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DEEP INTO THE
WORLD OF
EVERYDAY
LIFE
Sung Suk-je’s novels are entertaining,
even touching. His stories are like a
cheerful folk dance. Spectators unknowingly
follow the beat and start dancing.
However, as one excitedly follows his stories,
one suddenly flinches into an abrupt
silence. Excitement is suddenly transformed
into tears, enlightening the reader
with a sudden intuition that the source of
laughter and grief is one and the same.
Drawing pathos from everyday life, this is
why we believe in his writing.
by Lee Se-mi | photographs by Kim Hong-jin
For 24 years, Sung Suk-je has brought his readers laughter and
tears with a writing style that encompasses both his strong personality
and quick plot pacing. Although he has built a strong
resume based on his novels, he first appeared on the literary
scene as a poet.
In 1986, Sung entered the field with his poem Window
Washing Person, which won a prize at Munhaksasang. He went
on to write his first novel, The Last 4.5 Seconds of My Life, in
1994. Since then, his works have continued to win numerous
awards, including the Oh Yeong-soo Literary Award in 2005.
Sung has procured a steady reader base with his prolific published
writings of two collections of poetry, 10 short novels,
essay collections and four novels.
Sung’s literary works are easily accessible for most readers. He
does not seek to affirm his own innocence nor does he bask in
novelty. He also does not tease readers with ostentatiously complex
questions. In his youth, Sung admired colorful patchwork
quilts, and his literary career is often compared to the eclectic
works that were once so impressed upon him.
“I like mixing it up. I’d rather have people than one person in
my stories. I’ve written about whatever my mind shows, like a
patchwork quilt, and that is what I believe my literary world to
be. Literature is communication between author and readers.
Literature is conveying stories I’ve heard and made. Literature is
an inanimate object that springs to life with human interaction.
Unless awoken by human touch, a literary work will just be an
ordinary marker left at a specific location.”
Though Sung is happy with the self-reflection poetry induces,
he also enjoys the interaction that novels bring. Happiness can
be a personal, one-sided emotion but, comparably, when something
is entertaining it must be shared and is hardpressed to be
kept secret. The writer also found new ways of interacting with
the audience with his essays, which, like his novels and poems,
portray his personal side.
“Writing sentences means the domain of fiction has started,
and essays are also kind of a fabrication of fiction. But essays are
usually written with some sort of fact or phenomenon. You cannot
write an essay without them. With these in hand, I have to
magnify and characterize a specific portion to get my point
across clearly. Essays have a different fun to them.”
KOREA
FEBRUARY
2010
17