In Korean culture, inyeon represents karmic destiny. This novel follows a dog named Gucci, currently in his 127th incarnation. His human is also part of his destiny – a so-called ‘perpetual-inyeon’, whereby two life-forms are tied to each other for eternity. Gucci’s last three incarnations have been as a dog and this story traces his lives from Korea to Sydney.
Gucci is a ‘Singapore Special’ – a ‘bitzer’ in Australian terms. He’s been in a rescue centre for too long. No human has wanted to rehome him until the woman with whom he’s been karmically tied finds him online and flies from Sydney to Korea to claim him.
The narrative switches between contemporary Kings Cross and back to the woman’s childhood in Korea. In Sydney, Gucci lives in a high-rise apartment complex, where conflict arises over pets in the building. Gucci still remembers his karmic woman from three lives ago in the village of Itaewon, when he was ‘Nari’, and she – as a girl – was sent to live with her father. After Nari’s death, he’s reincarnated as ‘General’, a protective dog. Exactly what the girl needed.
There are playful insights into both canine and human behaviour. Gucci self-reports as a ‘sage’, with an extensive literary knowledge that he cites throughout the narrative. This is overdone, as is the cartoonish characterisation of the two antagonists. Dog lovers (like me) will enjoy the narrative but may have difficulty in swallowing the whole story.
Reviewed by Bob Moore
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sun Jung is the author of the novel, Bukit Brown, a book of essays, The Letter, I Sent You, and the academic book, Korean Masculinities and Transcultural Consumption. She has been an academic and writer for media production companies and cultural magazines in Los Angeles, Seoul, Melbourne and Singapore. She lives in Darlinghurst, Sydney with her partner and Gucci, the mongmong.
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