December’s always dull month in the publishing calendar if you enjoy the kind of fiction I do. This year’s offerings seem particularly thin, just two, one of which I’ve already read.
Gu Byeong-Mo’s Your Neighbour’s Table is set in a government funded apartment building; a pilot project aimed at addressing South Korea’s ever-dwindling birth rate. Applicants must have at least one child and be prepared to produce two more. When Yojin, Euno and six-year-old Siyul move in there are only three other families in residence. Over the next few months, group dynamics are increasingly strained, communal childcare becomes a competition, and marriages are stretched to breaking point. This is a highly gendered, hierarchical society with strict expectations of behaviour. Men assume their wives to be the primary caregivers to their children even when, like Yojin, they’re the ones earning the money. I enjoyed this glimpse of a society I know little about albeit a somewhat depressing one. Review soon…
Lauren Groff is the guest editor of this year’s volume of The Best American Short Stories 2024, alongside Heidi Pitlor, which is part of the attraction for me. The collection comprises twenty stories which include pieces from Laurie Colwin, Paula Yoon, whose The Hive and the Honey I loved earlier in the year, Daniel Mason and James Brinkley. ‘“There have never been as many exquisitely built stories in existence than there are now,” proclaims guest editor Lauren Groff in her introduction’ according to the blurb promising a collection well worth investigating.
That’s it for December, my briefest preview yet. As ever, a click on a title will take you to a more detailed synopsis if you like the sound of either of them.
Thanks for these. I suppose the publishers push books in the summer/autumn for the Christmas market. I have enough of a TBR stack to keep me going for weeks!
I’m sure some readers will greet this preview with a sigh of relief!
I read last year’s Best Short Stories volume (also edited by Groff) and there was some great stuff in there.
She’s a regular then! I have so many short story collections in my tbr after becoming a convert that I wondering whether to add yet another to the pile but Groff’s editorship makes it very tempting.
That other one she did was the O’Henry, I can’t keep track of all the different BestOf’s either: it was a really good collection, but this one also appeals to me. Can she pull off another wonder? hee hee Of course she can.
I’m sure you’re right!
A collection that includes a contribution by Daniel Mason sounds good to me
There are some great names in that line-up!
I can’t decide if Your Neighbour’s Table appeals or not. I shall await your review!
Not a comforting read, but I’m glad I read it.
I like the sound of Your Neighbour’s Table though having just read three eco-dystopias in a row, will probably hold off for a while!
Ha! I imagine you want something a bit more soothing after that.
Because my daughter worked in SK for a year, and of course we visited, I’m interested in the Gu Byeong-Mo. But yes, they’re a society that seem very hard on themselves as they try to ensure their chidren climb higher up the career ladder than they themselves have.
It does sound quite a challenging culture. What did your daughter do there?
She was teaching English in a primary school on a one year programme, in SK’s second city, Busan. It was marvellous. She was given a council flat nearby and made so welcome. We were invited to visit too: https://margaret21.com/2016/09/23/in-which-we-are-vips/. Aware that taking photos of children in the UK is so frowned upon, I took none there that included children, so my photos are rather dead looking. And nobody would have cared how many I took including pupils. Ah well.
Thanks for the link, Margaret. What an experience! Having looked at your pictures, I assume your daughter looks back fondly at those facilities if she’s still teaching.
No, she taught for some years, but is now a content-writer for an international firm based in Barcelona.
I often think I should read more short stories, so an anthology might be a good bet. I’ll look out for that one. But I know what you mean about December – it’s a dire month for new releases unless one loves celebrity biographies….
Oh, I remember those from bookselling days, piled up in the returns room in January!
Your Neighbour’s Table sounds worth exploring–I’ve come across some of these themes in the little Korean lit I’ve explored so far but I haven’t dived in two deep. Recently though, two new titles have landed in my mailbox.
I’ll be interested to see what you think of them if you decide to review them, Mallika.