{"id":3314,"date":"2009-07-01T22:30:58","date_gmt":"2009-07-02T02:30:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bookdragon.si.edu\/?p=3314"},"modified":"2014-05-19T23:56:15","modified_gmt":"2014-05-20T03:56:15","slug":"mijeong-by-byun-byung-jun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/mijeong-by-byun-byung-jun\/","title":{"rendered":"Mijeong by Byun Byung-Jun, translated by Joe Johnson"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Mijeong\"<\/a>Seven stories capture the disconnected restless wanderings of\u00a0modern urban youth. The eponymous opening story is a moody reflection on the loneliness of every day life personified by a stranger named Mijeong [the back cover notes, “In Chinese, ‘Mijeong’ means ‘pure beauty,'” which is true, but the meaning is the same in Korean as well … and this is a Korean manwha<\/em> (comics\/graphic novel), so the Chinese reference seems oddly out of place].<\/p>\n

The second story, “Yeon-du, seventeen years old,” is perhaps the most developed (certainly the most complicated): with shock, a lonely old man recognizes Yeon-du starring\u00a0on his porno screen, happens to meet her on the street, and the two lost souls spend a day reminiscing about their past together before they go their separate tragic ways. In “Utility,” a boy who throws chicks off his balcony hoping to force them to fly, tries to help a classmate dispose of the body of her sister who killed herself after murdering the school principal for sexually abusing her. In “202, Villa Siri,” a graphic artist trying to\u00a0get over his lost love\u00a0unknowingly\u00a0controls the future with his everyday actions. In “Courage, grandpa!,” an obsessed elderly cat jealously loses out to a Korean student who falls for his Japanese teacher.<\/p>\n

While Byun’s stories are undoubtedly disturbing, they seem\u00a0to\u00a0be narratives-still-in-progress. His greater talent (for now) is exemplified in his strikingly memorable black-and-and white visuals (with the exception of a single story\u00a0captured\u00a0in muted pastels in the collection’s middle) that silently question, probe, and haunt the reader far beyond the page.<\/p>\n

Readers<\/strong>: Young Adult, Adult<\/p>\n

Published<\/strong>: 2009 (United States)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seven stories capture the disconnected restless wanderings of\u00a0modern urban youth. 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