Jung Yi-hyun (Novelist, author of My Sweet City):

After reading a novel that is too sad, a person falls into a long silence. Closing the book, I found myself pondering over and over the meaning of a novel‘s existence. Reality is so powerless—what can such a sad novel possibly offer? I asked myself blankly. If reality is already full of powerlessness, then isn’t fiction even more powerless?

Yet it is precisely here that fiction reconstructs human emotion in a way that differs from reality. The ultimate purpose of a good novel is not consolation, but understanding.

Jo Su-kyung delicately examines the causes of sorrow, the place sorrow occupies, and the paths through which sorrow flows. She calmly reorders the structural threads behind emotion. Through writing, she reveals that “my sorrow” is not isolated, but tightly entangled with the hearts of others within a network of social relationships.

She pulls pain that belongs to the individual up to the social level for reconsideration. Sorrow that sinks inward thus finds a door to push open, setting foot on the path of healing. This is a sincere hand extended to the lives of survivors. And this hand is precisely the meaning of this sorrowful novel’s existence.

★ A new work by an author who probes deeply into life and death: Jo Su-kyung returns after four years with a new full-length novel, A Night in Málaga. The book continues her inquiry into the essence of life, telling the story of Hyung-woo, who lives alone in the world after his family members die by suicide one after another, and who, through a long period of wandering and defeat, rediscovers the meaning of life.

★ A unique life narrative built on the metaphor of the “diving reflex”: The author herself is a freediving enthusiast, and the book ingeniously incorporates the biological concept of the “mammalian diving reflex”—“When diving, the body automatically responds, allowing us to stay underwater longer… Regardless of what the mind thinks, our bodies are designed to strive to survive.” This metaphor runs through the entire book, using the body‘s instinctive will to live as a mirror for the life force that refuses to stop breathing even in the most desperate circumstances—a conception both unique and profound.

★ Reunion with the past self, and a deeper understanding of death and family: On the tenth anniversary of his mother’s and sister‘s deaths, Hyung-woo throws himself off a cliff, but after losing consciousness at the edge of death, he wakes on a beautiful beach that resembles a resort—Málaga. There, he encounters himself at nine, at nineteen, and at twenty-nine. Revisiting memories that are both radiant and full of regret, he gains a deeper understanding of the deaths of his mother, sister, and father. This narrative structure of dialogue with past selves gives the story tremendous literary tension and emotional depth.

★ Praised by novelist Jung Yi-hyun: The ultimate purpose of a good novel is not consolation but understanding. Jung Yi-hyun commented: “Jo Su-kyung delicately examines the causes of sorrow, the place sorrow occupies, and the paths through which sorrow flows. She calmly reorders the structural threads behind emotion. Through writing, she reveals that ‘my sorrow’ is not isolated, but tightly entangled with the hearts of others within a network of social relationships. She pulls pain that belongs to the individual up to the social level for reconsideration. Sorrow that sinks inward thus finds a door to push open, setting foot on the path of healing. This is a sincere hand extended to the lives of survivors.”

Following her near-future novel on the legalisation of euthanasia, Whenever I See the Morning, I Think of You, and her delicate dissection of child abuse cases, After They Disappeared, author Jo Su-kyung presents a new full-length novel, A Night in Málaga. Her previous two works probed deeply into death, family relationships, and various social issues.

Completed after four years, A Night in Málaga tells the story of Hyung-woo, who lives alone in the world after his family members die by suicide one after another, and who, through a long period of wandering and defeat, rediscovers the meaning of life.

Hyung-woo makes his living driving a freight truck, his state of mind on the verge of collapse, as if ready to die at any moment. On the tenth anniversary of his mother‘s and sister’s deaths, he can no longer bear the defeat within him and throws himself off a cliff. But after losing consciousness at the edge of death, he wakes on a beautiful beach that resembles a resort—Málaga.

There, he encounters himself at nine, at nineteen, and at twenty-nine. Revisiting memories that are both radiant and full of regret, he gains a deeper understanding of the deaths of his mother, sister, and father.

Excerpts

P.16
I really hated it when Mother said she wanted to die, but I could more or less understand the reasons behind those words.

P.63
Life is like sinking into water—you can‘t tell up from down, left from right, and you lose your way; but the road is clear. Follow the road and you’ll reach your destination. Arrive at one place, then head toward the next. That is how I have gotten through life for the past ten years.

P.72
The mammalian diving reflex. When diving, the body automatically responds, allowing us to stay underwater longer. I learned to experience this too. And then I truly understood: regardless of what the mind thinks, our bodies are designed to strive to survive.

P.81
The traces left behind in Mother‘s belongings only make the fact of her departure more vivid. Even now, whenever I find a strand of Mother’s hair, I feel all the blood drain from my body. Every function in my body stops instantly, and only memory is activated, replaying Mother‘s past words in chaotic loops in my mind.

P.164
Am I having a long dream right now? If this is a dream, I don’t want to wake up. It feels as though I‘ve spent a complete day with Mom and Eun-woo. Yet this beauty also terrifies me. Because I know clearly what the future holds for Mom and Eun-woo, and that knowledge frightens me even more.

Jo Su-kyung

Novelist and freediving enthusiast. Made her literary debut in 2013 through the Seoul Shinmun New Year Literary Contest.

Short story collection: Everything Has Broken
Novels: Whenever I See the Morning, I Think of You, After They Disappeared, A Night in Málaga

Her wishes for the future: to travel to Africa to participate in wildlife conservation, and ultimately return to nature. Realistically, she will probably become an old woman who faithfully volunteers at a community animal rescue centre. Most importantly, she hopes to keep writing until the very last moment of her life.