At Dusk

‘It’s a regretful, bittersweet exploration of modernisation, which picks away at the country’s past and present, slowly becoming a moving reflection of what we gain and lose as individuals and a society in the name of progress … [Hwang’s] writing is laced with the hard-won wisdom of a man with plenty left to say.’

-- Ben East * The Observer *

‘Hwang Sok-yong’s At Dusk is a perfect slice of Koreana … shows the underbelly of a nation through the life of characters inhabiting society's bottom rung … Sok-yong proves once again that fiction can be the best way to tell devastating truths.’

-- Gabino Iglesias * NPR *

‘At Dusk is a small but powerful novel from one of South Korea’s most esteemed novelists … The questions At Dusk raises are timeless, and perfect for more serious book-group discussions.’

-- Annie Condon * Readings *

‘Quietly probing.’

* The Irish Times *

‘A stirring and quietly moving novel … a sharply perceptive account of the struggle to maintain body and soul, roughly speaking, in the decades before Chun dooh-hwan's military coup of 1980.’ FIVE STARS

-- Paddy Kehoe * RTÉ *

‘The melancholic artistry of his bare prose shines through in At Dusk, with the juxtaposition of the nostalgia of a bygone era and a soulless modernity ... this voice is resounding in At Dusk, with its bittersweet meditation of regret.’ FOUR STARS

-- Walter Sim * Straits Times *

‘Celebrated author Hwang Sok-yong explores the human toll of South Korea’s rapid modernisation ... Through the lens of Seoul’s urban housing and architecture, he traces the development of South Korean modernisation and highlights the extremes to which its citizens are pushed, challenging readers in the process to reexamine if the nation’s transformation can truly be considered successful.’

* International Examiner *

‘Thoughtful and affecting.’

-- Jane Graham * The Big Issue *

‘Having been imprisoned for political reasons, Hwang has a restrained, delicate touch, alive to the nuances of memory, the slipperiness of the past, and the difficult choices life forces us to make ... Subtly political, deeply humane, a story about home, loss, and the cost of a country's advancement.’

-- Kirkus Reviews, starred review

‘Here [Sok-yong] scrutinises the quiet disconnect of contemporary relationships through the life of a successful, sixty–something Seoul architect … A piercing modern tale about all we can never know about our loved ones and ourselves.’

-- Terry Hong, Booklist, starred review

‘Hwang is a master storyteller … his writing is sparse and evocative.’

* Asymptote Journal *

‘[A] solid portrait of changing times and society.’

-- M.A. Orthofer * The Complete Review *

‘The book is on the verge of something, and despite the gentle care in Hwang’s storytelling, there is an urgency to his words.’

* The Skinny *

‘At Dusk is a book steeped in melancholy — for times gone by, for relationships lost or abandoned, for a world that no longer exists. Hwang delves deeply into the psyche of his characters and in doing so tells universal stories of love, ambition and regret … another superb novel from a writer at the top of his craft.’

* psnews.com.au *

‘At Dusk has Hwang’s customary blend of fragility and brutality, of tenderness and raw pain … At Dusk is a journey through memory and through the necessary potential and duty of architecture; through human spaces and urban topographies of existence and non-being. For Korea, this is a novel that should mark a turning point in its sense of identity; for non-Korean readers, it is a blueprint of the critical elenchus we need to undertake before it is tragically far too late for all our local traditions, cultures and individual lives.’

-- Mika Provata–Carline * Bookanista *

‘What elevates this work, is how the gritty psychological exploration of contemporary Korean society is packaged within a taut and compelling mystery regarding how the two disparate narratives might be connected. At Dusk is another short but impactful novel from Hwang Sok-yong.’

* Booklover Book Reviews *

‘These characters illustrate South Korea’s sharp economic divides and explore what is required to improve one’s lot in life — and whether it’s even possible for more than a very few. It captures so much in under 200 pages: economic inequality; gender, class, and educational divides; and the complex relationships individuals and the culture at large have with their own history.’

-- Rebecca Hussey * Bookriot *

‘At Dusk provides the reader with an excellent picture of Seoul now and several decades ago, with a mournful, nostalgic feel pervading the novel … Hwang is a masterful storyteller, and the final third of the book skilfully brings the disparate stories together, with a clever, and surprising, twist to round matters off.’

-- Tony Malone * Tony’s Reading List *

‘[A] beautifully observed tale … another superb novel from a writer at the top of his craft.’

* Pile by the B