[3] Cho was a member of the so-called "hangul generation," which was called that because its members were the first to be educated in the Korean language (the previous years had been under Japanese domination and language, and before the colonial period most scholars had studied Chinese).
The Dwarf is a yŏnjak sosŏl (linked novel) or collection of separately published short stories which can stand alone or supplement each other.
This fractured structure, along with Cho's jump-cutting, juxtapositional, and un-sign-posted narrative portrays a society that "severs men from the natural rhythms and shape of creation.
"[4] It is a powerful work of social criticism focusing on the forced redevelopment of Seoul in the 1970s, and the human costs that accompanied it.
It combines biting realism with an often fantastic structure that pulls a reader into the difficult and fragmented era the work describes.