After completing his epic trilogy — "Taebaeksanmaek," "Arirang" and "Hangang" — novelist Cho Jung-rae faced one question from readers again and again: why does he write only about history and social issues, and never a love story? Over the years Cho published a vast body of work, but he had never brought himself to write a tale of love.
Now Cho has returned with "Seorikkot," his first full-length novel built around love. At a press conference held on the 24th at the Korea Press Center in Jongno District, Seoul, Cho said the impulse to write a romance came from a remark by a younger colleague at a drinking gathering. "The novelist Kim Hoon, who had read 'Taebaeksanmaek,' told me that if you set apart the story of Sohwa and Jeong Ha-seop on its own, it becomes a love story that surpasses the Chunhyangjeon," Cho said. "As I grow older and my time for writing runs short, I thought it would be meaningful to close out my life by writing the love story readers had wanted."
It is the first love story from a writer who made his debut in 1970 and has published 68 books through this latest work, but it is no simple romance. "I wanted to write a love story, but to lay a clear and solid theme over it," he said. "I set as my theme the way a sad love story is deeply tied to social problems rooted in reality." He added: "The reality is that the boundless greed of capitalism colludes with state power to destroy healthy citizens. I wanted to write about how eternal love is destroyed and re-created under such conditions."
"Seorikkot" is a sad love story that begins with a single poem and a painting. The protagonist, Lee Jae-i, submits a poem to a poetry-and-painting exhibition held by a club during his university days, and Yun So-in, an art student captivated by his poem, draws a striking piece inspired by Vincent van Gogh's "The Starry Night." The two are drawn to each other, but Lee, pushed by his businessman father, leaves to study in the United States and returns to Seoul five years later. When they meet again, Yun has fallen gravely ill, and Lee resolves to give everything he has for her. "No matter how brutal capitalism becomes, it cannot stop love as in this novel," Cho said. "Love is like the hope that keeps human beings living on. If humans had no hope, by what force could they live out this weary life?"
Cho said "Seorikkot" will be his last full-length novel. "I want to become humble before the novel and allow myself a little freedom over my own body," he said. "Until now I have written as if in a struggle, like running a 100-meter dash, but from now on I want to take life a little more slowly." He added: "Writing full-length novels for more than 50 years, I neglected the short story, where my literature began. I want to revive the world of the short story and to write essays as well."
Cho, who still writes by hand on manuscript paper rather than on a computer, stressed that the novelist's role will not change even in the age of artificial intelligence. "No matter how far AI advances, it cannot write novels, because there is no telling where a writer's imagination will go," he said. "If people give their utmost in their own fields, AI can never catch up."
Asked what has not changed over his 56 years as a writer, Cho answered: effort. "As a writer, I have never once believed in my talent," he said. "No talent beats effort, and talent without effort is like a flower that bears no fruit."
