[Book Review] 'Political snobs from 2012 still obnoxious today in South Korea'

Goh Gwang-ryul's latest novel "Cuckoo Flies" condemns the politically motivated selfish society of politicians, capitalists, businessmen and motley low-tiered social rankers in South Korea. Courtesy of Goh Gwang-ryul

By Ko Dong-hwan

Cover of the paperback version of "Cuckoo Flies"

The book "Cuckoo Flies" opens with a quote from English novelist George Orwell: "In our age there is no such thing as 'keeping out of politics.' All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia."

Written by "uncanny realist" Goh Gwang-ryul, the 2021 novel uncovers the obnoxious world of a cross section of South Korean society in which politicians and their aides, gangsters, professors, journalists, police, prosecutors, undocumented immigrants, apartment security guards and drivers are all blinded by their own self-interest and desires. Although the characters are fictitious, they have traits recognizable to South Koreans.

The motley characters try to stay afloat and get ahead of everyone else, motivated by various factors: political hegemony, millions of dollars in financial benefits ― or even a puny sum of black money ― dirty little secrets and illicit affairs. To them, justice and truth are insignificant. Juggernauts lock horns with other juggernauts to protect their crowns, while the lowliest are forced to wrestle with each other in the mud over scraps.

They are the parasites, the cuckoos who raise their young in other birds' nests ― increasing their numbers by killing other species in one of the most brutal natural orders.

Set in 2012, "Cuckoo Flies" revolves around a keen insurance fraud investigator Huh Dong-woo whose father, a conglomerate chairman, dies in a car accident. Huh discovers his father's death wasn't an accident but that he was the victim of a murder plan designed by a high-profile political party president and his aides, a gangster and a weapons dealer. The novel follows Huh, as one by one he picks off those responsible for his father's death. Under Huh's masterful plan, the accomplices and everyone linked to them fall into a self-destructive maelstrom ― a "dragnet for cuckoos."

While years have passed since 2012 and we have witnessed how Korean society has changed since then, Goh questions how much society has really changed, or whether it has changed at all. We see the same old controversial stories from the National Assembly, business circles with political affinities, and our daily lives, which are all fraught with lies and betrayal bound by capitalism and pursuits motivated by self-interest. The only differences from 2012 and now are the faces and words from the players and headliners.

That is why "Cuckoo Flies" is today's novel, today's satirical fiction and today's autopsy report. The novel reminds us of what we might have forgotten about today ― how dirty society really is. And finally, it asks us ― aren't you part of this food chain?

Goh debuted as a writer in 1987 with a novella and has been releasing short story collections and novels.

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