Untold Night and Day

A mesmerizing dream-like journey through the retired actress, Ayami's senses. The reader is unsure what is happening and it continues to be challenging by the end. The language is suffocating, descriptive, awe-inspiring. A perfect book to read on a sweltering summer day.

Dialog-heavy, thought-provoking, quick-paced.

An understanding of Korean culture and its other references can make a difference while reading. There are a lot of references to people in all sorts of art mediums, but also this book is connected to the author's Korean identity.

I went in not knowing what this book is about and I'm glad I did because I also went out not knowing what it was about haha

This book feels and reads like a fever dream. At one point, I didn't know where I was, what was happening and if this is all really true (within the novel, of course) or not. There are certain things that are constant throughout the book but holding onto them really didn't help.

I was completely immersed and was a little bit disoriented when I finished it. It was quite a unique experience and I enjoyed that a lot. Will have to reread this one day to see if it still has the same effect on me now that I know what's going to happen and if I can maybe make more connections and figure out what it's about.

Deborah Smith again translates with florid language, evoking a surreal landscape where phrases echo word for word throughout the novel. Stories overlap and intersect. Episodes overlay each other as if written on diaphanous paper filling out and filling in the larger narrative as each page is laid on top of the other.

You have to be in the mood for this. It's so contemplatively weird, intent on pushing you off balance and messing with your equilibrium. A hazy fever dream in the liminal space between waking and sleep. Honestly, how many more cliches can I jot down here. I enjoyed the experience, I'm just ill equipped to really talk about it without resorting to all this folderol.

Atmospheric, interconnected looping stories glazed over with mystery in an extraordinary dream-like journey make this book both weird and brilliant. Whether it's the translation or just Bae Suah's writing, the ‘voice' takes a bit to get used to, but once you push through that first disorienting feeling, you'll be well rewarded with an exceptional reading experience. I love books that manage to wrap you up in the environment so thoroughly that you can feel, touch and smell it all. Bae Suah's descriptive language makes you feel sticky with the humid heat of a summer in Seoul, smell it's putrid aromas and visually put yourself in the spaces and places. Clocking in at 152 pages, it's stunning how much she crams into this book. I feel it deserves multiple readings to really take in all the interconnection taking place and to muse on what she's trying to convey. Reading this book is an experience as much as it is a story. I really enjoyed it!