Diary of a Murderer: And Other Stories

A collection of short stories built around the titular story originally published as a standalone novella. It's easily the strongest of the group about a 70 year old veterinarian Byeongsu living with his adopted daughter Eunhui. The thing is she's actually the daughter of Byeongsu's last two victims capping off a long killing spree. And that's just the set-up. Things get even more interesting from there with twists that play with the form and leaves you scratching your head.

It's something that carries over into the other stories as well. The twist, the subversion, the punchline in each of the stories. The final story, The Writer, veers way off the beaten track reading like a Korean Hunter S Thompson writing Naked Lunch while channelling Monty Python. It was a bit much - but again, totally unexpected.

I really enjoyed the assured translation. Krys Lee teaches creative writing at one of of South Korea's most prestigious universities and is an English language novelist in her own right. She maintains the clipped, declarative style of an originalist translation but injects a bit of writerly flourish without getting too carried away. It's just right for this surprising collection.