Novelist Jang Kang-myung writes about human Jang Kang-myung [.txt]

Author Jeong Gangmyeong penned the novel "Human Jeong Gangmyeong." His stories primarily focused on social issues such as youth suicide, internet opinion manipulation, and school violence. In his tales, the protagonist fights against the world and reveals societal problems. Like the investigative journalist Jeong Gangmyeong, the author looked outward.

In his debut novel "Get Up," he turned his gaze inward. "Get Up" revolves around his wife Kim Seesum's diagnosis with a brain tumor, a rare form of cancer, and her subsequent three-day journey. Though a first-person narrative, Jeong Gangmyeong insists on referring to his protagonist as "he." As adept as he was at exploring the world, he was equally relentless in scrutinizing "him."

The author's rigid self-identity crumbled within a day of facing the fear of loss. In the presence of mortality, he cried incessantly, praying for the compassion of a deity and weeping in the hospital and on the streets. Jeong Gangmyeong, who believed he was invincible, came to realize that his strength was merely an outer shell and that his essence was worthless.

Driven by success, he raced in a straight line, only to find himself adrift at the finish line. As he sinks into despair, he discovers that the same sorrow lies within himself. This book concludes with an account penned on his smartphone, as he lies in his wife's hospital bed in summer 2026. His wife had just undergone her second brain surgery.

As the narrative draws to a close, the author implores readers to pray for his late wife Kim Seesum, a representative of the deceased.