Diary of a Murderer by Kim Young-Ha

February 13, 2021 Kirsty Hanson

I saw this book in Foyles when I was making my bookshop rounds in London, and I thought it looked like something that I would be interested in. I had been after more Korean literature that I could sink my teeth into, and this collection of short stories that seemed to be about serial killers was right up my alley.

Diary of a Murderer is an electric collection that captivates and provokes in equal measure, exploring what it means to be on the edge—between life and death, good and evil. In the titular novella, a former serial killer suffering from memory loss sets his sights on a new, and final, target: a killer whose next victim is his daughter.

In the following three stories we witness an affair between two childhood friends that questions the limits of loyalty and love; a family’s disintegration after a baby son is kidnapped and recovered years later; and a wild, erotic ride.

I genuinely thought that this book was a full length novel, not four short stories, however I started reading and the anthology started off so well! The title story, ‘Diary of a Murderer’ was my favourite out of the collection. The whole premise was so interesting with so many twists and turns. As a lover of everything crime/serial killer stuff, this first short story was perfect: serial killers, psychology, family issues… What more could you want?

“It’s been twenty-five years since I last murdered someone, or has it been twenty-six? Anyway, it’s about that long ago. What drove me back then wasn’t, as people usually assume, the urge to kill or some sexual perversion. It was disappointment. It was hope for a more perfect pleasure.”

– Kim Young-Ha, Diary of a Murderer

I was actually sad to see the first story end, yet I was excited to carry on with the stories. The second short story was called ‘The Origin of Life’. This wasn’t one of my favourites, it bordered on kinda boring? I hate to say that but it just didn’t capture my attention like the others did. The story seemed rushed, and nothin like I thought it would be. The story does include violence, and re-kindling friendships, but I was indifferent to it.

The third story in this collection was ‘Missing Child’. This was better than the second story. It played on every parents worst nightmare: your child getting kidnapped. Kim Young-Ha takes on a situation that happens all of the time and creates a discourse of mental health, family deterioration, and feelings that really tug at the reader’s heart.

“People want to understand evil. A pointless desire. Evil is like a rainbow. It retreats at the same pace as your approach. Evil is evil because you can’t understand it.”

– Kim Young-Ha, Diary of a Murderer

The fourth and final story is called ‘The Writer,’ and this was just a complete mind trip. It felt like I was on drugs the entire time I was reading this… which may have been the goal? This story seemed so incongruous to the rest of the collection. It was funny, slightly weird, and slightly confusing. But, like I said, this story just didn’t feel like it fit with the others.

Can we just talk about the translation of this book for a sec? Krys Lee has done an amazing job. It’s not easy translating a book and making sure that the story still flows like it does in the original. If the first story is brilliant in English, I’d love to think what it would read like in its original Korean.

“There are at least a few things in life you can’t learn from others.”

– Kim Young-Ha, Diary of a Murderer

Overall, this collection of short stories didn’t ‘wow’ me, apart from the first story, which was the best one. After writing this review, I took a look at other reviews on Goodreads, and nearly every one says the same thing: the first story was the best story and all of the other paled in comparison. I can’t help but think that this whole thing would have worked better without the other 3 stories. The first story is good enough, and long enough to act on its own and be a novella.