The title When Adam Opens His Eyes implies both his incorporation into the established system and securing of his own distinguishable territory.
[1] "When I was 19 years old, all I wanted was to have a typewriter, a book of Munch's paintings, and a turntable which I can connect to a cassette player and listen to music.
(p.9)" When Adam Opens His Eyes describes how the main character pays the price for the three things he wants to have, the typewriter, the book of Munch's paintings, and the turntable, and becomes an adult.
He poses as a nude model in front of a middle-aged woman painter and acquires the book of paintings; gets anally raped by a gay man who owns a record store and gains the turntable.
It is set in 1988 when the Seoul Olympics were held, but it shows the general changes that occurred in the 1990s, which can be summed up as individualism, liberalism, and popular culture.
The Korean literature of the 1990s started with the deconstruction of the established literary traditions and rules and the representation of the new generation's experiences and sentiments.
"[6] Later, he once again stood in the middle of a great controversy as his novel Naege geojitmareul haebwa (내게 거짓말을 해봐, Lie to Me), similar to When Adam Opens His Eyes, was attacked and indicted for its excessive obscenities.
[6] It was criticized for lacking in new interpretation of the original work, the unlikely development of Adam murdering the owner of the record store, and poor depictions of the sentiments of the new generation.
[9] In addition, some found fault with its marketing for focusing too much on the sexual debauchery of the innocent protagonist[10] and with its immoderate portrayal of sex scenes, damaging the value of the original work.