Seasonal Reads: Barn Burning

Halloween is quickly approaching, and if you had a bookish upbring like mine, that means you’re getting flashbacks of Edgar Allan Poe stories and poems in preparation for the ghostly festivities. Because, as we all know, the literary can be just as spooky as The Shining or Hereditary or [insert your personal favorite horror/thriller]. This Halloween, I offer an alternative to “The Cask of Amontillado” or “The Tell-Tale Heart” for some seasonal recreational reading. And there happens to be a film that goes along with it. 

Haruki Murakami’s 1992 short story “Barn Burning,” really hits the spot. The story, first published for American readers in The New Yorker, is perfect for people looking for intellectual thrillers—stories that are seemingly simple until you sit back and consider what you just read. The most haunting qualities of “Barn Burning” emerge in the last two pages, where the story reveals itself to be more sinister than it purports in its opening scenes. Murakami’s tale follows the experience of a 31 year-old man who attempts come to terms with his relationship with his young mistress after she returns from a trip with a tan and a new man on her arm. All of the drama, mystery, and nail-biting parts of the story take place in mid/late October, which makes it even more timely for this present moment. I can’t say much more without giving away the major twists and turns. 

“Barn Burning” is the source material for the Lee Chang-dong directed film Burning, which premiered at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. The film stars Yoo Ah-in as the story’s protagonist, Jong-seo Jun as his love interest, and Steven Yeun (graphic novel readers may know him as Glenn Rhee in AMC’s The Walking Dead) as the new boyfriend who catalyzes the creepiness of the story.  Critic Katie Rife of The AV Club says the movie, which will be showing through November 1st at Lincoln Center, builds a “paranoid atmosphere before an explosive, hauntingly ambiguous finale.”

I was able to attend the October 26th screening of the movie, and have to say that heart of the story is successfully preserved in the film. Chang-dong’s long shots of Korea through all four seasons are stunning and, especially during the winter and fall scenes of the film, add an eery tone to the already suspensful story. 

Grabbing some student-discounted tickets to watch the film could be a great way to jump-start your Halloweekends, and if you read Murakami’s story first, you’ll get to marvel in the creepy beauty of a text-to-film adaptation done right.