The Crying Bird: A Novel by Gu Byeong-mo

Author Gu Byeong-mo · Publisher Munhakdongne · Published 2025-09-17 · ISBN 9791141602451

About the Book

"Wounds are the leaven of love."
Winner of the Today's Author Award, Kim Yu-jeong Literary Award, and Kim Hyeon Literary Plaque
Gu Byeong-mo's new full-length novel

A woman who reads others through their wounds,
and others as eternal texts

Gu Byeong-mo, an author who needs no further accolades, whose name has become a brand, has released her new full-length novel, 『Jeolchang』, published by Munhakdongne. Gu Byeong-mo has demonstrated a firm grasp of narrative in the novel 『Pagwa』, a keen insight into the times in 『Your Neighbor's Table』, profound literary imagination in 『Through the Ivory Gate』, and an unlimited spectrum of thought in her short story collections 『A Single Sentence』 and 『Everything Possible』. Having been translated and published in over a dozen countries worldwide, selected as one of the '100 Notable Books' by the New York Times, and adapted into a film loved by countless readers, she also holds the Kim Hyeon Literary Plaque, which primarily recognizes "experimental spirit that presents new prospects for Korean literature." She is an author who occupies a unique position, receiving fervent and solid support from both the literary world and the general public. Her new full-length novel 『Jeolchang』 is a work that will satisfy any reader who loves any of Gu Byeong-mo's works, given her vast literary territory. The title '절창 (切創)' means 'incised wound,' and it tells the story of a woman who can read the hearts of others by touching their wounds. This novel, which is also a strange love story that cannot be easily defined by language, delves into a deep reflection on the act of deciphering others, who are eternal texts that cannot be read without presupposing misinterpretation, and the possibility and impossibility of that act.

"She is my… question.
The most profound, most difficult question given to me."

A girl who grew up in an orphanage, not knowing her parents' whereabouts. One day, she discovers she has a special ability. By touching another's wound, she can literally 'read' their thoughts. She vaguely realizes this ability through the flood of words that poured into her mind when she pressed her palm against a friend's wound to stop the bleeding from an accident in her childhood, but she grows up without thinking she could ever use it. Meanwhile, Moon Oh-eon, a businessman who accidentally learns of her ability, knows better than anyone how to utilize it. Oh-eon gives her a new name, new clothes, and a new life after she leaves the orphanage and, leading a difficult life, comes to him for help. He then builds a grand mansion to hide her from the world. She develops subtle feelings for him, who exploits her and is ruthless towards others, yet shows her a kindness and consideration she has never experienced in her life. That is, until he commits an irreversible act against her. After 'that incident' which causes her deep betrayal, she closes her heart to him. Oh-eon wishes for her to 'read' him with her 'ability' to make her fully understand him, but she only replies with intense hatred, "I can read everyone in the world if necessary, until the day I suddenly die. But I will never read you." And then, a live-in reading tutor appears between them. This tutor, who is also the narrator of this story, observes the relationship between the 'young lady' with the special ability and Oh-eon, who considers her his 'profound question,' with both suspicion and curiosity.

"Do you prefer comedy over tragedy?"
"Does it matter? It's all lies anyway."

A woman with a mysterious ability to read others' minds through touch, and a man who wants to be read through that ability. As you follow the story of 『Jeolchang』, which wears the outer shell of a mystery or a strange romance, you realize that it is ultimately a story about the act of 'reading.' Reading others as texts is an act that humans engage in from birth until death. And that act inevitably creates distortion. One cannot read others without presupposing misinterpretation. If that is the essential irony of reading, is there really no way to overcome it? If someone had a special ability to nullify such barriers to reading, could we understand each other without any misunderstandings? 『Jeolchang』 seems to be asking the reader these questions. And if there is a desire to fully read others as they are, a desire to be read by another without any distortion, can we not call that love? So, this novel could also be called a story about profound love.
Another interesting part is that we hear the story of the two people only through the statements and perspective of 'I,' the reading tutor, from beginning to end. This implies that even this story inevitably presupposes distortion. For example, the narrator presents two versions of the situation the 'young lady' was in before she went to Oh-eon. And she asks us, "Which version of the story sounds more plausible and fitting for them?" Ultimately, we can only infer the truth by listening to her story, and that creates another layer in this novel: 'reading with distortion.' And the author seems to suggest that this is perhaps the destiny of a story.

☆☆☆Enthusiastic Reactions from Early Readers☆☆☆
"A novel that makes you turn to the first page again the moment you finish the last."
"A story that will cut deep into your heart, like a profound wound."
"A groundbreaking novel that will utterly subvert your senses."
"A crazy novel that only Gu Byeong-mo could write."
"Crazy (positive). I really lost track of time reading it."
"The sharply honed sentences pierced deeply, leaving a cut."
"Fresh material, breathless development, and a deeply lingering ending."
"The truth we believe is always a narrative that includes interpretation and misinterpretation."
"A story about a new kind of love that cannot be defined by existing words."
"Once you read the first chapter, you can't stop. As you read, pondering what 'reading' truly is, all sorts of emotions surge."
"A story about the incomprehensible human text, where everything I thought was wrong could also be right."
"A story that is complete from the introduction."
"Another legendary work of literature has been born..."
"A beautiful, cruel, and addictive novel."
"A text about a new approach to understanding and interpreting humanity."
"I, too, found myself reading their wounds, covered in love, hatred, and revenge."
"A surreal love story, sharp and cold as if cut by a knife."
"Gu Byeong-mo's world is always unfamiliar, yet impossible to distance oneself from."
"A novel that incisively dissects human isolation and connection within the illusion of mutual understanding."
"The book is strange (positive)."
"A feast of sharply sculpted sentences that are verbose yet not trite, dry yet not cold."
"How can one write such a text?"

Table of Contents

Incised Wound 9
Source of Quotations 347