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Silver Stallion: A Novel of Korea

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If you're anything like me, then you grew up viewing the Korean War in 30-minute snippets of "dramedy" called M*A*S*H. The truth is that most Americans, and most other people as well, have not had the opportunity to see the war years from a Korean standpoint. In his fictional novel, Silver Stallion, Ahn Junghyo captures the intricate emotional travails of a rural Korean community that suddenly finds itself unable to hide from the pains of war. Intermixed with the personal drama of the lead character, a young boy named Mansik, Ahn Junghyo details the struggles that tore apart the traditional Korean social order of the 1950's. What makes this work such a powerful novel is the author's character-based writing style. He uses characters that are, at the same time, stereotypically familiar and uniquely human. Silver Stallion, as a work of literature, is compelling and engaging. As an historical tale, it is invaluable and crucial to understanding modern-day Korea. Ahn Junghyo's novel should not only be appreciated for its historical relevancy and practicality, but for its literary simplicity and genuine humanity.

The destructive magnitude of war on people is immeasurable. Lingering memories of the war often scar victims and survivors, especially children, for life. Ahn Junghyo, a renowned Korean writer, tactfully recaptures his own memory of the Korean War that broke out on June 25, 1950 in this heart wrenching and disturbing novel, Silver Stallion. Ahn tries to unravel the complexity of the war and fathom the impacts that the war has on Koreans. Kumsan, a remote and picturesque village, seems to have escaped from the outbreak of the war. The lives of the village people appear undisturbed and the children spend their carefree days running in the woods in search of the Legendary General and his silver stallion,unaware of arrival of the UN liberators and the communist enemies. The life as they know it shatters when two UN servicemen violate widow Ollye one evening. From that point onward, the entire village headed by the patriarch Old Hwang accompanies by other adults and children shuns Ollye and her children, Mansik and Nanhi; even though the villagers know she has been an unfortunate victim, conservative Confucian values continues to prevail. Ahn seems to tell us that Kumsan's rustic and purity has consequently been ruined in the hands of the western imperial powers. The plot thickens when an American military base--Omaha-stations at the Cucumber Island, whish is located across the river from Kumsan. Aside from the presence of the foreign personnel on the island,prostitution becomes rampant, attracting numerous poverty stricken and socially rejected women into selling their bodies for money. Conservative Kumsan villagers perceive the flourishing prostitution as an indicator of moral bankruptcy in Korea, and Old Hwang is especially outraged by this encroaching phenomenon. There is an ambiguous point of view of the island and the arrival of these unwelcome intruders. On one hand, both adults and children scavenge the garage piles in search of food and other material goods to supplement their measly diet. On the other hand, I think Ahn attempts to imply that the presence of the military base and the introduction of prostitution are extensions of the pervasive colonial imperialism that has begun to take a toll on the conventional Korean society. Ahn writes that the rapid changes taking place around Kumsan also have rippling effects on the children. This impact can be seen in two ways. First, instead of running freely in the wood or fighting against the nearby village boys in defending honor and bravery, Kusman boys engage in physical aggression against the other clan boys for food and territory on the Cucumber Island. Second, the conflict between Mansik and his playmate intensifies when Mansik verbally threatens Chandol and Jun to kill them for watching Ollye at nights. The fight between the boys extends beyond the usual fistfights; in this case, a firearm is involved which concerns with the matter of life and death. Perhaps the boys symbolize the oppressed Koreans in the sense that they want to defend itself against the invading foreign encroachment. Ahn provides a detail account of the ambivalent sentiment that Koreans felt at the outbreak of the war in 1950. The liberators advanced their imperial interests at the expense of the suffering of Korean people, completely unconcern with their welfare and well being. The legacy of the imperialist aggression left Koreans baffled with its war torn past. Most importantly, Ahn concludes the story with an open ending with Mansik looking forward to the uncertain future, as an assertion that Korea is as resilient as the child who will one day rebound and reconstruct itself as a proud nation.

