The Impossible Fairy Tale,
the English language debut and first novel from South Korean writer Han Yujoo
is, for both good reasons and bad reasons, one of the most confusing books I have
come across in quite some time. It is a style that at first hypnotizes you,
then frustrates you and finally, clubs you into submission. It is a very hard
novel to pin down theme wise, but it’s unsolvable mysteries are entertaining
and engaging in and of themselves: some readers will get lost in them and never
find their way out, others will scoff at them and won’t make it past page 100
in this 211 page book. It is no surprise that Yujoo is mainly known in her home
country as a short story writer. This strange, detached style she has no doubt
mastered works better over the course of a few pages, or 20 or 30 at the most. In
novel form, it is a long strange journey that some will finish successfully,
but not all, and even those who do will have little understanding of what they
just bared witness to. I will try my best to summarize and offer my opinion on
such a strange book. Without trying to spoil anything, it is obvious early on
that things might not be as real as they seem. The sentences are almost declarative,
which reminded me of David Peace’s Red or Dead. Ideas, such as fancy colored
pencils, school journals, kittens, puppies and bricks, take on more importance than
they should, even something of a sinister quality. And when the book switches
gears a little over halfway through, it’s motives become apparent, but we are
never any closer to the heart of this book. Is it about the social privileges
of those who are popular and those who are not? Is it about the perils of
turning life into art? Or is it about a person’s need to fix a past mistake
through fiction? There is a lot to chew on in this book, some savory and others
a little bland, but it is a very filling read for something so short.
Rating: 4/5
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