It’s time for another book club! All discussions will take place within this home thread that will be updated each week with the current week number. So, make sure you use spoiler tags and indicate which part of the book you are going to refer to ahead of the tag to show respect to your follow-readers an any possible late-comers.
Summary
네 마술은 진짜 같아. 그 시간이 어디로 어떻게 흘러갔는지 모르겠어.” 지독히도 불행한 세 소년 앞에 마술사 부자가 나타나면서 마법 같은 기이한 일들이 벌어진다. 동지인지 적인지 마술사 부자의 정체를 알 수 없지만, 신비로운 마술을 보고 나면 왠지 모르게 마음이 평온해진다. 마술이 시작되는 순간, 세 소년의 운명은 어떤 방향으로 흘러가게 될까? 『밤을 건너는 소년』은 밤으로 내몰린 세 소년의 이야기와 미스터리한 마술사의 정체를 추리해 가는 과정을 그린 청소년소설로 2015년 한국문화예술위원회 아르코 문학창작기금 수혜작이다. 사계절 1318문고 백여덟 번째 책이다.
English Summary
(From DeepL) “Your magic is so real, I don’t know where the time went.” When a rich magician appears in front of three very unfortunate boys, magical and strange things happen. They don’t know if he’s a friend or foe, but the mysterious tricks he performs put them at ease. When the magic begins, what direction will the fate of the three boys take? "The Boy Who Crossed the Night is a young adult novel that tells the story of three boys who are thrown into the night and how they try to deduce the identity of a mysterious magician, and was a recipient of the 2015 ARCO Literary Creation Fund of the Korea Arts Council. It is the one hundred and eighth book of Four Seasons 1318 Bunko.
Absolutely had no idea what to expect of this one going in (i know i recced it haha) but so far intrigued. Why are the magician father and son so lowkey shady? Who does 철진이 owe money to? Why is the waiter in the club called " 박쥐"? why do the kids in these books alway bully each other so much? (okay i know the ans to that one)
Overall the language seems to be quite straightforward for me but this sentence at the end of the second chapter really stumped me:
엄마가 입에 달고 살던, 있는 것들이 더하다는 말이 하나도 틀리지 않은 것 같았다.
After looking it up seems like 입에 달고 살다 is a phrase meaning something someone always says. And 있는 것들이 더하다 is those that have, get. Guess it was just a case of two unfamiliar turns of phrase being packed into one sentence leaving me nothing to really grasp onto to decode it. Once i looked the pieces up the whole thing made perfect sense.
I finished the reading for week 1! Kind of proud of myself since I’ve fallen off so hard with Korean, but I’m back!
So far, I am filled with questions. The first two chapters felt very mysterious and I have absolutely no idea where the story is going. I also wondered about the character called 박쥐 at first I was like, bat?? Bat?? Am I missing something? Then I realized they are actually called that. Sometimes it’s hard to know if you just didn’t understand or if something is truly weird.
Otherwise though, I think the language is straightforward and I didn’t spot any exotic grammar really, so it’s a chill read to get back into Korean with.
Week 1, done! I’m intrigued by the characters - so we have the magician father and son who change their workplace every three months and seem like they’re hiding something, the waiter called “bat” who somehow knows the kid from chapter 2 and might be more than he seems, and the bully who owes money to someone and is the underling of a bigger bully.
Question: What genre is this in? When I read the synopsis I though magician like magic/wizard, not magician like Las Vegas.
Anyway, I’m curious to see how the different characters will interact with each other and how the story will go from here as we uncover their personalities and the secrets that each of them seems to be hiding.
Language-wise, there are definitely a fair amount of words I don’t know but the grammar is fine and I’m not having any issues following what’s happening in the story.
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I’m going to do my best to join in this time! My Korean is in desperate need of some attention. 
at first I was like, bat?? Bat?? Am I missing something? Then I realized they are actually called that. Sometimes it’s hard to know if you just didn’t understand or if something is truly weird. 