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Korea Herald
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
[Kim Seong-kon] Metamorphosis: Painful but worthwhile
Children are fascinated by the metamorphosis of an ugly caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly. They are also amazed by the sight of a cute baby bird hatching from an egg. Watching these marvelous processes, children dream about their own metamorphoses that could turn them into an enchanting prince- or princess-like figure someday. The transformations that take place inside a cocoon or an eggshell occur over a prolonged waiting period. When the time comes, the gorgeous butterfly or cute baby bird comes out and eventually soars into the sky. Though a newborn chick cannot fly, it still brings the utmost pleasure and awe to those who watch its birth. However, some human beings choose to stay inside their cocoon or shell for good, and thus never experience a metamorphosis in their lifetime. Some are stuck in a hard shell of self-centeredness, inflexibility and dogmatic ideology. Others feel so snug and comfortable inside their shell that they do not want to come out. Metaphorically speaking, such people are hypnotized, drugged or paralyzed in their cocoons or hard shells. They just don't realize it. In her insightful poem, 'Life in an Egg,' Poet Kim Seung-hee compares the predicament of modern man to that of eggs in the refrigerator. Inside the fridge is a nice, cool environment, just as we might feel in an air-conditioned room. But eggs in the fridge have lost all hope of hatching and bringing forth new life. So have those of us who are helplessly trapped in the cool, refrigerator-like present reality, losing our original fresh vision of metamorphosis. The poet's profound insight into and powerful criticism of contemporary society primarily centers on those who choose to live inside the hard shell of egotism and isolation, rapidly losing contact with others. For example, many Koreans live in inhumane apartment complexes resembling chicken coops, completely cut off from their neighbors. Appropriately, they say that eggs laid in a chicken coop cannot hatch. Comfortable in an air-conditioned apartment, people become self-centered and do not care about what happens outside anymore. In his short story, 'Entropy,' Thomas Pynchon reminds us that we are now living in a hothouse where we are so warm and comfortable that we do not care what happens in the street outside. For Pynchon, the hothouse could be inhumane and even deadly because it is a closed place where entropy reaches its peak. When Henry Miller, another American novelist, returned from his long exile in Europe, he made a journey across America to search for the meaning of his country. Returning from his trip of discovery, he called America "an air-conditioned nightmare" and "a cancer of sameness." One might ask, "What does he mean by a cancer of sameness? America is a country of diversity and multiplicity." However, no matter where you go in America, you encounter the same shopping malls, department stores, chain stores, supermarkets, gas stations, convenience stores and motels. This was precisely what Japanese novelist Murakami Haruki discovered after his trip to California. He wrote, "It was scary to find the same thing everywhere in America." In Antonia Susan Byatt's intriguing novel, 'Angels and Insects,' she compares the behaviors of insects to those of human beings. The author tells us that some people remain like insects for the rest of their lives, unable to break out of their cocoon, while others succeed in transforming themselves into a lovely butterfly. Metamorphosis is not an easy thing to do. Anyone who has watched the process of metamorphosis from a caterpillar to a butterfly knows how painful and difficult it is; it takes patience, endurance and perseverance. Poet Kim Seung-Hee is aware of the pain of metamorphosis. But through her poems, she urges us to keep dreaming of a successful hatching and eventual transformation. It is precisely in this sense that she presents a pearl as a metaphor for painful metamorphosis. She tells us that only a wounded shellfish can produce an astonishingly pretty pearl. Breaking the shell of our ego can be painful, but that is the only way to transform ourselves into a butterfly or a bird soaring towards a bright future. In the author's preface to her collection of poems, 'Life in an Egg,' Kim writes the following. It sounds like a poem itself: 'Situated between these two horizons, / what have I waited for, for such a long time? / Crouching inside an egg, / what kind of dream have I dreamed? / Neighbors, you and I may be the eggs / trapped inside the refrigerator, / still dreaming of hatching out, / still dreaming of love. / Are we, then, not the nameless heroes / in a melancholic epic?' Metamorphosis is a painful process, during which one can easily be hurt or wounded. And yet, we need to transform ourselves into a winged Pegasus soaring into the sky, transcending the gravity of the hideous Chimera-like reality. Kim Seong-kon
Euronews
10-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Euronews
New novel from reclusive author Thomas Pynchon coming this year
ADVERTISEMENT American author Thomas Pynchon's first novel in more than a decade will be released later this year. Publisher Penguin Random House confirmed that the 87-year-old reclusive novelist has finished his latest work, "Shadow Ticket", which will be released in October. "Shadow Ticket" will be Pynchon's 10th book and eighth novel. It's the first thing the author has released since his last novel, 2013's 'Bleeding Edge'. Related 'What it means to be a human': Short-but-punchy books dominate International Booker Prize shortlist Patti Smith announces a new memoir 'Bread of Angels' Set during the Great Depression in Milwaukee, the novel follows private eye Hicks McTaggart investigating the location of a Wisconsin cheese heiress, before being whisked away on a cruise to Hungary that sees him entangled with 'Nazis, Soviet agents, British counterspies, swing musicians, practitioners of the paranormal, outlaw motorcyclists, and the troubles that come with each of them'. 'Surrounded by history he has no grasp on and can't see his way around in or out of, the only bright side for Hicks is it's the dawn of the Big Band Era and as it happens he's a pretty good dancer. Whether this will be enough to allow him somehow to lindy-hop his way back again to Milwaukee and the normal world, which may no longer exist, is another question', the publisher's blurb reveals. As with his past two novels "Bleeding Edge" and "Inherent Vice", the plot sounds full-on Pynchonesque with its genre-bending absurd take on history. A new release from the writer makes 2025 a double feature year from the respected postmodernist. Last month, the first trailer came out for Paul Thomas Anderson's latest film ' One Battle After Another' , which is reportedly loosely based on Pynchon's third novel "Vineland". Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, and Chase Infiniti, 'One Battle After Another' is set for a late September release. This isn't the first time that Anderson has adapted a Pynchon novel. His 2014 film ' Inherent Vice' was a surprisingly faithful adaptation of his 2009 novel. From industry reports and the trailer's first look, this adaptation seems looser, at minimum bringing the 80s setting of "Vineland" into contemporary times. Since Pynchon's debut novel "V." in 1963, he has become renowned for his complex plots, bracingly vibrant humour, and razor-sharp societal commentary. He is most famous for "Gravity's Rainbow" released in 1973 and considered his magnum opus. Like the rest of his work, it tackles a huge breadth of themes through its elaborate plotting. For many, it is a masterpiece of the postmodern era. Pynchon may be considered one of the greatest postmodern writers alongside John Barth and Samuel Beckett, but his placement in literary history hasn't made him a public figure. Since 1963, Pynchon has been a social recluse, eschewing media interviews. Little is known about Pynchon from where he lives to even what he looks like. The latest photos of the writer publicly available are from his college days, while most accounts of his life come from childhood friends. Pynchon's voice has only been featured a few times in mainstream media. He's given two cameo voice-over appearances in episodes of 'The Simpsons' playing himself as a reclusive artist desperate for attention. The other time was in the trailer of Anderson's ' Inherent Vice' and also reportedly has a small role in the final film.
