You collapse into yourself, until you turn into a story that’s been told so many times it’s no longer recognizable.
This collection begins with steps for eating your own heart; the human organ that breaks against the world and requires rejuvenation often. It’s a clever piece. In Green Frog a mother uses a Korean fairy tale to express how well she knows her daughter. Grief drives the story as the narrator dropped out of college to care for her dying mother, and maybe to hide from her own life. Is she truly like the fictional green frog? Will the similarities be enough to convince her to change her ways, to stop doing things in life the hard way? The stories go straight for the heart and show the many faces of family bonds, playing out differently depending on one’s culture. In this collection it is Korean Americans giving voice to challenges of expectations in love relationships, career and self. In After the Party, Mia Chang and her Mathematician husband Peter are throwing a dinner party for his colleagues when the head of the department gets a little too friendly with her. Should she just ‘be reasonable’ and let it go to help Peter? At the same time, her mother is dealing with her own failing marriage. What stood out is the line Mia Chang’s mother uses when she tells her daughter that her husband moved out, “I’m just so glad your grandparents aren’t alive to see this. I could die of shame.” Makes me think about what it means to be an obedient daughter, the cost. It is a heavier feeling when Mia explains how hard her mother tried to be what her husband needed, sweating over their faculty parties. Her mother, a split woman. Is Mia much different?
The stories are touching, but the one I love best is Rabbit Heart. A young, clumsy, overweight little girl travels to Seoul to visit her grandmother for the first time and feels seen, beautiful and loved for a whole summer. Through her grandma’s rich stories of rabbits, snails, and animals who become human, she learns important lessons. She is a rich root that nurtures her granddaughter, be it on the telephone or through dreams, to the very end. Presence is about losing oneself and what happens when we refuse to bear witness to the past. The most fantastical tale is Human Hearts about kumiho, a mythological Korean creature that can transform into the human form of a beautiful woman. Here, there is a taste for revenge. Even creatures of folktales wrestle with obeying their difficult mother. An insect has feelings and regrets about her purpose, in Mantis. Dolls can speak and want nothing more than to live and be free, the same as the twin sisters that they belong too, all suffocating in their uncle’s glass house in Honey and Sun.
Attachment Process is another favorite of mine, it’s about a couple’s attempt at revising their parenting past as well as easing their grief using technology. It’s eerie, moving and provocative. Gina Chung uses Korean folklore and mythology for modern wounds, it’s original and affecting. Many of the tales would make great novels too. I always enjoy reading stories that are blended with mythology/folklore from around the world, wonderful to pass on generation after generation. I’m a sucker for it, especially when it’s weaved into modern tales with ease. Yes, read it!
Publication Date: March 12, 2024
Vintage
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