‘The Girl Left Behind’ also draws attention in Korea… 7 short stories by Claire Keegan included
Those who live in violence and conflict… expressed in unique, restrained sentences
◇Walking through the Blue Fields/Written by Claire Keegan/Translated by Heo Jin/252 pages/16,800 won/Dasan Books
![[책의 향기]Plain sentences, deep resonance… Silently walking through a harsh life](https://dimg.donga.com/wps/NEWS/IMAGE/2024/08/30/126770930.8.jpg "[책의 향기]Plain sentences, deep resonance… Silently walking through a harsh life")
There are times when I just want to walk. I feel like my thoughts will be organized if I walk. When the wind brushes my ears and I feel the fallen leaves under my feet, my mind finally becomes calm. The characters in Irish novelist Claire Keegan’s novel collection “Walking Through Green Fields” also walk. A Catholic priest who has sent away his beloved lover, and a college student who is in conflict with his new father all walk in the moonlight.
The early short story collection of novelist Keegan, who has also been garnering attention in the domestic publishing industry with ‘The Girl Entrusted’ and ‘Such Trivial Things’, has been published. This is the third work of Keegan to be introduced in Korea. Keegan, who debuted in 1999 with ‘Antarctica’, is considered one of the representative writers of her country, to the extent that her works are included in Irish textbooks. The works that were translated and published in Korea in April and November last year have been on the bestseller list for several weeks.
This anthology contains seven short stories that sharply portray the reality of Ireland with a sharp eye. The characteristic of leaving a lasting impression with concise and restrained sentences remains, but it delves into real-life issues more directly. Six of the seven stories are set in Ireland, and feature patriarchal and violent fathers and male characters.
The reality of the characters is bleak and difficult. In the title work, ‘Walking in the Green Fields’, the main character, a Catholic priest, is torn between his role as a priest and his worldly feelings and sends off his beloved lover. In ‘Farewell Gift’, the father sexually abuses his young daughter with his wife’s acquiescence. On the day his daughter leaves for New York, he does not even come out to see her, but lies in bed to say goodbye. In ‘The Forester’s Daughter’, Deegan does not know how to love his wife and children and is obsessed with his land.
The short story “Near the Water” is also included, which Haruki Murakami commented on when publishing a collection of short stories by foreign writers in 2004, saying, “The warm and profound scene lingers in my mind for a long time.” The three-way confrontation between the nouveau riche stepfather, the poor mother from a rural farm, and the son attending Harvard University is described as if it could explode at any moment. The son recalls an episode of his grandmother, who was a country bumpkin and was tied to her husband all her life. One day, the grandmother went to see the ocean that she had wanted to see so badly, but her husband stopped the car because he was five minutes late for the appointment. The grandmother had to jump into the road and stop the car, and she lived her whole life with the man who tried to abandon her. The images of the grandmother and the mother intersect, heightening the suffocating atmosphere.
The short stories included do not have episodes with a clear introduction, development, turn, and conclusion. The characters are mostly indecisive or weak. They are not strong enough to change reality. They just walk. And yet life goes on. That in itself seems to be the message. The short stories are only 16 pages long. You can read them lightly as if you were taking a walk.
Reporter Kim So-min [email protected]
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2024-08-31 05:27:39