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‘New York Bakery’ explores social changes in increasingly modern South Korea
Through 14 short stories, the anthology highlights the social changes and cultural clashes experienced by South Koreans in their journey to becoming a modern society.
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New York Bakery is an anthology of short stories exploring social changes and culture clashes experienced by South Koreans. (JP/Audrie Safira Maulana)
B
ehind its high-tech, industrialized economy and its lively pop culture scene, there is a harsh reality that lies beneath South Korea. The citizens are struggling to keep pace with the constant change in their increasingly modern surroundings. This reality is candidly captured in New York Bakery, an anthology of short stories.
Consisting of 14 short stories by award-winning Korean authors, the anthology explores social changes and culture clashes experienced by South Koreans.
New York Bakery starts with a short story of the same title about a poet and novelist named Kim Yeon-su. The 24-year-old reminisces about a bakery that his family used to have in the city of Gimcheon, with his mother mostly being in charge of the business. It was not really a popular bakery, except during the holidays.
Sadly, along with other stores, it was closed down due to the modernization of the area.
As the story unravels Kim’s past through a flashback, readers are slowly exposed to his family’s unfortunate background. Dubbed “the youngest son of New York Bakery”, people often perceived him as someone who had a privileged life as the son of a business owner.
In reality, the family struggled to make ends meet by selling as much bread as they could. His mother treated each loaf of bread with care because every one of them was counted as a cent for their living. As a result, Kim was not allowed to eat the bread as he pleased and mostly ended up eating the crumbs.
However, he often stole a few pieces of bread whenever his mother was away and shared them with other kids in the neighborhood.
