Publisher's Synopsis
Poetry. Asian & Asian American Studies. Translated from the Korean by Brother Anthony of Taizé. Ynhui Park's poems are not difficult; they are usually simple and suggestive, inviting the reader to share an experience of some moment, some scene, in which the underlying void seems to have yielded to value and meaning. His poems very often re-enact a search for consolation and peace, faced with the meaninglessness and absurdity of human existence.
Many Korean poems are in some sense poems about being Korea... but his poems are fascinating for their open universality. His anguish is that of the modern world's consciousness of the cosmic void; his hope cannot be formulated, and yet it remains a hope for the victory of humanity over blind cruelty. His poetry is neither dark nor despairing; instead it is often humorous, light, and fanciful.