This was recommended to me by a Korean literary authority as one of the best translations of any Korean novel into English (it's translated by Mr. Junghyo). It's about South Korean children who live in a village near an American military base during the Korean War. The story is engaging from the start, shifting from the Huck Finnish adventures of the children to scenes of war, violence and prostitution; it is punctuated with extremely haunting, tragic (and occassionally beautiful) images. I highly recommend it -- it's better than "White Badge" (Mr. Junghyo's apparently better-known novel about Korean soldiers in the Vietnam War).

I purchased this book for my 17 year old grandson, required reading for his high school senior english class. I read it first and found it a wonderful insight into another culture and what happens when a traditional way of life is shattered. I was looking forward to discussing it with him as we often do when we read the same book. He found it boooring and stuggled to get thru it. Perhaps this is a book for an older reader.

Silver Stallion

Ahn Junghyo's novel, Silver Stallion, is a detailed description of what the Korean War's effects were on the small village of Kumsan. As the war raged on in Korea, the people of this village struggled to cope with the changing world around them. Although the war never directly came into contact with the village, but the soldiers sheer presence was enough to cause turmoil in this once peaceful little village. Both the North Korean Communist's forces and the United Nation's forces both had different effects on the village. This novel focuses on three very important aspects of Korean society: the role of women, traditional Confucian values, and that of the children. The war shook Korean women's role in society, as the villagers were exposed to a totally different type of women (Yankee Wives) or prostitutes. Traditional Confucian values were upset as the structure of Korean society came crashing down. Finally, the children, who have been isolated from the world, saw a new world with all of its marvels and horrors.

The novel centers around the detailed experiences of Ollye, a widow mother of two children. She goes is a simple mother that tries to provide for herself and her children. Yet as time passes she reluctantly becomes a prostitute. After her son hurts himself, Ollye decides finally to face the shame that villagers placed upon her. Ollye and her two children, Mansik and Nanhi, were never well off, and depended on the Hwang family for their survival. Then one fateful night, two bengkos (American) soldiers came to the village. As they passed through the village the looked for an opportunity. They found it when they came upon Ollye's house. After subduing Mansik, the soldiers raped Ollye. The next day, rumors spread throughout the village each becoming even more exaggerated. As the rumors spread, silently the decision was made to isolate Ollye and her family from the rest of the village. Then one day, two women came to the village. These two women were prostitutes that had come to Kumsan Village in the hope of purchasing a house to use as a place of entertainment. Ollye slowly becomes friends with Yonghi and Sundok. These two women slowly convinced Ollye, that being a prostitute is not that bad and that good money could be made. Ollye's shame slowly disappears as she starts to accept her new role in life. Ollye's change in lifestyles affected the way the whole village treated her in their attempts to hold on to their Confucian values.

Even with nearly half a century of Japanese control, traditional Confucian teachings were never destroyed in the countryside. Kumsan Village never imagined that the war would ever affect the way that they had lived. The center of this Confucian system was Old Hwang, who was the Confucian leader of the village. The first shock to this Confucian order was what they heard the Communist did to the Confucian leaders in the town near Kumsan Village. Afterward the American soldiers marched through the village. The American soldiers seemed to pay little attention as the moved northward to fight the North Korean Army. Then came the next shock was the rape of Ollye by the American soldiers. All of the villagers had no idea how to deal with such an event. Finally was the conflict that Ollye and Yonghi had with the villagers about what happened at the Dragon Lady Club. As the village dealt with these problems, a new threat emerged, that of the Chinese Communist that caused most of the villagers to flee to the south.

The children of Kumsan Village and the surrounding villages had little understanding of what was going on around them. Their lives were very simple before the war, but they became very exciting after the soldiers came. First was the idea of seeing the "Reds" or the Communist soldiers in the town. Then came the American soldiers who would give them candy and food when they followed them around. Afterward was the military dump site near "Omaha" base on the island. As they became more daring, the adventures took them to "Texas Town." This is where the children learned about the "games" that adults play. As winter approached, the children started to sneak to Dragon Lady Club at night. This is where Mansik came into conflict with two ex-friends who wanted to watch Ollye and Yonghi entertain soldiers. This conflict almost became deadly, with Mansik being injured. The children would never be the same again.

