The Soil by Yi Kwang, Sun-Ae Hwang (Translator), Horace Jeffery Hodges (Translator)(Library of Korean Literature)
Requirements: ePUB Reader, 462 KB
Overview: A major, never before translated novel by the author of "The Heartless"–often called the first modern Korean novel–"The Soil" tells the story of an idealist dedicating his life to helping the inhabitants of the rural community in which he was raised. Striving to influence the poor farmers of the time to improve their lots, become self-reliant, and thus indirectly change the reality of colonial life on the Korean peninsula, "The Soil" was vitally important to the social movements of the time, echoing the effects and reception of such English-language novels as Upton Sinclair’s "The Jungle."
Yi Kwang Su’s the Soil is a tragic story of lost love, corrupt wealth, and the failure of moral actions to bring about real benefits. Heo Sung, the novel’s protagonist, seems to have it all – money, a respected job, and a charming, beautiful wife. Eventually, his wife shows her true colors as a shallow, manipulative conception of Seoul, and Sung decides to go back to the countryside where he is originally from and tries to realize his original goals of raising the living standards of the poor locals. Unfortunately, the very people he is trying to help are suspicious of his actions, namely, why he would want to leave the city, and all the promises it represents, behind. These people represent the ignorance and outdated beliefs left behind by centuries of Confucianism in Korea, and reflect Yi’s view that Confucian ideals left Koreans largely unprepared for the modern world.
Yi Kwang-su was born in 1892 during the twilight years of the Korean monarchy, which ended in 1910 with the anexation of Korea by Japan. Recognized as one of modern Korea’s best novelists, especially for his 1917 novel The Heartless, he died in disfavor in 1950, accused of collaboration with the Japanese. (Dalkey Archive)
Genre: General Fiction/Classics
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