The tale of Shim Cheong is one of my favorite Korean folktales, I've collected as many English translations as I can and I love each and every one of them. So I was super excited when I heard about this book, and I won't lie I really expected just an updated version of the original tale. Which is what we got, but with a twist!
Mina's home has been ravaged by storms since the Sea Dragon fell asleep over a hundred years ago when the last Emperor was killed. The usurper in trying to calm the Sea Dragon's wrath sacrificed his own daughter, the most beautiful girl in the kingdom to appease the Sea Dragon. And it works, for a time, so since then every year another girl is chosen as the Bride of the Water God and sent to the abyss. Except for this year Mina chooses herself as the Bride, jumping into the sea on the day her brother's beloved, Shim Cheong, is to be sacrificed. Now, Mina is in the Spirit Realm and she either has to wake the Dragon or become his bride in thirty days or she'll become a spirit herself.
Not gonna lie the ending of this reminded me of Spirited Away, actually, I'd say about halfway through when Shim announces he's a god who has forgotten his name it started to remind me of Spirited Away. That's not a complaint at all though as Spirited Away is a beautiful story in its own right. And I think that premise worked really well for the way Oh wanted to retell this story. I also found myself enjoying the first-person narrative here. That's not something I normally focus on, but, in this, it worked well as Mina is explaining her role in this well-known tale.
I loved Mina. I really did. I know, I know she's the main character and I should love her so that should be a give-in, but honestly, I enjoyed her much more than I did the original Shim Cheong. She's smart but not in the over-the-top way where she has everything figured out right off the bat. She has to work through everything and this is where she really reminds me of Chihiro from Spirited Away, her intelligence lies behind her paying attention to everything around her, if she wasn't so perceptive she would have never figured out how to save the Sea Dragon. Although I have to admit I was a little surprised that she ended up having a flash of insight in terms of how to save the Sea Dragon but couldn't figure out that her ancestors had been helping her the whole time. That seemed a bit silly especially since her grandfather basically gives it away. But hey a character can't be perfect. All of the side characters are fantastic as well. This is a pretty short book so I was pleased that we had the opportunity to spend time with each of the side characters, just enough to understand them and their motivations. And if I am going to continue to compare this to Spirited Away (because I am) Shim is the perfect Haku!
I enjoyed the pacing in this book as well. This really isn't a very long story (this is just one translation of the original story http://asianfolktales.unescoapceiu.org/folktales/read/korea_1.htm, not the best but as you can see it's very short), to begin with. Even with the changes that Oh makes to the story (as they *almost* completely change the story) making this longer I think would have been a disaster. I think Oh sticks perfectly to the folklore roots of this tale in her pacing and the length of the story.
Overall, this was a fantastic retelling of a story I have loved since my grandmother gave me a child's book of it when I was nine and it has become a new favorite book of mine. One that when I pass along all of my folktales to my children this one will be right beside them. Highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good story, but also anyone who is trying to wade into the vastness that is Eastern Folklore. I think this is an excellent starting point even if it is a retelling. Especially since the original tale (an even shorter version than the one I linked) is found in the book as are several other Korean folktales.
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