The Prisoner
by
4.10 · Rating details · 40 ratings · 15 reviews
A sweeping account of imprisonment—in time, in language, and in a divided country—from Korea’s most acclaimed novelist
In 1993, writer and democracy activist Hwang Sok-yong was sentenced to five years in the Seoul Detention Center. Hwang’s imprisonment forced him to consider the many prisons to which he was subject—of thought, of writing, of Cold War nations, of the heart.
In this capacious memoir, Hwang moves between his imprisonment and his life—as a boy in Pyongyang, as a young activist protesting South Korea’s military dictatorships, as a soldier in the Vietnam War, as a dissident writer—and in so doing, narrates the dramatic revolutions and transformations of one life and of Korean society during the twentieth century. (less)
In 1993, writer and democracy activist Hwang Sok-yong was sentenced to five years in the Seoul Detention Center. Hwang’s imprisonment forced him to consider the many prisons to which he was subject—of thought, of writing, of Cold War nations, of the heart.
In this capacious memoir, Hwang moves between his imprisonment and his life—as a boy in Pyongyang, as a young activist protesting South Korea’s military dictatorships, as a soldier in the Vietnam War, as a dissident writer—and in so doing, narrates the dramatic revolutions and transformations of one life and of Korean society during the twentieth century. (less)
Hardcover, 688 pages
Published August 3rd 2021 by Verso Books
TL;DR: If you’re interested in the Korean Peninsula, I highly recommend you read this book (not K-pop, but history, literature, and politics).
Before I picked up this book, I knew little of Hwang Sok-yong. I was aware that he had visited North Korea and that he had been a political prisoner in South Korea, but that was it. Turns out, Hwang has been involved in many aspects of South Korea’s history – he's been so involved that I am utterly confused as to why I have never stumbled upon his name when reading about inter-Korean relations. Perhaps his involvement was just an inconsequential contribution to whatever was to happen (or, not happen, as it is always the case in Korea), but it was a fascinating read.
In the Prisoner, Hwang jumps around his life and related his involvement (he is often not just a mere spectator) in many historical events in the peninsula: the pre-Korean war division of the peninsula, the Korean war, Korea’s participation in the Vietnam War, the Cold War (when South Korea went through dictatorships and everyone was on the look-out for “North Korean spies”), the inter-Korean reunification talks that happened before Kim Dae-jung's time, and even the candlelight protest in 2016. He is also very well acquainted with almost every writer and poet Korea has ever produced to a point some chapters seemed to be some sort of “address book” indicating where he had met each author (many of them, he met in prison).
The most interesting chapters to me where the ones where he recounts meeting Kim Il-sung, his exile, and his teenage years when he discovered his vocation as a writer. His reflections on the inter-Korean back-and-forth were very interesting. He mentions how ironic it is that conservative South Korean political parties strive for North Korean human rights while the liberals ignore them, or how when Koreans are okay that is when they look for another reason to pick a fight with each other. Moreover, Hwang kept mentioning places and events that I had never heard about and I would be falling in rabbit holes every three pages.
While I had read Familiar Things by Hwang Sok-yong a few years ago and I didn’t care for the book, I am looking forward to reading the works mentioned in this one (The Guest and Princess Bari, specially, though I’m curious about Jang Gilsang an whether it has been translated). In short, this is a thick memoir, which is always intimidating, and it totally paid off – I may even re-read a few bits, if not the entire thing, in the future.
I received this ARC for free from NetGalley. (less)
Before I picked up this book, I knew little of Hwang Sok-yong. I was aware that he had visited North Korea and that he had been a political prisoner in South Korea, but that was it. Turns out, Hwang has been involved in many aspects of South Korea’s history – he's been so involved that I am utterly confused as to why I have never stumbled upon his name when reading about inter-Korean relations. Perhaps his involvement was just an inconsequential contribution to whatever was to happen (or, not happen, as it is always the case in Korea), but it was a fascinating read.
In the Prisoner, Hwang jumps around his life and related his involvement (he is often not just a mere spectator) in many historical events in the peninsula: the pre-Korean war division of the peninsula, the Korean war, Korea’s participation in the Vietnam War, the Cold War (when South Korea went through dictatorships and everyone was on the look-out for “North Korean spies”), the inter-Korean reunification talks that happened before Kim Dae-jung's time, and even the candlelight protest in 2016. He is also very well acquainted with almost every writer and poet Korea has ever produced to a point some chapters seemed to be some sort of “address book” indicating where he had met each author (many of them, he met in prison).
