Digging yourself into a hole for life.
“Life itself was merely an accumulation of failures, and those failures never made life better.” ~The Hole by Hye-Young Pyun
When Oghi wakes up in the hospital after a car accident, he is only able to blink and move one finger. Luckily, his mother-in-law has volunteered to look after him.
Korean author Hye-Young Pyun artfully interweaves the events that led to Oghi’s car accident that killed his wife and left him paralyzed, while revealing Oghi’s present condition, and his growing anxiety about the care his mother-in-law is giving him.
The themes of helplessness against authority, quality of life and death echo throughout the succinct language and intriguing narrative.
I loved the quiet drama and suspense that reminded me of Han Kang’s The Vegetarian and Stephen King’s Misery.
This is a great read for lovers of novellas and stories that have a sinister sense of normalcy.
If you like this review, check out the following titles:
Ray Bradbury’s The Illustrated Man
Crooked River by Preston and Child
Roald Dahl’s Collected Stories