The world of Kumsan village did not change over night, but it happened so quickly that it might as well have been over night. Ollye slowly became a woman who was able to defy the village. Old Hwang saw his Confucian order collapsing all around him as his family lost everything. Mansik, who defended his mother in a violent conflict, almost lost his life, but came to accept what he did. The way that this village lived for so long was destroyed as the war came to their part of the country.

In order to stand apart from other period works, a truly great historical novel must challenge any preconceived notions an audience may have resulting from being exposed to history from only one perspective. In Silver Stallion, Ahn Jungyo successfully reconstructs Western thought on the casualties of the Korean War by telling a tale, not from the perspective of American soldiers, diplomats or policy-makers, but from the point of view of the members of a small Korean farming town. Dialogue early in the book reveals the seclusion of the village and the minimal effects that any political swing would have on its inhabitants, and from the outset we are conditioned to view the village as a microcosm of Korea, a nation attempting to regain the control of its own fate. Set in an small village deeply rooted in Confucian tradition, Silver Stallion is the story of a simple Korea exposed to Americans, or bengkos, who seem to care little for the very people that they have been sent to "rescue." The proper roles of men and women within society are set before we ever meet any outsiders, so when they arrive we are able to understand why they are viewed as brash, irreverent, and disrespectful. The story really begins to take shape the night after the American soldiers arrive, when a village widow with two children is brutally raped by two American soldiers. It is because we have been introduced to the etiquette associated with the village that we are able to understand why she is soon ostracized and ignored, but when the village begins to mock and look at her shamefully we begin to question the existing social structure. Although we are never actually any closer to a substantial military conflict than an air raid or sporadic gun fire in the distance, the reader still realizes the tension and terror associated with war so close to one's home. As the war continues, and a semi-permanent American camp is built across the river, the town is exposed to drinking, prostitution and other shameful occidental habits. Once again the village's patriarch is unable to understand why these people do not respect his authority and treat him with none of the respect to which he feels entitled. The audience becomes torn between pity for his futile efforts at maintaining control, and disgust for the way he and the other villagers treat the poor victimized widow. Ostensibly Silver Stallion is a tale of innocence lost and the dismantling of a culture by the very force introduced to save it. Further examination, however, reveals that the village is already declining, the patriarchal family is nearly bankrupt, and the timeless social hierarchy has already atrophied irrevocably before the invasion began. Ahn Jungyo wrote a novel that is extremely explicit and borders on pornography with the intention to show, not how Korean life has been destroyed by an unjust war, but how women in Korea must battle to control their own identity. The book focuses on how war brought many issues to the forefront within a village already steeped in suppression and bordering on dictatorship. Silver Stallion used explicit language and many unnecessarily vulgar images in order to introduce a new perspective on not only the period of the Korean War, but on life within rural Korea itself.

Somebody, obviously a Korean-American, had written about "the legacy of the imperialist aggression". Well, Americans, read the novel (good one) and think of it. In 1950 your soldiers saved South Koreans from a really awful fate. As a person from an ex-Communist country who spent long years in both Seoul and Pyongyang, I can assure you that the difference is unimaginable: Kimsland is indeed the closest approximation to the hell on the earth since the fall of Pol Pot's madmen. However, read the novel to see how young South Koreans came to perceive you, their saviors. You are now seen as evil intruders, not liberators. Did it make sense to send the US troops to save South Korea? No. Ditto all other foreign adventures. You cannot think of a better case of a country saved by the US than South Korea. Nonetheless, it is only a question of time before the "US imperialists" will be thrown away, and the memory of them will manipulated to create a lasting bad image. Meanwhile, the mad killers of the Pyongyang clique are being whitewashed by the South Korean youngsters and, from 2000, by the official media. This might be sad, but this is a price to pay for mingling in other people's affairs.