Book Review: The Nine Cloud Dream by Kim Man Jung

The Nine Cloud Dream by Kim Man Jung

Paperback, 304 pages

Published May 2018 by Penguin (first published 1689)

Centuries before Philip K Dick wrote pulp science fiction that poked at our relationship with the concept of reality or Neo pondered taking the Red pill a courtesan in Korean wrote this novel. Who wrote this novel is actually somewhat in question when you consider that it was first published in 1689. The story goes that the author was a court official working with the royal family of Korea. He was sent in Exile and he wrote this novel in a series of letters to entertain his mother and assure her his suffering was not important.

Considered a classic of Korean literature this story is referenced in works ranging from Manga, pop songs to movies. On the surface, this novel appears to be a romantic fairy tale or fantasy. It doesn't appear to be just a story a son was telling his mother. The novel seems designed for the audience and has a clear message. The Buddist themes in the novel are spread through the novel but come into sharpest focus in the opening and closing chapters. Some might think the center of the novel as a pointless adventure but that itself is the theme.

I am not sure if "It was all a dream" was revolutionary storytelling device in the 17th century, but the waking dream parts of this novel in the middle were fun for me. When your main character is reincarnated in what he believes is hell. I could have used a little darker elements but the style evoked was similar to the more weird and gothy Wuxia movies I love. Movies like The Bride with White Hair and Chinese Ghost Story. One must remember the experience is meant to be Meta-fiction. Just as we read a book and try to engage with the illusion the POV in the novel is Hsing-Chen or his dream self Shao-Yu comes to realize he is engaging with Illusion.

Shao-Yu asks a monk to help him wake from the dream. "Why do you resort to magic and not show the truth." The answer is there a few lines later. "My Master knew of my wrongful thoughts and made me dream the dream to learn of worldly riches, honor and desire are nothing."

While the novel is written and translated in an old school style that doesn't make it a breezy read the ideas contained are super powerful. I loved this line towards the back of the novel.

"You say the dream and the world are two separate things, and that is because you have yet to awaken from the dream. Chung Chou once dreamed he was a butterfly, and upon waking he could not tell if he was the butterfly dreaming he was Chung Chou."

When I was researching my Chinese Vampire novel (Hunting the Moon Tribe) in 2004 I wanted to read this novel badly. I had read about it, but couldn't find an English translation. At the time I read the Romance of Three Kingdoms and Journey to the West. My novel has many homages to those books and I have no doubt this would have influenced me heavily if I read it at the time. It is interesting as I do a Philip K Dick podcast now I thinking of the book now in this lens.

Really cool book and considering the age that makes it more impressive. The Nine Cloud Dream is a Korean Inception written hundreds of year before Christopher Nolan was a thing. Really cool book.