Choi Eun-young's third collection of stories, "Even with a Very Faint Light," has been published, offering a rare experience of having a novelist from our generation who grows together, establishing a special name for fellow writers, critics, and readers alike. Celebrating her 10th anniversary since debut, Choi Eun-young transparently reflects the intimate and subtle emotions of characters who repeatedly experience meetings and partings, exploring how our personal relationships gain social context ("Shoko's Smile," 2016), and examining how confronting memories through characters who persistently recall the past can be a process of regeneration and recovery ("The Innocent Man," 2018). By tracing the life trajectories of characters across four generations, she illustrates how a chronological narrative that moves from the past to the present positions characters in horizontal relationships and advances into a horizontal chronicle ("Bright Night," 2021). This collection deepens and sharpens the issues raised in her previous works, demonstrating how the feelings she had when she first started her writing journey connect to her current perspective, proving that "deepening and widening are not different things in literature" (Korea Daily Literary Award review).
The seven short stories in "Even with a Very Faint Light" begin gently but grow in volume, drawing us into the heart of intense heat with their immersive and compelling narratives. Choi Eun-young's stories ask, "What do you think you would have done if you were me in that moment?" ("Response," p. 170), actively pulling us into the narrative while taking us into classrooms where characters returning to university after working experience overwhelming joy and unexpected difficulties ("Even with a Very Faint Light"), into cars where characters engage in entirely different conversations while carpooling with peers ("One Year"), and into the lonely side of a character who has pushed themselves to prove their existence ("To My Aunt"), allowing us to experience those times with them. Through our shared moments with them, we learn that "the heart can connect with the hearts of people with whom you have no relationship" ("Share," p. 66). This is the powerful force that operates strongly in Choi Eun-young's collection and is the most urgent strength we need today: the imagination of others.