A Contradiction: A Novel by Yang Gui-ja (Hardcover)

Author Yang Gui-ja · Publisher Sseuda · Published 2013-04-01 · ISBN 9788998441012

About the Book

Understand the Contradiction...
The protagonist of 『Contradiction』 is Ahn Jin-jin, a 25-year-old single woman. Her family consists of her assertive mother, who sells underwear at the market, her father, who occasionally returns home after wandering in an unknown state, and her younger brother, whose life's dream is to be a gang boss. Her aunt, who appears as an important character in the novel, is an identical twin to Ahn Jin-jin's mother, but their lives have taken very different paths. The wealthy aunt is fed up with her boring life, while the poor mother has so many misfortunes to deal with that she has no time to be bored.
Ahn Jin-jin, the protagonist, observes the vastly different lives of her mother and aunt and begins to seriously ponder how to understand this life full of contradictions.

As is always the case with Yang Gui-ja's novels, 『Contradiction』 also features the author's sharp and delicate prose, which plays a significant role in vividly bringing to life characters whose lives might otherwise seem schematic. One cannot overlook Yang Gui-ja's well-structured narrative, which progresses by selecting seemingly trivial and insignificant episodes from our daily lives. With a stark contrast of lives that are neither exaggerated nor understated, the author powerfully delivers the story she wishes to tell. This is probably the strength of Yang Gui-ja's novels.

Life is to be Explored
Through the protagonist in her novel, the author tells readers to observe their lives carefully. She tells them not to just let things happen, but to live ready to boldly change the direction of their lives when the appropriate moment comes. Life is not merely something to be accepted, but something to be explored throughout one's entire existence.
Perhaps this is why the protagonist, Ahn Jin-jin, is twenty-five years old. Many readers in their twenties have left reviews stating that they resonated with the protagonist's serious self-reflection—a protagonist who "indulges in apathy and cynicism about life," and "lets life slip through her fingers without ever seriously creating a balance sheet for it"—and that it made them re-evaluate their own lives. In this sense, 『Contradiction』 has achieved the greatest success a novel can hope for.

Answer 1998...
Published in the summer of 1998, 『Contradiction』 was a novel that garnered significant attention in the Korean publishing industry, entirely independent of the author's or publisher's intentions. That year, Korea was experiencing a massive financial crisis that was dismantling its economic structure. The tears of countless unemployed individuals pushed onto the streets were reported daily on broadcasts, and escaping the bailout was the biggest challenge for the Korean economy. The publishing industry, too, was struggling.

Published right after the IMF crisis, this novel could also be seen as a test of whether the publishing industry, which was also in a severe slump, could recover the reading market. The publishing industry, observing whether the success of Yang Gui-ja's novels—which consistently sold over a million copies every three years—could be replicated during a financial crisis, was surprised to see 『Contradiction』 enter the bestseller ranks even faster than her previous works.

The author herself stated in her 'Author's Note': "In these times when everything has changed so suddenly, in these anxious and bewildering days, what can a novel give us? I started this novel hoping to offer some words of comfort to those who have lost courage and fallen, but this life intertwined with contradictions remains difficult." It is hoped that, like the comfort it offered in 1998, this novel will continue to be chosen by many readers today, serving as an opportunity for them to reinterpret life.

Table of Contents

1 The Cry of Life
2 Lies
3 A Scene with People
4 Father of a Sad Sunset
5 The Faint Shadow of Love
6 The Meaning of Those Ten Minutes Long Ago
7 The Hyperbole of Misfortune
8 Good Joo-ri
9 On the Way to Dosolam Hermitage at Seonunsa Temple
10 Three Memos on Love
11 The Fourth Memo on Love
12 Unbearable, So Unbearable
13 The Day After We Broke Up
14 Christmas Present
15 Bitter and Sweet
16 Letter
17 Contradiction
Author's Note