The 4 stories contained in this book all dealt with consequences of your actions, identity, and perception vs. reality. In the title story, Diary of a Murderer, we find ourselves seeing life through the eyes of an inactive serial killer who is now battling Alzheimer's disease. In this story we see how Alzheimer's affects this man and the fear that he faces as he tries to maintain his grip on reality, but instead, an inaccurate perception takes over.

The second story, The Origin of Life, deals with two childhood friends who reconnect after 20 years. She, the wife of an abused husband. He, the man who still has feelings for her all these years later. We see how perception vs. reality takes place in that our male lead character is paranoid that he is being followed by the abusive husband and how he ultimately deals with the consequences of his perceived actions.

In the third story, Missing Child, we encounter a couple who's child is abducted while they are grocery shopping and how the fall out affects the mother's mental health (schizophrenia) as we as the the father's idea of how reality will be when the son is suddenly returned after 10 years separation, confused about who he is and having no memory of his biological parents.

The fourth story, The Writer, finds a writer who has dealt with mental health issues only to find himself dealing with the consequences of his actions when his publisher discovers the writer is having an affair with his wife.

Overall, my favorite stories were Diary of a Murderer and Missing Child. I found myself connecting with these characters the most and oddly enough feeling sympathy for the serial killer as his condition worsens and he slowly loses his grip on reality. Also feeling sympathy for the parents in Missing Child as they deal with the overwhelming fear and guilt that comes with losing a child, perhaps, forever, and I was also sympathetic with the mother as she loses touch with reality in her battle with schizophrenia.

The writing in the other two stories was just as strong, I just didnt connect with the characters like I had hoped I would. I would still recommend this collection though as the writing and insight into Korean culture were both really strong.

Diary of a Murderer - Likewise Book Reviews

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