Counsel Culture 경청 by Kim Hye-jin 김혜진

From prize-winning Korean author Kim Hye-jin comes the contemplative, superbly-crafted story of a woman scapegoated by sudden tragedy, and the unexpected paths she must wander in search of redemption.

Haesoo is a successful therapist and regular guest on a popular TV program. But when she makes a scripted negative comment about a public figure who later commits suicide, she finds herself ostracized by friends, fired from her job, and her marriage begins to unravel. These details come to the reader gradually, in meditative prose, through bits and pieces of letters that Haesoo writes and finally abandons as she walks alone through her city.

One day she has an unexpected encounter with Sei, a 10-year-old girl attempting to feed an orange cat. Stray cats seem to be everywhere; they have the concern of one other neighborhood woman and the ire of everyone else. Like Haesoo and Sei, the cats endure various insults and recover slowly. Haesoo, who would not otherwise care about animals or form relationships with children, now finds herself pulled back by degrees into the larger world.  from Amazon

김혜진작가의 '경청'을 영어로 번역한 작품이다. 책의 편집에 따라서 200에서 240페이지 정도의 중편정도되는 작품이다. 작품내용도 나쁘지 않지만 번역이 좋아서 재밌게 읽었다. 부분적으로 어두운 내용을 다루고 있지만 큰 부담 없이 읽을 수 있는 작품이다. 성장소설, 가족소설, 사회소설, 힐링소설 등으로 분류할 수 있는 작품이다. 문장은 평이하고 표현은 난해하지 않아서 읽기에 쉬운 편이고 깊이 있는 의미를 전달하는 문장들이 있어서 좋았다.