[b]Han Kang
Time was a wave, almost cruel in its relentlessness as it whisked her life downstream, a life she had to constantly strain to keep from breaking apart.[/b]
You know, he thought, to be optimistic.
I was convinced that there was more going on here than a simple case of vegetarianism.
Some spiritual bullshit probably.
The kind of woman whose goodness is oppressive.
Which, of course, she is totally oblivious of.
Standing at this border where land and water meet, watching the seemingly endless recurrence of the waves (though this eternity is in fact illusion: the earth will one day vanish, everything will one day vanish), the fact that our lives are no more than brief instants is felt with unequivocal clarity.
I’ll have to try that. Again, in other words.
She had believed in her own inherent goodness, her humanity, and lived accordingly, never causing anyone harm. Her devotion to doing things the right way had been unflagging, all her success had depended on it, and she would have gone on like that indefinitely. She didn’t understand why, but faced with those decaying buildings and straggling grasses, she was nothing but a child who had never lived.
Incredibly enough some will take it with them all the way to the grave.
He didn’t know if her desperate efforts to be understanding and considerate were a good or bad thing. Perhaps it was all down to him being self-centered and irresponsible. But right now he found his wife’s patience and desire to do the right thing stifling, which made him still more inclined to see it as a flaw in her character.
On the other hand, is he really going far enough?