Recent Books

Letter From Heaven

Choi In-ho; Nubo; 343 pp., 12,000 won

Choi In-ho is widely known as a veteran novelist but he is also a talented essayist who vividly captures the personal emotions of his daily experiences.

More often, he has dealt with his family ― mostly his mother ― in his works. His mother has always inspired his novels and essays. He confesses that he realized her importance only after she passed away. His writings about her are a long journey to give back her love and resolve his regrets.

The new book revolves around the stories between Choi and his mother over a 42-year period and how he remembers his mother’s traces in his daily life.

The author portrays his mother ― like any other older generation Korean mothers ― undereducated and devoted to the family. He recalls that her husband passed away at a young age, and she had to raise six children by herself.

She looked older than her peers because of her tough life. He sometimes felt ashamed of his mother because she cried loudly on a family grave and came to see a teacher at his school with wearing a grey ``durumagi,’’ or traditional overcoat. But he realized she was the most ``beautiful mother’’ after she died in 1987.

-Chung Ah-young