Genre Fiction
![Sok-Yong Hwang - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B004MQK30A.jpg)
The Guest: A Novel
Based on actual events, The Guest is a profound portrait of a divided people haunted by a painful past, and a generation's search for reconciliation.
During the Korean War, Hwanghae Province in North Korea was the setting of a gruesome fifty-two day massacre. In an act of collective amnesia the atrocities were attributed to American military, but in truth they resulted from malicious battling between Christian and Communist Koreans. Forty years later, Ryu Yosop, a minister living in America returns to his home village, where his older brother once played a notorious role in the bloodshed. Besieged by vivid memories and visited by the troubled spirits of the deceased, Yosop must face the survivors of the tragedy and lay his brother's soul to rest.
Faulkner-like in its intense interweaving narratives, The Guest is a daring and ambitious novel from a major figure in world literature.
During the Korean War, Hwanghae Province in North Korea was the setting of a gruesome fifty-two day massacre. In an act of collective amnesia the atrocities were attributed to American military, but in truth they resulted from malicious battling between Christian and Communist Koreans. Forty years later, Ryu Yosop, a minister living in America returns to his home village, where his older brother once played a notorious role in the bloodshed. Besieged by vivid memories and visited by the troubled spirits of the deceased, Yosop must face the survivors of the tragedy and lay his brother's soul to rest.
Faulkner-like in its intense interweaving narratives, The Guest is a daring and ambitious novel from a major figure in world literature.
Editorial Reviews
"Vivid snapshots from the Korean War and surreal encounters with ghosts intersect in the first major US release by award-winning Korean novelist Sok-yong … an ambitious exploration of a postwar survivor's chaotic psyche." -Publishers Weekly
"Expert, idiomatic translation renders visible a story that helps explain the present weirdness in North Korea … [T]he story with its great insight into the region, is deeply rewarding." -Kirkus Reviews
"Hwang Sok-Yong is the most committed, politically active writer of all those who have translated the Korean in recent years." -Liberation
"Writing that refuses to ignore suffering, but at the same time refuses to let itself be destroyed by destruction-which is a great challenge to any author." -Le Figaro Litteraire
"A provocative novel … with a subtle power. [Hwang] takes the reader to the edge of a gruesome scene, then steps back and focuses on the sort of mundane detail that sticks in one's mind more firmly than any blood-splattered image." -TimeASIA
"Expert, idiomatic translation renders visible a story that helps explain the present weirdness in North Korea … [T]he story with its great insight into the region, is deeply rewarding." -Kirkus Reviews
"Hwang Sok-Yong is the most committed, politically active writer of all those who have translated the Korean in recent years." -Liberation
"Writing that refuses to ignore suffering, but at the same time refuses to let itself be destroyed by destruction-which is a great challenge to any author." -Le Figaro Litteraire
"A provocative novel … with a subtle power. [Hwang] takes the reader to the edge of a gruesome scene, then steps back and focuses on the sort of mundane detail that sticks in one's mind more firmly than any blood-splattered image." -TimeASIA
Readers Top Reviews
Anaud KingDOGGStepha
The author tries to reconcile the bitter feelings and what has happened during the Korean Conflict. The title of this book, "Guest," should be rewritten as "Uninvited Guest." As that's what the title really meant to be. In Korea, another name for the smallpox is the 'uninvited guest.' Who invited the U.S, or Russia for that matter, for Korean civil war? Specially, the U.S was self-invited herself, no matter how many history books were written on Korean War. The book was written based on the conversation between the author and Rev. T Yoo who still lives in New Jersey. It is not a history book nor a documentary. Nonetheless, Hwang, the author, distorted the fact on American atrocity at Sinchun (Hwang Hae-Do, North Korea) rather seriously. Rev. Yoo is quite upset saying that he never told Hwang the killings in Sinchun was caused by handful of Christian youth group. It was an act committed by the American soldiers. The Korean peninsula divided by the uninvited guests more than 60 years ago is still divided by the "Uninvited guest." I wonder how long the tragedy will continue. Distorted, yet great story telling.
Dr.L.
North Korea has long accused American troups of a horrible slaughter of innocent civilians in Sincheon during the Korean War. Korean author Hwang Sok-yong tells a different story, reportedly based on interviews and a personal visit to North Korea. As told in this book, bitter fighting between communists and anti-communist "Christians" was the cause. This book is moving but difficult to read. It is written in the style of a 12-step exorcism with frequent appearances by ghosts. The narration abruptly jumps from character to character, from the living to the dead, and from past to present, without transition or explanation, leaving the reader struggling to discover who is speaking. It reads much like a disconnected dream, done deliberately as a literary device. Some familiarity with Korean culture and modern Korean history is a help, but a reader is left with a constant sense of uncertainty about what is happening. The language is harsh and occasionally vulgar, especially coming from the main character who is a Christian minister. Violent acts are frequently and graphically described. I would recommend this book to serious students of Korea, but not as a casual or light read. It is a window into the darkness that has divided Korea for 50 years, and raises the sobering possibility that this darkness was in part self-inflicted.
Elissa RobertsonA
Disengaging, easy to lose interest, no major hook up
LaRae Meyer
For those of us how know little of North Korea's history, there is a glimpse of their past in this story.
Darla Heart
An elegantly written, well thought out, heartbreaker.
