A Walk In The Mountains (modern Korean Short Stories) - Tapa dura

An apathetic husband and a wife s slow awakening to a harsh reality share center stage in Young-en So s fascinating short story A Walk in the Mountains. Partly a post-modern detective story of a wife trying to find the cause of her husband s disinclination to function in society, it is also a spiritual exploration that culminates in the husband s nirvana-like revelation, only to have the wife come to grips with a disturbing truth.

Born in 1943 in Gangneung, So Young-en graduated from Gangneung Teacher Training School in 1961. She entered Konkuk University in 1963 to study English Language and Literature but left the university in 1965. Her short story, Gyo (Bridge) won the new writers’ contest held by the monthly journal Sasanggye in 1968. The following year, her story Nawa ‘na’ (I and ‘I’) was included in the new writers’ collection of Monthly Literature, a literary journal. Her short story, Meon geudae (The Distant Beloved) won the 7th Yi Sang Literature Award in 1983, and her story, Sadariga noin chang (A Window with a Ladder) won the 3rd Yeonam Literature Award in 1990.