I loved this book and was enthralled with the writing. I loved the character study. Would read more from the author!

A warm and engaging look at the way myths and history intertwine to give meaning to cultures and individuals throughout time. The "realistic" contemporary sections were a little dry with characters that remained more plot devices that real people but the myth and history sections were wonderful page-turners. I would love to read a full history of the fictional nation if one were available. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

A very interesting concept that is inherently meta commentary on both history and fable and the lives we live as we study both. This book has brought up ideas that are going to linger in my thoughts gor the foreseeable future.

Thank you William Morrow and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Conceptually, The Melancholy of Untold History should be catnip to me. East Asian mythology, unconventional structures, the importance of stories—I tend to gravitate towards these sorts of stories. However, I found the execution to be a bit… lacking. I’m not an impatient reader by any means, but I think maybe this would work for someone more patient than I am, or maybe more willing to put in the work than I was when I read this. I think what made this difficult for me is that, even after finishing the book, I felt like I had no real impression of the characters and was mostly just told a series of events. I did like the prose and I think Kang has a lot of potential, but for me this one probably could’ve baked a little longer.

Really interesting concept and I love being introduced to Korean folktales in modern fantasy--but it's a bit dry and pedantical. There's way too much nudging and winking towards the theory underlying this all, and that makes it hard to enjoy the story. The bits that are folklore retellings are really charming, but the modern day segments feel like information dumps rather than knowledge sharing.

The novel follows two timelines, it opens with a storyteller who recounts the story of Four Mountains deities in the early days. On the other hand, it follows a history profesor in modern times who grieves the loss of his wife.

I like the author's portrayal of how history can be fabricated with false heroes.
I found the story original and the writing creative because of the use of multiple elements, but despite that, I wasn't able to be engaged enough with its narrative. I started this book months ago, and it took me so long to finish it and I didn't enoy it as much as I thought but it could be because of my lack of knowledge in the history of East Asia, and thus I couldn't relate much the epic part with the past. Also, I didn't enjoy enough the tone; it was obscene and ludicrous, but I suppose it could be hilarious for some.
I was able to connect a bit more with the historian, and I liked finding a literary reference, and even if it was only one little mention, it was fascinating.

Thank you, Netgalley and William Morrow, for the digital-ARC.

What did I just read? The publisher's blurb promised "A beautifully crafted, enriching saga inspired by East Asian mythology, The Melancholy of Untold History is Minsoo Kang’s debut novel, steeped in history like R.F. Kuang’s Babel , epic in scope like Anthony Doerr’s Cloud Cuckoo Land , and lyrically exciting like David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas , interweaving four complex yet entertaining stories as they shape and create a nation’s literary narrative through the themes of love and grief. A history professor mourning his wife. His young protégé’s search for a path forward. Four witty mountain gods with much to say and not enough time to listen. A gifted storyteller bringing a world into being out of thin air." But the text I read failed to deliver the entertaining narrative or enriching saga; what I read seemed to cheapen cultural myths into silly stories, often crudely told, along with random narrators telling those stories for purposes that made no sense. Clearly I missed the point and the value of this "beautifully crafted" novel. Sorry I wasted my time.

I loved a lot about this novel, but I think it has some critical flaws, that I assume others are talking about. I think what I really enjoyed about the book was the intertwining narrative styles, I think it was done well and was very intriguing. I think that the Professor and the Protege work really well as characters around each other and overall I enjoyed reading it.

4.5⭐

“You said that when a civilization tells stories about itself, it starts with myths, dealing with gods and monsters. Then, when that civilization develops, it moves on to history, telling stories of important personages who achieved great things. When it moves into the modern era, it becomes increasingly interested in the lives of regular people, their thoughts and feelings. You described it as the movement from myth to history to life.”

The Melancholy of Untold History by Minsoo Kang is a unique and creative work of fiction and an ode to storytelling that revolves around how the interpretation of myth and history define a civilization and its beliefs.

An ancient storyteller who realizes that his gift is the only thing that is keeping him from being executed by his captors; four divine deities who from their perch in the mountains shape the fate of the realm below as a consequence of their actions; a prolific historian who accomplished the unimaginable feat of disproving the history of a prolific dynasty as was written in history books; and the historian’s protegee in whose arms he finds solace as he grieves for his deceased wife, and who also a researcher studying the interplay between history and fiction while on a personal journey of self-acceptance - the author weaves multiple threads and voices, spanning over three thousand years into a complex, yet absorbing narrative.

The narrative is divided into segments named Myth, History and Life – with chapters arranged in no specific chronological order, frequently jumping timelines, which can at times overwhelm the reader. As with most narratives with multiple timelines, not all the timelines were equally impactful, but this did not detract from my overall experience. The author employs an embedded storytelling format, rich with symbolism and vividly described settings. The Epilogue is clever ( though a tad pretentious) and I loved how all the threads of the story converged and appreciated how the author incorporates certain philosophical/spiritual concepts into the narrative to bring all the threads of the story together.

