The Rainy Spell

The Rainy Spell, first published in 1978, is still rated as one of the finest short stories to deal with the Korean War experience. Because it was a war in which a homogeneous race slaughtered each other, the Korean War left a wound in the Korean psyche that is still not completely healed after half a century. The momentous encounter between the two grandmothers with sons in the opposing war camps is innocently reported by a child who gets caught up in the grown-ups’ games of hate. The final reconciliation between the women holds out a hope for healing and transcendence.

Yun Heunggil (born 14 December 1942) is a South Korean novelist known for his treatment of conflicts between the individual and society. He received his degree in Korean literature from Wonkwang University in 1973. In 1977 he won the Korean Literature Writers Award.

Yun Heunggil was born 14 December 1942 in Jeongeup, Jeollanam-do in Korea. He graduated from Jeonju Teachers School and Wonkwang University. Originally a schoolteacher, he has made a living as a writer since 1976, while also teaching at the university level.

Yun’s career can be divided into three phases. In the first phase, with often partly autobiographical works written during the early 1970s, Yun uses a young male narrator to depict a gloomy existence in which the family is threatened by internal or external troubles. Works of these periods include The Rainy Spell and The Lamb.

In a later phase, his novels shifted focus to depict life under the authoritarian Park Chunghee regime, in which the primary tensions are between personal conscience and material well-being, which was proposed by Park Chunghee. In 1977, he entered into the third stage with the publication of The Man Left with Nine Pairs of Shoes, in which the characters actively resist the forces oppressing them.

Yun currently works as a professor of creative writing at Hanseo University, Seosan.

This was published the year I was born, which really drives home how soon in time the Korean War was and how much it must still be affecting the Koreans around me. I must say, a lot of Korean literature fails to move me emotionally all that much, even if the subject matter normally would. I don’t know if it’s the translation issue or a cultural gap issue.

But this novella was good. Better than many I have read in the past. It covers the events between one family, where one side supports the North and the other side the South. And the rain – I can feel that rain and hear it.