In her masterful novel Can’t I Go Instead, Lee Geum-yi reveals a century of modern Korean history, deeply drawing readers into its complex folds as they follow the tumultuous lives of the characters. In its questioning of human weakness and strength, however, the work manages to transcend time, ensuring it appeals to readers of all generations.

        This weighty epic novel begins with a twist: two elderly women who both claim to be Yun Chaeryeong—the daughter of a powerful Korean man named Hyeongman who became a viscount during the Japanese colonial occupation of Korea. The great axis of history hidden within their stories is gradually revealed. The book depicts the ups and downs in the lives of the Yun family, which achieved its fortune through collaboration with Japan.

        Hyeongman, a wealthy Korean landowner who made his fortune through mining, purchases seven-year-old Kim Sunam for a large sum, presenting her as a maidservant to his daughter Chaeryeong as a birthday gift. In fact, Sunam ends up in the Yun’s household by chance, when the original girl to be sold resists being trafficked. Sunam steps forward, offering to go in her place, saying, “Can’t I go instead?” Sunam’s reaction testifies to her bold character, as she utters these same words on numerous occasions throughout her turbulent life. Instead of serving as Chaeryeong’s maid, however, Sunam is treated more like her plaything. The two young girls from different classes grow up with complex feelings of both recrimination and affection.

        The novel takes us to Japan, China, the United States, and Russia. It is the story of people forced to continuously move, facing many known and unknown dangers of continental travel at the time. As these two women embark on their journeys, they strive to love freely, suffering losses and encountering challenges, but somehow managing to forge their own paths while maintaining curiosity and hope. Sunam excels at languages and cannot give up her desire to study. She yearns for the romantic world of novelist Yi Gwangsu’s The Heartless.

        Layers of oppression, discrimination, and violence pervade the whole book: male chauvinism, rigid patriarchy and class structures, colonial rule, and contempt for Asians. These themes ring true even in the present. Page after page, readers will experience how individuals can be swept up in the waves of history. These unassuming words “Can’t I go instead?” reveal their true power, transcending both place and time.

        Lee Geum-yi’s precise and unwavering style captures the malice and desires of humans which can surface at a moment’s notice. She is constantly aware of the multifaceted nature of human existence while carefully relativizing and universalizing it at the same time. No character is flawless. As Chaeryeong’s half-brother Ganghwi, who has dedicated himself to the Korean independence movement, states:

        “When people gather, anything can happen. We have disappointments and doubts, as well as setbacks, but these are all natural, because we are human.”

The depiction of the hardships experienced by Korean comfort women under the Japanese military casts a darker shadow over the story. It should be noted that the book also includes scenes from internment camps of Japanese Americans in the United States.

        Like the author’s other work The Picture Bride, which follows the journey of a group of young women who, in the early 1900s, leave their homes and cross the ocean to Hawai’i to become the wives of Korean migrant workers, Can’t I Go Instead is a story of sisterhood. It is this solidarity that empowers these resilient women to overcome national borders to escape poverty, societal conventions, and colonial rule. The author’s meticulous research and unflinching human observations cannot suppress the hope that arises from these richly woven narratives.

        This work is certainly a must-read within the current Korean literature boom.

Translated by Meri Joyce

Hideyuki Tanabe

Reporter, The Mainichi Newspaper