Untold Night and Day is written by Bae Suah, translated to English by Deborah Smith. This book is about Ayami, an employee at Seoul's only audio theatre for the blind, her night with her former boss, and the next day when she looks after a German poet as a favor for a friend.

Several lines, phrases, scenes, and descriptions reoccur throughout the book. They all reappear in a slightly different context in relation to different characters. And even though I knew to expect repetitions before going into this book, the first time I encountered a repeated phrase still surprised me. Think of me doing the Leonardo di Caprio meme of him pointing in surprise.

Eventually, the book becomes like a dream, with dream logic applied. What is too irrational or weird in the real world is perfectly acceptable in this dream world simmering in the summer heat and power outages. And I was left to accept it, accept the surreal unquestioningly like I would if I were the one dreaming.

Throughout the book, fact and fiction, past and present, dream and reality, night and day exist side by side, reinforced by the repetitions that the author skillfully applied. I think the intermingling of the real and the strange is what made it very compelling to read.

Did I completely grasp what was happening at all times? No. Did the ending give me this big realization about the book and the story, giving me additional insight as I read it in full? Again, not really. But did I enjoy the hallucinatory and dreamlike meander through summer in Seoul with Ayami and the rest of the characters in Untold Night and Day? Oh absolutely.