The Naked Tree (Cornell East Asia, No. 83) (Cornell East Asia Series, 83) [Hardcover]

Park Wan-suh (Author), Yu Young-nan (Translator)

Book Description

Series: Cornell East Asia Series, 83 | Publication Date: June 1995

A coming-of-age novel set during the Korean War, by PARK WAN-SUH, one of Korea's leading contemporary writers. The award-winning author of more than twenty novels, and numerous short stories and essays, Park often deals with the themes of Korean War tragedies, middle-class values, and women's issues. The novel is rich with scenes of cultural clashes, racial prejudice, and the kinds of misunderstandings that many American soldiers and Koreans experienced during the war years.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Korean

About the Author

YU YOUNG-NAN has translated many English books into Korean and some Korean short stories and novels into English. She received the Korea Modern Literature Translation Award in 1991 and 1992.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 188 pages
• Publisher: Cornell Univ East Asia Program (June 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1885445733
• ISBN-13: 978-1885445735
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,983,368 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A poignant and beautiful triumph, March 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Naked Tree (Cornell East Asia, No. 83) (Cornell East Asia Series, 83) (Paperback)

To view this book as a "coming of age" novel is to neglect the deeper intention of its author. For years, Pak has been writing about the silent and oppressed Korean women giving them a voice through her carefully developed characters.

Amid the chaos of the war torn country, Pak does a superb job of painting the daily mundane lives of its survivors. Even as in time of peace, these characters long for love and acceptance in their silent moments of loneliness. Pak is a wonderful storyteller as she weaves her personal experiences with colorful imagination. Pak's further usuage of metaphors referencing life and death to colors and seasons are done meticulously.

Yu Young-nan has kept the faith in her masterful translation. Her thoughtful choice of "hand-picked" words only enhance the lucidity of Pak's story. This is a wonderful novel for anyone interested in the content and form of contemporary Asian literature.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars remarkable work, September 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Naked Tree (Cornell East Asia, No. 83) (Cornell East Asia Series, 83) (Hardcover)

A very, very nice, and brief, novel, telling of the experience various citizens of Seoul have during the Korean War. The synopsis does not clearly tell what the book is about: Wan-so is not merely writing a sociological novel about cultural dilemmas. Rather, she broadens the novel's scope in order to address the same basic themes we need to deal with in our lives. Of course, Wan-so does also utilize cultural themes, particularly in detailing relationships between Koreans and American soldiers. Wan-so created a poised, understated novel that seems smaller than it really is. At the novel's close, we know that all her small, plain sentences have done a great deal. The kind of novel that should be more accessible: contemporary novels outside of the English language that are much better than most American novels, and yet are very difficult to find, as is evident from the above information about availability (My copy was obtained at a university bookstore).