One Hundred Shadows by Hwang Jungeun is the story of two people trying to make their way on the edges of society in Korea. They are young, undereducated, poor, and live in what others call a slum.
Although the two lead characters work in repair shops in a loud, crowded area, the story has a very dreamlike quality. Scenes seem to focus in on very small, sharp details and then spin off into a gauzy, out-of-focus meandering. This short novel uses fantastical elements of shadows being able to detach from their people and lead them off into the unknowable. Meanwhile, the Eungyo and Mujae spend time together getting to know each other and observing the often unfair world around them. It is amazing how much is learned about these character’s perspectives in such a subtle and short work. Interestingly, I was unsure how I felt about this novel as soon as I finished it. It was only after thinking about the beautiful and unique writing, reflecting on the social commentary, and letting it sink in a bit, that I found that I really liked it.
This was an advance reader’s copy. Hopefully when this is published, it will include a glossary, and some information on major Korean culture and history points. I looked some things up as I was reading, and that background was very helpful to me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing the digital ARC. ( )

I find it hard to evaluate this novella. I know I'll read it again. This is a haunting, hesitant narrative, about a real world of working class labour in an electronics market is threatened with destruction for the purposes of gentrification. It is shot through with a miasma of personal shadows with their own life force. This is the world in which a friendship between Eungo and Mujae tentatively develops. They share soups, they sing to one another, they wonder at the power of words, though they themselves speak little.

This is eloquent, spare prose which got under my skin, though sometimes I hardly understood why. ( )

In the aftermath of the 2009 Yongsan Disaster, a Seoul slum marked for demolition witnesses the inexplicable rise of residents' shadows. Electronics-repair-shop duo Eungyo and Mujae, amidst the crumbling landscape, can only watch as their community dissolves, shadow by shadow. The novel dances with understated yet emotional magical realism, exploring futility in a capitalist society. Against the uncaring ruling class and the enigmatic shadows, Eungyo and Mujae find solace in their growing connection, but it may not be enough to fend off the impending shadowscape.

Pros:
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A bittersweet and hesitant romance in the age of estranged labour. Haunting, mysterious, and strange. The kind of book that gets under your skin without you noticing; a stripped-down, bare-bones prose style, and characters sketched out over the pages with great emotional restraint. The build-up is in the small, banal details of everyday life contrasted with the heightened menace/emotion as the central relationship develops alongside the plague of rising shadows. ( )

This is a slight and somewhat confusing book, but one that creates an atmosphere and mood wonderfully. There are elements of magic realism in the unexplained rising shadows. There is a touching, developing romance between the two central characters. And there is the spectre of gentrification threatening to take away their workplace, which also functions as a second home and community for most of the characters. It started some interesting discussions at my book group, and was a quick yet memorable read. ( )