South China Morning Post
10-04-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Thomas Pynchon's new novel Shadow Ticket to land on October 7, his first in 12 years
One month shy of his 88th birthday, Thomas Pynchon is set to publish his first book in 12 years. Advertisement Shadow Ticket is scheduled for October 7, Penguin Press announced on April 9. You could call the book, set in the American city of Milwaukee in 1932, Pynchon-esque. 'Hicks McTaggart, a one-time strike-breaker turned private eye, thinks he's found job security until he gets sent out on what should be a routine case, locating and bringing back the heiress of a Wisconsin cheese fortune who's taken a mind to go wandering,' the publisher's announcement reads in part. 'Before he knows it, he's been shanghaied onto a transoceanic liner, ending up eventually in Hungary where there's no shoreline, a language from some other planet, and enough pastry to see any cop well into retirement – and of course no sign of the runaway heiress he's supposed to be chasing.' A social media post from Penguin Press heralds the coming of Thomas Pynchon's new novel, Shadow Ticket. Photo: Instagram/penguinpress The famously expansive and press-averse author has not released a new book since Bleeding Edge in 2013.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Thomas Pynchon has a new novel coming this fall. It's his first in 12 years
NEW YORK (AP) — One month shy of his 88th birthday, Thomas Pynchon is set to publish his first book in 12 years. 'Shadow Ticket' is scheduled for Oct. 7, Penguin Press announced Wednesday. You could call the book, set in Milwaukee in 1932, Pynchon-esque. 'Hicks McTaggart, a one-time strikebreaker turned private eye, thinks he's found job security until he gets sent out on what should be a routine case, locating and bringing back the heiress of a Wisconsin cheese fortune who's taken a mind to go wandering,' the publisher's announcement reads in part. 'Before he knows it, he's been shanghaied onto a transoceanic liner, ending up eventually in Hungary where there's no shoreline, a language from some other planet, and enough pastry to see any cop well into retirement – and of course no sign of the runaway heiress he's supposed to be chasing.' The famously expansive, and press-averse author has not released a new book since 'Bleeding Edge' in 2013. He is best known for the classic 'Gravity's Rainbow,' and his other works include 'V.', 'Mason & Dixon," 'Against the Day' and 'Inherent Vice.'
The Guardian
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Thomas Pynchon announces Shadow Ticket, his first novel in more than a decade
Thomas Pynchon has written his first novel in more than a decade, publisher Penguin Random House (PRH) has announced. Shadow Ticket, due out in October, will be the American novelist's 10th book. Like his previous two, Inherent Vice (2009) and Bleeding Edge (2013), this new work is a noir novel about a private eye. Set in Milwaukee, Wisconsin during the Great Depression, Shadow Ticket follows Hicks McTaggart, a detective who is tasked with finding the heiress of a cheese fortune. He eventually ends up in Hungary, and finds himself entangled with Nazis, Soviet agents, British spies, swing musicians, practitioners of the paranormal and outlaw motorcyclists. 'The only bright side for Hicks is it's the dawn of the big band era and as it happens he's a pretty good dancer,' reads Shadow Ticket's description on PRH's website. 'Whether this will be enough to allow him somehow to lindy-hop his way back again to Milwaukee and the normal world, which may no longer exist, is another question.' Sign up to Bookmarks Discover new books and learn more about your favourite authors with our expert reviews, interviews and news stories. Literary delights delivered direct to you after newsletter promotion The 87-year-old author is best known for his 1973 magnum opus Gravity's Rainbow, which some critics have called the greatest postwar American novel. He has covered all sorts of themes in his work, from music to mathematics, often exploring conspiracy theories and paranoia. Pynchon has mostly eschewed press attention ever since his postmodern debut V became a bestseller after its publication in 1963, covering windows with black sheets, writing all night and sleeping all day. After a camera crew recorded him in Manhattan in 1997 he called CNN to protest. 'Let me be unambiguous,' he said. 'I prefer not to be photographed.' Shadow Ticket will be published on 7 October by Penguin Press in the US, and Jonathan Cape in the UK.
