The Ginseng Hunter [Paperback]

Jeff Talarigo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 7, 2009

A Chinese ginseng hunter lives alone in the valley, where he spends his days preparing for winter. He is scarcely aware of the larger world until shadowy figures, floating bodies, and rumors of murder begin to intrude on his cherished solitude. Then, on a trip to Yanji, he meets a young North Korean prostitute. Through her vivid tales, the tragedy occurring across the river unfolds, and soon the hunter realizes that the fates of the young woman and four others rest in his hands.An unforgettable look at life along the fragile border between China and North Korea, The Ginseng Hunter is a confirmation of Jeff Talarigo's talent for finding humanity in the most unexpected places.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Set on China's fraught, ruggedly beautiful border with North Korea, Talarigo's tense, atmospheric second novel (after The Pearl Diver) movingly dramatizes the human faces behind political oppression. A nameless middle-aged Chinese man—whose mother was Chinese and father was Korean—maintains a quiet, relatively stable life gathering the valuable ginseng root. In strict adherence to family traditions, he takes only a single root a day when he can find them; once a month he stays overnight in the city of Yanji, at Miss Wong's bordello. On one such trip, he spends the night with a young North Korean refugee who tells a harrowing story of oppression. Alternating with her story is the tale of a North Korean mother and young daughter who are forcibly separated during famine; the daughter washes up tragically at the gatherer's door, while the mother might or might not be the refugee prostitute. Talarigo hypnotically weaves the strands of these stories together against a backdrop of stunning scenery and of cruelty, creating a memorable, morally stringent tale. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

“Remarkable. . . . A story of quiet humanity in the midst of overwhelming inhumanity.”
—The Christian Science Monitor

“A psychologically affecting portrait of desire and guilt. . . . A scathing reminder of the perils that communism continues to wreak in pockets across the world.”
—Chicago Sun-Times

“This brave book, written in starkly vivid prose, is timely on several levels. . . . We seldom get a window into North Korean lives. The view is painful, but well worth it.”
—The Free Lance-Star

“Evanescent…. [Shows] the beauty and power of the ginseng root, the respect of the hunter for the thing he hunts.”
—Los Angeles Times

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Anchor (April 7, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 030727523X
• ISBN-13: 978-0307275233
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #891,554 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars the distant land of the human heart, April 20, 2008

By 

John C. Wiegard "Virginia Librarian" (Chester, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ginseng Hunter: A Novel (Hardcover)

This novel explores, at first, the psyche and existence of a middle aged Ginseng Hunter is western China, at the North Korean border. He wanders through silent and fragrant mountain forest in pursuit of his elusive and rare quarry, with no company other than the memories of a solitary and painful life.

Gradually, like the nearby river, the tale flows into the land of political oppression, as dead bodies float down the river, and a child steals corn from his garden. He visits a whorehouse and a new woman there speaks of the "Dear Leader" across the border, the terrible punishments for disloyalty, the death for stealing a grain of rice.

In the tradition of Steinbeck, Talarigo speaks of the good and evil of everyday life- of the choices we make, of the personal as politics and of politics as personal. In choosing a distant and obscure cataclysm of human madness, he seems to say to us- look in a mirror. The secrets of your heart, silent as a forest and as eternal as the changing seasons, are no mystery. In the final scene, a garden is planted without the farmer knowing who will eat of it. Nothing ends here and there is no closure, but that is true of life as well.
This book is about what makes us human and how we survive our own darkness.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written, April 26, 2008

By 

Tonya Speelman "Hoarder of books" (Goldendale WA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Ginseng Hunter: A Novel (Hardcover)

This book was a quick read for me. I couldn't put it down. We don't know anyone's name, but you don't even realize it because the images are written so well you feel like you are with him. We have a Chinese man who lives on his family farm and hunts for ginseng for his living. He meets several different escapees from North Korea and tries to help them.

Very interesting to read about and you will not want to put this book down! I didn't.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ginseng Hunter, August 2, 2008

By 

Grayser "Book Lover 1000" (Brookhaven NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ginseng Hunter: A Novel (Hardcover)

In this small-sized book, Talarigo paints pictures with his words. It is a sad, beautiful, haunting tale that touches political, environmental and humanistic implications. It is a tale of how the life of any person can be affected in ways beyond his or her control, yet how small acts of human kindness are what make us human. He has helped to educate readers about life in North Korea and thus has given a voice to the voiceless. An excellent read.