I will admit that this book is a challenging read and will garner mixed reactions. Though only 240 pages, the narrative is dense, occasionally disjointed and there is a lot to absorb. The novel explores themes of history, legacy, grief, loss, atonement, survival, and most importantly, the power of stories and the importance of authenticity, transparency and honesty in preserving and sharing of the history of those who came before us.

“The world was filled with effective stories in the forms of myths, rumors, propaganda, and conspiracy theories that were used to distort reality, manipulate people, and, in some cases, commit atrocities.”

The story/history of a civilization and/or its people is incomplete without its darkest phases but the author balances these aspects with a healthy dose of humor infused into the narrative. As the story nears its conclusion, the author relies on our interpretation of the cyclical events described in the narrative. which is not surprising given the nature of the story and the underlying themes.

“‘We may not be able to change our fates,’ the storyteller said. ‘Our imagination may not be able to break open this cangue or relieve you of your sorrow, but we could create a more fortunate ending for others, perhaps even a brand-new start.’”

Overall, I found this novel to be a promising debut and I look forward to reading more from the author in the future.

Many thanks to William Morrow for the digital review copy via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

DNF @ 50%

Conceptually this is interesting, but in practice I'm finding it boring. Though your mileage may vary. The Melancholy of Untold History is literary fiction with a mythological element and multiple perspectives and timelines. It's about the history that does and doesn't get told, which is a cool project in theory. But I found parts of the writing tedious and a bit all over the place, and wasn't connecting with most of the stories. Unfortunately I just don't think this is the book for me. I received a copy of this book for review via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

Unfortunately, this book didn't work for me. And I'm not blaming the author or the book itself. I realised I'm simply not the proper audience for such a book.
When I first read the synopsis I was intrigued with the 'fantasy side' of this world (moutains Gods and Chinese dragons) blended with 'human' historical facts. But the execution of it all didn't please me. At first I was interested in the human storyteller storyline, but when it got mixed with the fantasy elements...it just didn't work with me.
The nature, the mountain side descriptions are, in my opinion, well written. I also liked the dragons (for the most part), but that was expected of me - I do love dragons (Chinese or not). But the Gods? Hmmm nope. They would speak like humans: using swear words, dirty words, nasty language. I just didn't see the point in that.
It came to a point I was no longer caring for anything or anyone.
Again, I don't believe I fit the proper audience for this book, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.
Thank you, anyway, NetGalley and the publisher William Morrow, for providing me with a free eARC of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a DNF for me. I’m not a big fan of folk-tale style story telling or academic dissertations and this felt like the brainchild of both.

Unfortunately, this book was not it. I actually could not even finish it. The parallel storylines were confusing and did not weave well together. I was often lost and could not understand what the premise or purpose of the novel was. I think the effort was well intentioned but it just fell flat.

A short book but still has a lot of content, and def haven’t read a book like this before. I waffled btw being really interested, being bored, and trying to understand what was happening. The chapters move between time (over 3,000 years) and I don’t read a ton of books like this.

What was interesting:
-The thread line of how myth, stories can shape nation building and empire. There’s one particular story about the use of genocide in nation building and… of course there are extremely relevant messages to contemporary times. That section blew my mind. In more recent times, a historian uncovers this idea and that could be its own movie.

-When I got bored: the historian and his protege (or colleague), who met him as an undergrad and is cheating on her partner to comfort the historian after his wife died. I have a strong bias against these kinds of motifs but also i wasn’t really convinced why this relationship was happening to begin with.

When I got lost/confused: Some sections of the book are also very very long descriptions of multiple battles across time. In covering so much time, i thought it strange that still the book focused on so much dialogue rather than what the context was. If there’s predominantly dialogue, what is the diff btw 3000 years ago and 2000 years ago?

The mix btw history academia + myth was interesting, and there was an attempt to connect the beginning and end. I’m not always the best at comprehending when books try to mesh genres (may be bc I don’t usually read them as much), so others may find this book more interesting/easier to follow!

(Minor note: the way that characters are names sometimes drew me out of the story lol...like Blue Tiger, Fire Bear…. One character has a sword that he named penis and that just… like… i can’t take the story as seriously at that point bc the names were certainly a choice.)

I didn't realized until I had already finished that this is the same author as my favorite short story: The Virtue of Unfaithful Translations (found as part of New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color). And it is a fascinating expansion (?) on many of the concepts explored in there. Kang's exploration of the line between fact and fiction (and now, or more apparently now, mythology) is endlessly interesting to me and gives his works a very unique and compelling voice, one obviously bolstered by his background in history. I love the way the layers of the story interact with each other and reshape each other, though in Melancholy of Untold History this sometimes becomes a bit too directly for my tastes.

One of the best strengths of this novel is the grasp of how dimensional (or lack thereof) these characters should be and the tone of the narration. Kang deftly skips between non-fiction historical text, classically poetic mythology, something coarser and more human (though not really equivalent to contemporary fiction). My favorite bits of this novel where when the voice clashed with the "appropriate" layer of the story--giving a pet cat mythological resonance or a mountain god a foul mouth. It added a playfulness that undercut some of what could easily become pretension. Meanwhile, the slightly less than three-dimensional feel of all the characters helps the story stay in the realm of myths that makes the parts work together seamlessly.

