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Book Review
Hongdae Fire by Jon Dunbar Reviewed by William Urbanski
BOOK REVIEW
I
am going to start this review by saying I liked this book quite a bit. Admittedly, after going through the first few pages, it was unclear what direction it would take, but I was pleasantly surprised by a couple of stand-out features, namely, the character development, the grittiness (which tends to be glossed over in other depictions of Korea), the use of locations throughout Seoul, and the incorporation of several prominent themes in Korean society. While parts of the book may seem over the top and quite graphic (it is definitely not PG13, if you know what I mean), I think it does a good job of “borrowing” inspiration from real-world events and combining them with just enough creative storytelling to make it a page-turner. Besides the story itself, it also serves as somewhat of a primer on important narratives on the peninsula.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
April 2021
Plot Overview and Themes: Drowning in the Mainstream
The story, which takes place in approximately 2005, centers around a lethal fire at an underground punk rock club called “Slammer” and the attempts of the story’s protagonist, 6kyung, to uncover the truth behind it. Shortly after the fire is put out, the presence of a bike lock on the door to the venue reveals that the fire was indeed deliberately set, resulting in the fire becoming a murder investigation. Now, I am not exactly Colombo, but it was fairly obvious to me who actually set the fire. What was completely unexpected were the reasons behind it and how the fire became a focal point of several co-existing and competing narratives in Korean society, such as conservative vs. progressive, new vs. old, and obedience vs. rebellion. The story also draws attention to the connections between politics, religious groups, and business. The whole concept of punk rock as a subculture of mainstream society is something more people should examine, even if they do not want to spike their hair and kick over a speaker while wearing army boots. Mainstream society, be it in Korea or North America, tends to be homogeneous and conformist with a very narrow range of acceptable behaviors and life paths. Hongdae Fire (and the punk rock scene as a whole, for that matter) poses an important question: Is there another way to meaningfully
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exist without adhering to the values and ideals of the majority, or “drowning in the mainstream,” so to speak?
Character Development
The main character is 6kyung, a nickname derived from her job collecting six-thousand-won admissions at Slammer. She is a little bit of a counter-culture figure (being a part of the punk rock scene and all) and eschews most of the common mannerisms and expected social courtesies of Korean society in the mid-2000s. She swears, drinks, is extremely direct, wears shabby clothes, and constantly picks her nose. Despite her rough-aroundthe-edges persona, she is quick-witted, tough, and earned a reporter position at the fictional Koryo News. Overall, she is a likeable character, and even though she does not fit in with Korean society per se, from a North American perspective, she is still pretty conservative in that she is not involved in anything particularly dubious or criminal. Her sidekick is a skinhead (i.e., a member of the punk rock scene who embodies a tough aesthetic without espousing the hateful virtues of Nazis or other supremacist groups) named “Bam-Bam,” who carries around a cute puppy whom he calls “Yeobo,” a term usually reserved for one’s spouse. He is a big dude and, on the surface, appears to be a bit of an idiot; however, he is surprisingly resourceful and reliable. My favorite part involving Bam-Bam is when he goes dumpster diving in an apartment complex and is able to scavenge enough computer equipment to set up a surveillance system. One scene in particular that made him more believable is when he gets a severe beatdown by the police and is put out of commission for a few weeks. There are many other characters in the book, and on this is a point: I feel some of the characters were a little overdeveloped. One section that illustrates my point takes place at a funeral home where there is a huge, threeday group funeral for the more than forty people who died in the fire at Slammer. 6kyung walks into various rooms one-by-one, and we learn a little about each character. I appreciate the thought and effort that went into developing the character backgrounds, though I felt this could have been edited out since we did not really see
3/25/2021 3:29:01 PM
