Author: Sun-ok GONG
Publisher: Munhakdongne
300 pages | 210*145mm
| Important! Please read before you order! |
| >>>This book is written in Korean. |
About This Book
"They were most beautiful in their twentieth winter."
The most painful, sad beauty of youth at twenty. The most beautiful time
of their lives. Set in the early 1980s, the novel portrays the life of
Haegeum, the fourth daughter from an average family living in Gwangju.
Not long after she enters high school, she and her friends find
themselves caught in the midst of a demonstration in the Gwangju
Democratization Movement. One of her friends, Gyeongae, is killed on the
spot. The friends who survive her live on with heavy hearts. It is
painful for them to accept the gift of youth in a city where so many
youths have perished.
Haegeum begins a sweet relationship with a young man named Hwan, whom
she met at her uncle's factory, but the relationship ends when Hwan,
trapped in a hopeless family situation, mutilates himself. While "the
poet" fills the empty space in Haegeum's life, Haegeum continues to
wonder about her purpose in life. One day, "the poet" is dragged off to
prison, and Seung-gyu, a comrade in the same cause as "the poet" and
Jeongshin, commits suicide after being drafted by the army. The friends
gather in Gwanghallu in remembrance of the deceased.
When they were at their most beautiful, the world wasn't very bright or
beautiful. The young adults of this story grapple with the hollowness of
being forced to grow up too soon. When they were at their most
beautiful, they were very unhappy and profoundly lost. But like a flame
that burns more brightly in the dark, the brilliant growth inspirited by
the anguish of younger days will light the hearts of today's youth.
"A poignant depiction of youth at twenty and their endurance of many
trials and tribulations. You'll laugh at Haegeum's cheeky wit and be
touched by their struggles." Yonhap News
"A dedication to a time beautiful because it was sad, and sad because it
was beautiful. Despite the topics of collective sorrow and personal
growing pains, the tone remains bright and upbeat." Hankyoreh Daily
About the Author
Gong Sun-ok was born 1963 in Goksung, and made her literary debut
with "Seed Fire" in The Quarterly Changbi in 1991. She is famous for her
portrayals of the marginalized, especially women and their tenacious
commitment to life, and maternity through a dynamic rhetoric. The
recipient of the Women News Literature Prize, the Shin Dong Yeob
Creative Prize, the Today's Young Writer Award, 2005 Artist of the Year
(literature), and the Catholic Literature Prize, Gong has written the
short story collections, Bloom! Daffodils, Merry Night Walk, and I Shall
not Die; fulllength novels, Left My Thirties in Ojiri, Come to the
Sorghum Field; and the essay collections, I Cried at Jaunyeong Flower
Field and Happy Dinner.
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