translation