A review by jayisreading
Autobiography of Death by Kim Hyesoon

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

This was such a haunting collection, in which Kim deeply meditates on death and its presence in our lives and society. There is a belief in Korea that when someone dies, the spirit roams for forty-nine days in this space between life and death before rebirth. These poems do just that, wandering between life and death, with these poems revisiting pain, grief, the violent contemporary history of Korea, among others. These poems are relentless and heartbreaking, and Kim certainly has every intention of leaving the reader a bit unsettled.

It’s well worth reading the interview that Don Mee Choi, the translator, did with the poet, as it gives incredible insight as to how these poems came about. In this case, they were written after the all-too-tragic event of the Sewol Ferry sinking in April 2014, taking the lives of hundreds, most of them being high school students.

Some favorites: “Butterfly    DAY ELEVEN,” “Gravel Skirt    DAY THIRTEEN,” “I Want to Go to the Island    DAY TWENTY,” “Seoul, Book of the Dead    DAY TWENTY-TWO,” “A Gift    DAY THIRTY,” “Name    DAY FORTY-TWO,” and “Face of Rhythm”

Read for the Sealey Challenge.
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