First Impression Friday will be a meme where you talk about a book that you JUST STARTED! Maybe you’re only a chapter or two in, maybe a little farther. Based on this sampling of your current read, give a few impressions and predict what you’ll think by the end.

Synopsis:

Whale is a sweeping, multi-generational tale that blends fable, farce, and fantasy.

Set in a remote village in South Korea, Cheon Myeong-kwan’s beautifully crafted novel follows the lives of three linked characters: Geumbeok, an extremely ambitious woman who has never recovered from the indescribable thrill she experienced when she first saw a whale crest in the ocean; her mute daughter, Chunhui, who communicates with elephants; and a one-eyed woman who controls honeybees with a whistle.

Written by one of South Korea’s most original voices, Whale is a novel brimming with surprises and wicked humour; a picaresque narrative that casts a satirical eye on Korea’s whirlwind transformation into a highly developed and wealthy nation.

It is finally the weekend! I hope everyone is ending the work week on a high note. I hope it went well for everyone. If it went the other way around, I hope that you will spend the weekend recovering. I hope you get your groove back. Meanwhile, it is now time to dress down. Ditch those corporate attires and don some comfortable articles of clothing. The past two days have been damp here in the Philippines, a contrast to the humid weather we’ve experienced during the first three days of the week. At least it is colder so who am I to complain? I am looking forward to a restful weekend ahead. I hope everyone will have a great weekend!

But before I can dive into the weekend, I will be sharing a fresh First Impression Friday update. After spending June reading works of Asian writers – it was amazing, I have decided to extend it this July. The journey has taken me across the vast continent, from China to Pakistan to Israel. Except for Central Asia, I think I have covered every corner of the region. I hope to cover more parts in the second half of July. Wow. I can’t believe that we’re already midway through the month. The first half of the month has been very slow. I guess this is because I have been busy at the office. Nevertheless, I had some good reads.

Currently, I have returned to South Korea with Cheon Myeong-Kwan’s Whale. After Han Kang’s Greek Lessons and Kyung-Sook Shin’s Violets, Whale is the third work of a South Korean writer I read in the past month. I think this is the record for most works of Korean writers I read in a year, at least for books that were originally written in Korean. Prior to the announcement of the longlist of the 2023 International Booker Prize, I have never heard of Cheon Myeong-kwan who is also a screenwriter and film director.

The International Booker Prize has been a great venue for discovering writers who write in languages other than English. It was actually through this Prize that I came across Han Kang whose novel, The Vegetarian, was the first winner of the revamped Prize in 2016; it was previously awarded to a writer’s entire body of work rather than a single book published in English in the United Kingdom. Anyway, Whale was one of the books that immediately caught my attention from this year’s longlist. It made it all the way to the shortlist but it fell short of the prize which was awarded to Bulgarian writer Georgi Gospodinov’s Time Shelter, another book I am looking forward to. I was lucky enough to obtain a copy of Whale just in time for my foray into Asian literature month.

Originally published in 2004, Whale is Cheon’s debut novel. Set in a remote South Korean village, the novel charted the story of three generations of women starting in post-war Korea. The bulk of the story followed Geumbok. Geumbok was born in a remote village in the mountains. Her father was a drunkard and was abusive. She then took control of her destiny and left her father. She moved to a coastal city with an itinerant fishmonger. Her first glimpse of the sea and of a whale inspired her to aim for the proverbial stars: When she saw the blue whale from the beach, she had glimpsed what eternal life looked like, life that had triumphed against death.

Geumbok has an unusual effect on men. They gravitated toward her. She hopped from one lover to another, starting with the fishmonger which she replaced with a laborer. She then replaced the laborer with a Yakuza, the owner of a cinema. The Yakuza was referred to as the “man with the scar, the renowned con artist, notorious smuggler, superb butcher, rake, pimp of all the prostitutes on the wharf, and hot-tempered broker”, or the “man with the scar” for short. The novel’s first of three parts concerned this part of her life. Geumbok also has extraordinary business acumen, a sense that I surmise will come in handy as the story developed.

The novel’s second primary character was Chunhui, Geumbok’s daughter. She is mute. I find it interesting that despite the writer being a man, women drove the story. We also read about a “crone” who saved a hefty amount of money and hid it somewhere it was out of reach of everyone. The novel is anything but uneventful. The myriad of events taking place simultaneously can be a little disconcerting. I realize that the novel has layers of magical realism which makes it even more challenging I guess. But I must say, Cheon is an enthralling writer. He commands my attention; the story does require focus to be able to sift through everything that he throws your way.

There is still a lot to unpeel in the novel. I just started the second part of the story so there is a lot more I have to look forward to. Will it be a family saga? Will it be a coming-of-age story? Will it be a convergence of all of these? There is a lot to look forward to and I can’t wait to see how Cheon unpacks all of it. It is going to be a very busy weekend. How about you fellow reader? What book or books are you taking with you for the weekend? I hope you get to enjoy them. Again, happy weekend everyone!