Winter in Sokcho
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Summary
The girl repeatedly defies society's expectations, breaks up with her long-distance boyfriend, and resists her mother's urgings to get plastic surgery, while she and the cartoonist form a subtle, shifting relationship. She agrees to take him in search of the "real" Sokcho, and the two set off for the snowy mountains and spectacular waterfalls, even reaching the border.
But he has no interest in the Sokcho she knows—the garish neon lights, the scars of war, the fish market where her mother works. She develops a secret wish to become a person in his drawings.
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Literary readers who enjoy quiet, restrained contemporary fiction with a strong sense of atmosphere
- Young readers interested in identity and cross-cultural experience
- Readers drawn to Korean border towns and themes of women's coming-of-age
- Readers who want to explore themes of the gaze and dislocation in a short format
Not a good fit for
- Readers expecting a strong plot, fast pace, or a clear ending
- Readers who prefer warm, healing stories with unambiguous relationships
- Readers impatient with detachment and narrative restraint
Reading tips
- Best read in one sitting; the short length preserves the emotional throughline.
- Note how the girl and the cartoonist describe the same town differently, and reflect on the difference in perspective.
- After finishing, revisit the border and mountain passages and ask in whose eyes "the real" holds true.
- If unfamiliar with Sokcho's geography, briefly look up the background of this inter-Korean border tourist town before reading.
About the publisher
Shanghai Translation Publishing House is a Chinese publisher oriented mainly toward translation and publishing. Its publications cover foreign literature, world classics and classic works, as well as social culture, folk literature and classical poetry. The database contains 2,618 titles, including Never Let Me Go, Les Misérables (2 volumes), Don Quixote (illustrated collector's edition), The Complete Comedies of Molière (4 volumes), The Complete Novels of Kafka (3 volumes), The Collected Works of Dostoevsky (9-volume set), Reason and Persons, and Oedipus Rex (Translation Classics). Its author resources include foreign writers such as Kazuo Ishiguro, Victor Hugo, Cervantes and Molière, as well as translators such as Zheng Kelu, Sun Jiameng, Li Jianwu and Zhang Kun. The publisher has brands such as "Translation Classics Selections" and "Translation Documentary," and emphasizes translated works in foreign literature and the humanities and social sciences, while also publishing bilingual dictionaries and foreign-language educational books. Public information is limited; the above is based on the book information in the database.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 束草的冬天
- 正文一
- 正文二
- 正文三
- 正文四
- 正文五
FAQ
Where is the book set?
Is the relationship between the French-Korean girl and the cartoonist a love story?
Is it long, and when is a good time to read it?
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About the author
Elisa Shua Dusapin, born in 1992, is a French novelist with a dual French and Korean cultural background. Public information about her remains limited; two of her works are currently held in the collection, namely The Ball Game and Winter in Sokcho, and they are commonly classified under foreign literature. Winter in Sokcho is one of her representative works. Judging from the title and the author's background, her writing tends to turn its gaze toward small Korean towns and everyday human relationships, unfolding characters and emotions against a cold, quiet backdrop. Her works are not long, and her style is restrained and understated; she is skilled at conveying feeling through subtle scenes and deliberate gaps, seeking a narrative foothold between French and Korean cultural experience. Although her output is not yet large, she has drawn the attention of Chinese readers with her distinctive cross-cultural perspective and delicate stylistic awareness.
Di Jia is a translator working from Italian, French, and English. Her publicly available personal information is limited, and basic details such as nationality and dates of birth and death remain unclear. Three of her translations are currently listed, all in the category of foreign literature: Milanese Girl by Domenico Starnone, and The Winter in Sokcho and Marble Game by Elisa Shua Dusapin. She has also translated works including Images: From the Renaissance to Social Media. Judging from the existing titles, her choice of material spans contemporary foreign fiction and writings on art and images, involving narrative works by Italian and French authors as well as cross-media issues of visual culture, which suggests a relatively broad range of translation interests. Her translations serve as a bridge for Chinese readers encountering relevant foreign-language literature and image studies. Owing to limited public information, her translation style and specific influence await further material for a fuller account.
