Father's Liberation Diary
Author's Note

Sitcom-like anecdotes
To understand my father

My father was a guerrilla who crossed Jirisan and Baekunsan with a carbine rifle.
He fought for an equal world immediately after the end of Japanese colonial rule, but was defeated miserably.
His comrades died one by one, and his father tried to rebuild the organization through disguise, but even that failed.
Nevertheless, my father lived his entire life as a socialist in capitalist Korea.
He never gave up on the belief that an equal world would come, and he never ignored the difficulties faced by complete strangers.
Not only do I not understand such a father, I also find him a bit ridiculous.
In a world where everyone eats their fill and is educated without discrimination, the sight of a father acting as if he is on the verge of revolution is close to black comedy to anyone who sees it.
‘I’ and my father, who have been running parallel lines like that.
That father died.
On Labor Day dawn, I hit my head on a telephone pole.

This story is largely divided into four parts.
The first is the story of his uncle, his younger brother, who had been at odds with his father his entire life.
My uncle, who believes that his family was ruined because of his 'red' brother, is so cold that he hangs up on me without answering the phone when I call to inform him of my brother's death.
My uncle, who had been a lifelong drinker, would sometimes come to my house and act up, saying things like, “Are you so great that you ruined the family?” (page 38).
Every time, my father did not fight back and remained silent without answering.
I'd rather my uncle not show up at the funeral.
Whether he will appear or not is a matter of interest to everyone gathered at the funeral, and readers also watch with interest and curiosity throughout the book.
Can my dead father and my living uncle reconcile?

The second is a story about the friends my father made in Gurye.
Their faces are so diverse and three-dimensional that just looking at them feels like watching a sitcom.
Mr. Park, a classmate of my father's from elementary school and owner of a watch shop.
He is my father's best friend, even though they are polar opposites, having spent his entire life as a soldier and a drill instructor.
The bickering between the two old men due to their differences in political orientation is somehow cute, and the line at the end, “Still, people should be the best” (page 47), makes me think that today’s political world should learn from it.
And a girl with bright yellow hair who appeared out of place at this funeral.
For some reason, he is said to be his father's "cigarette buddy" (page 139).
It is only possible for a father to become friendly with a seventeen-year-old girl, but the character of the father who does not forget to talk about 'American imperialism' to the girl whose mother is Vietnamese still makes people laugh.
In addition, many people who claim to be the father's sons, including 'Haksu', and the unfortunate stories of those who fought with guns but eventually became friends, appear one after another.


Is the father I knew real?
The countless episodes he left behind

The third is the story of 'me' and my father.
The main plot of ‘Father’s Liberation Diary’ is the process by which the daughter, who has lived a difficult life as the ‘daughter of a guerrilla,’ comes to understand her father.
Because he was a socialist and a revolutionary fighter, he had no ability to make a living, and because he did not hesitate to “guarantee” (page 57) for such a situation, the family’s poverty was always the fault of his father.
The long-winded stories my father would tell me without any warning were out of touch with reality, and that's why I wanted to leave my hometown where my father was.
But after my father's death, 'I' realized that the face of my father that I knew was only a small part of it.
The father's rational and realistic side is revealed, as well as his boldness that inspired people.
More than anything, I remember the moments when I loved myself, which I had forgotten.
Finally, 'I' hold my father's remains in my hands and decide to send him off in the most fatherly way possible.

The fourth and final one is anecdotes between mother and father.
They add a lively touch to the weight of the narrative and make readers laugh.
His mother, a lifelong comrade and also a socialist, was more realistic than his father.
So my father is always being bullied for one reason or another.
There are relatively minor things like not being able to quit drinking and smoking because you don't wash your clothes, and there are also major things like being forced to give up farming because you had to guarantee a loan.
In some ways, these people, who seem like enemies, become one in a devout manner in front of 'materialism' and 'nation', and this comical 'tiki-taka' becomes a pleasant catalyst for understanding the father's life.


"The Daughter of the Guerillas, the Daughter of Korean Literature"
The sensation called Jung Ji-ah

The appearance of Jeong Ji-ah 32 years ago was a sensation in Korean literature.
It was not because of a series of incidents such as the ban on sales and the prosecution by the public security authorities, but because of the vivid descriptions he showed and his serious attitude toward history.
Now, in addition to that attitude, Jeong Ji-ah has the composure to freely tell a story by mixing fact and fiction, and the appearance of a master who holds the reader's hand tightly until the last page.
This is precisely why I expect that Jeong Ji-ah will once again prove her presence with this novel, released after 32 years.
Everyone who loves Korean literature should listen to the words of novelist Kim Mi-wol, “Jeong Ji-ah is not only the daughter of a guerrilla, but also a precious daughter of our literature.”


Author's Note

When I returned to my hometown, I saw a world of beauty that I had never seen in Seoul.
The cherry blossom road along the Seomjin River, the sunset at Banyabong Peak, and the sea of ​​clouds at Nogodan are not the only beautiful things.
The neighborhood old lady who says she really hates cherry blossoms and cornelian cherry blossoms, the restaurant owner who insists on bringing you food even though you don't need it, saying that you need to eat it to gain strength, the market old lady who lied and sold you tough vegetables that you couldn't eat by saying that they would become soft if you boiled them, and the restaurant owner who yelled at me to sit at the table furthest from the kitchen even though there was no one there (it turned out she had severe arthritis). This place is full of people who smell like people.
Why else would the old lady lie?
It's all about eating and living.
When in a hurry, isn't it human to lie and yell?

How can a person be so stubborn?
Father, it was number eighteen.
When I accept those words, the world becomes so beautiful.
I should have listened to my father a long time ago.

father.
Father, daughter, I have lived wrongly for so long.
Still, since I knew it before my sixtieth birthday, it's better than never knowing, right? I understand that you gave birth to me as a great man, and as a woman of humble character, so please forgive my past arrogance, rudeness, and foolishness... Thank you, Father.
I am saying this easy thing to a child now, just before my 60th birthday, after my father passed away.
What can I do? That's my father's daughter.
This ugly daughter dedicates this book to her father.