The novel is set in 2011, but much of it deals with events seven years
earlier. Hyonsu Choi, the new head of security
at Seryong Dam, is convicted of several murders (including those of an
11-year-old girl and his wife). He also
opened the dam’s floodgates and destroyed an entire village. His 11-year-old son Sowon survives. Sowon tries to carry on with his life but as
the son of an infamous “crazed murderer,” he and his guardian, Sunghwan Ahn,
find little peace. When Sowon is 18, Mr.
Ahn disappears but a manuscript written by him is delivered to Sowon. That manuscript seems to be a fictionalized
account of events surrounding the murders, but as he reads it, Sowon discovers
it may contain the truth and that his assumptions about his father’s actions
may not have been correct.
The embedded narrative certainly clarifies what actually happened in
2004. It also introduces all the people
involved and gives backstories for most of them. The problem is that there is little focus on
Sowon’s struggles to understand his father’s actions. What Sowon learns forces him to drastically
change the image of his father that he has carried for seven years, but the
reader does not see him having any real difficulty changing his views.
What I appreciated is that the author manages to arouse sympathy for
virtually all the characters. Because
information is given about their backgrounds, the reader comes to understand
why they behave as they do. Their dominant
traits are often a reaction to something that happened in childhood. Many of the characters are trapped by family
expectations and circumstances. Hyonsu,
for example, feels that “everything in his life was so small and constricting.”
Only one character, the real evildoer, is not given a backstory. He also has no redeeming qualities. He is controlling, calculating, and
cold-hearted and doesn’t even seem to be capable of positive emotions like
love. As a consequence, he is a stereotypical
villain. When he is first introduced,
the reader knows immediately that he is somehow involved in what occurred.
I was fascinated by the village that was submerged when the dam was
built. Mr. Ahn goes diving and we are
given a description of what he sees. I
live near the lost villages of the St. Lawrence River, villages that were
inundated to accommodate the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway. (In some locations, a few remnants of
sidewalks and building foundations can still be seen under the water, and some
high points of land in the flooded area remain above water as islands.) I wondered whether finding the name of Yongje
Oh on the nameplate of a submerged home was significant.
There are some pacing issues. The
middle is slow and then the ending seems rushed. Actually, the ending seems written for a film
adaptation.
Though not flawless, the book is an interesting read. I’m interested in writers from around the
world and this South Korean one deserves attention.
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