I would recommend The Melancholy of Untold History to readers who enjoyed works like: Station Eleven, White Cat, Black Dog: Stories, Into the Riverlands, or the plays of Jay Torrence (particularly Roustabout).

This is an absolutely beautiful novel. It is a story comprising interconnected stories - part myth, part fictional history and part a contemporary tale of love, loss and coping. The story begins with a Storyteller who has been imprisoned in a dungeon and knows he is doomed to die when he is suddenly summoned from the depths of the gaol to entertain the Emperor with one last story. We then learn about the four divine inhabitants of the Four Verdant Mountains. The two Gods and two Goddesses are best of friends until they encounter the purple cloud of discord. This discord and the resultant strife is a recurring theme throughout the novel. It has the effect of heaping untold miseries on connected and unconnected persons through centuries. The third story line is 2000 years later in the present day where an eminent historian has lost his wife and finds comfort in the company of his young colleague. The book did start out as being confusing especially when the stories switch back and forth among the three narratives. However, as you proceed, the author deftly weaves it all together. I loved the references to Eastern myths and legends as also deep-rooted beliefs in the supernatural and the concepts of reincarnation, rebirth, divine intervention and Karma. I also loved how the present-day historian section highlights the concepts of erasure of history, manipulation of history and fabrication of history to suit the narrative of the people in power or rather the ones writing it. This is not a book for everyone and will have its fair share of love and hate. As the book blurb references, just like Cloud Cuckoo Land which was also a book I loved. I am definitely one of those who loved it and waiting for more from the author.
Thank You Netgalley, William Morrow and Minsoo Kang for the ARC

Minsoo Kang’s THE MELANCHOLY OF UNTOLD HISTORY threads together multiple, seemingly disparate narratives across history, fiction, and storytelling towards a thought-provoking, metafictional end. In the present day, a history professor mourns the death of his wife while contemplating his life’s work: determining the truth of his homeland’s history. But what he finds is that the space between fact and fiction is not always clean cut, and that filling in the holes left behind by untold truth with fiction can be its own form of reparations and healing. The historian’s musings are broken up by narratives of myths, known history, and unknown history. A group of mountain gods play out a whimsical grudge with terrible consequences. Humans fight their terrible battles across generations. A storyteller, sentenced to death, plots his revenge.

MELANCHOLY will not work for everyone—the narration relies heavily on telling, I wish the metafiction aspects were brought forth a bit earlier, and the themes of grief didn’t come through as much as the theoretical, thematic ties. But as a lover of both history and fiction, I’ve always been fascinated by the blurriness between two, and what this blurriness means in the reclamation of marginalized stories. MELANCHOLY left me thinking about just this—how history telling can be warped by the powerful, how it is the responsibility of future generations to both fill in the gaps but also to determine how a truth came to be. Kang is an academic, and it’s clear he knows what he’s writing about. If he ever gives a talk about historiography and the ethics of historical fiction I would be first in line to attend ✋🏻

Thanks to the publisher for the gifted copy!

Enjoyable! It reminded me a bit of Cloud Atlas, a little bit difficult to finish but i felt like it was a great read.

This novel will be great for fans of Cloud Atlas, Cloud Cuckoo Land, The Vanished Birds, and narratives that take place across similar distance & scope. The novel tells two stories in parallel: the first from the prospective of prominent historian grieving the recent death of his wife, and the second speculative history of his homeland across thousands of years and multiple generations. Woven into the tale is the tension between history and myth, as the historian works to uncover historical fabrications in one timeline as stories of gods, monsters, and cycles of reincarnation play out in the other.

This story is heavy on the metafiction, with characters behaving irreverently and offering tongue and cheek perspectives on their story in real time, an explicit indictment of history as a constructed entity built by those with power and influence. The day-to-day of the historian's life and experiences are drastic foil to the more mythologized portions, musing on the relationship between the stories we construct for society and those we construct for ourselves. Both narratives explore grief, forgiveness, and the inescapable human mandate to make meaning of difficult experiences at virtually any cost.

Minsoo Kang’s "The Melancholy of Untold History" offers a unique blend of history, myth, and narrative complexity that makes for an intriguing read, even if it doesn't always hit the mark. The story revolves around a grieving history professor and his young protégé, weaving together their personal journeys with the mythic exploits of four mountain gods and the elusive Storyteller.

The strength of the novel lies in its ambitious scope and Kang’s ability to intertwine various narratives. The exploration of how stories shape our understanding of history and reality is thought-provoking, and the inclusion of East Asian mythology adds a rich, cultural layer to the tale.

However, the novel's complexity can sometimes be its downfall. The multitude of voices and stories within stories can make the plot feel disjointed. While the philosophical musings on grief and the power of narrative are compelling, they occasionally overshadow character development, making it hard to fully connect with the protagonists.

The interactions between the professor and his protégé provide some touching moments, highlighting their shared struggle to find meaning after loss. The mountain gods' witty banter adds humor and a sense of timelessness, contrasting nicely with the more grounded human experiences.

Overall, "The Melancholy of Untold History" is a beautifully written and intellectually stimulating book, but its dense structure and occasional narrative tangents might not be for everyone.