Diary of a Murderer by Young-Ha, Kim

 

Paperback edition

Diary of a Murderer captivates and provokes in equal measure, exploring what it means to be on the edge—between life and death, good and evil. In the titular novella, a former serial killer suffering from memory loss sets his sights on one final target: his daughter’s boyfriend, who he suspects is also a serial killer. In other stories we witness an affair between two childhood friends that questions the limits of loyalty and love; a family’s disintegration after a baby son is kidnapped and recovered years later; and a wild, erotic ride about pursuing creativity at the expense of everything else.

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Book ID

Diary of a Murderer

Author : Young-Ha, Kim

Published year: 2019

Language : english (origins: South Korea)

Genre : Suspense, novella

 

This book is a typical one-go, cannot be put down unless you finish the story. And Diary of a murderer is so captivating that my sleeping hours went by unnoticed when I read this.

This is a story about a murderer. A long time ago, he was a serial killer, but never taste one bit of jail thanks to the limited DNA technology and war event. 

Since he was a child, he never understand human emotions and found it difficult to blend in. He's smart of course and realizes that there is a beast or evil living in his soul. He never feels guilty whenever he killed someone and prefers to live alone, secluded in the mountainous area. 

One day, a car accident switch off something in his brain and he lost an urge to kill someone. Hiatus for decades, finally find a reason to kill again. 

In the final stage of Alzheimer's, he is struggling to remember his mission to kill his daughter's boyfriend. But he starts to lose recent memory and his mission is almost impossible to be done.

In this novella, the reader will guess the riddle inside of Alzheimer's patient. We lost memory together with him, we feel for his struggle and feel sorry for this old man. And He's smart, very smart, He chanted sutras, read and wrote poems.

There are days when he can remember his present. But also there are days when he wake up and didn't remember what happened yesterday. 

From these 'random' thoughts, we understand how important is present. Without a present, we cannot plan anything for tomorrow or remember what happened yesterday.

There is a quote that I love from this book:

He isn't trapped in the present but flounders in a space that isn't past present, or future. No one understands him. As his loneliness and fear escalate, he becomes a man who does nothing. No, he's changing into a man who can't do anything. 

 I almost give 5 stars to the book when I turn the page and find another short story. It is good, just not mind-blowing like the Diary of a Murderer.

 Anyhow, I agree though to the majority of readers at Goodreads. It should be a stand-alone story, just make it a novella. Because the other stories are like an anticlimax and make us feel unblown.

But, It is a good read! Can finish it around 2 hours straight!