flâneur

Reading Lolita in the Barracks—Asterisk

asteriskmag.com · 6,474 words · saved by 1 readers

What does it take to turn South Korea's mandatory military service into a literary retreat?

Reading Lolita in the Barracks—Asterisk What does it take to turn South Korea's mandatory military service into a literary retreat? 1. In the summer of 2012, under the watchful eye of a drill sergeant, I found myself learning to throw a hand grenade — decidedly not how I preferred to spend the summer after my freshman year of college. I pulled the safety pin from the small mango-shaped explosive and hurled it in a high arc. It landed in the water with a soft plop, followed by an erupting geyser and a deep rumble. The city of Nonsan lies among the strawberry fields of the southern Korean Penins

related reading