Lee Mun-yeol: The eve, or the last night of the era

Lee Mun-yeol, a representative novelist of Korean literature who has lived through the turbulence of our times. RH Korea has reissued 51 of his short stories and novellas in a six-volume set. In this edition, the covers have been changed, and the title story of Volume 4, "Our Twisted Hero," has been renamed "Burning Memories." Additionally, the order of the text has been partially altered, and the title of "Myocardium, Thus Blocked" has been changed to "Myocardial Infarction" to clarify its meaning. From his debut works "Do You Know Nazareth?" and "The Song of the New Year," to his breakout hit "Our Twisted Hero," and the controversial work "The Escaped Evil Spirit," 51 masterpieces encompassing the literary world of Lee Mun-yeol, Korea's representative novelist, are presented. Although some of his short stories and novellas were published in the early 2000s, the majority were released in the 1980s and 1990s. Adjectives such as “retrogressive romanticist,” “conservative aristocrat,” “dazzling and elegant style,” and “pedantic taste” often accompany Lee Mun-yeol’s novels. The reason his complete collection of short stories and novellas—which captures the turmoil of our times better than anyone else, surrounded by the Korean War, division, anti-communist oppression, and the ideologies of democratization and liberation that unfolded continuously after April 19—is being reread even now, well over decades after its publication, is likely because his novels contain the pain, sorrow, despair, and nihilism of our era inherent within them. At the end of each of the six volumes, literary critics have included commentaries on the works. These will serve as a guide to illuminate the world of the writer Lee Mun-yeol and his literary world in a multi-dimensional way.

Korean title: 전야, 혹은 시대의 마지막 밤

Korean author: 이문열

Korean publisher: 알에이치코리아

ISBN-13: 9788925588834