The most interesting chapters to me where the ones where he recounts meeting Kim Il-sung, his exile, and his teenage years when he discovered his vocation as a writer. His reflections on the inter-Korean back-and-forth were very interesting. He mentions how ironic it is that conservative South Korean political parties strive for North Korean human rights while the liberals ignore them, or how when Koreans are okay that is when they look for another reason to pick a fight with each other. Moreover, Hwang kept mentioning places and events that I had never heard about and I would be falling in rabbit holes every three pages.
While I had read Familiar Things by Hwang Sok-yong a few years ago and I didn’t care for the book, I am looking forward to reading the works mentioned in this one (The Guest and Princess Bari, specially, though I’m curious about Jang Gilsang an whether it has been translated). In short, this is a thick memoir, which is always intimidating, and it totally paid off – I may even re-read a few bits, if not the entire thing, in the future.
I received this ARC for free from NetGalley. (less)
Aug 10, 2021Bagus rated it really liked it
Before picking up this book, I knew little about Hwang Sok-yong. Hwang’s autobiography was originally published in two volumes in South Korea, namely: The Prisoner 1: Across the Border and The Prisoner 2: Into the Fire. The decision to publish this edition in its entirety in one volume with some abridgement came largely from the translators, Anton Hur and Sora Kim-Russell and the publisher of the English edition with the author's consent. But I think it’s a good decision to publish the autobiography in a single volume as this book contains expansive thoughts on the divided Korean society in the twentieth century with the struggles to establish working democracy in South Korea.
In 1993, Hwang Sok-yong was arrested upon arrival in South Korea after his long exile in Germany and the US. His crime seemed unforgivable by the government at that time, that is to visit North Korea. There is a law called the National Security Act in South Korea that has been used to persecute many citizens, especially public intellectuals and writers for any action that constitutes praising and breach of security related to North Korea. Knowing that fact, Hwang remained unwavering in his decision to visit and stay in North Korea for quite a while after the ease of travel in 1989 that gave South Koreans more freedom to travel abroad.
In the first few chapters of this book, Hwang frequently compares the political situation in South Korea before 1989 to East Germany following his observation of life in Berlin during his exile. There was little freedom of speech for writers and the constant surveillance that followed to ensure the state's security. Other than that, South Koreans were also not allowed to travel abroad before 1989, something akin to the restriction of movement that was imposed on the citizens of countries in the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War. However, he also mentions that if the South Korean political landscape is similar to East Germany, then the situation in North Korea is even worse.
If you are a fan of Korean culture and want to know more about the Korean history of the twentieth century, this is a book to go to. Hwang Sok-yong recounts many parts of Korean history in this book with vivid description and detailed naming or historical dates, providing readers with perspectives on the history of Korea from his own experience starting from the division of the Korean peninsula after the end of the Japanese occupation in 1945 and the Korean War that followed. There is also an interesting description of his experience participating as part of the South Korean Marine Corps during the Vietnam War in 1966-1969 and the events leading to the Gwangju Democracy Movement in 1980 the year following the death of Park Chung-hee’s dictatorship.
As both a writer and a democracy activist, Hwang Sok-yong deserves praise for composing an autobiography that proves his consistencies in improving the political landscape and freedom of expression for artists and writers in South Korea. He is not ashamed to mention his failures and shortcomings here and there in this book to provide readers with as much objectivity as possible, although I might not know if there are any omissions since I’m not familiar enough with the history of South Korea to be able to judge this book fully. However, there are two things that I particularly like about this book. First, it gives a new perspective on the nature of North Korean society. Hwang tries to provide an objective opinion on Kim Il-sung as instrumental in his resistance against Japanese occupation that is commonly downplayed in South Korea. Second, it also gives a detailed description of how living in South Korea was like for both common citizens and political activists before 1998. (less)
In 1993, Hwang Sok-yong was arrested upon arrival in South Korea after his long exile in Germany and the US. His crime seemed unforgivable by the government at that time, that is to visit North Korea. There is a law called the National Security Act in South Korea that has been used to persecute many citizens, especially public intellectuals and writers for any action that constitutes praising and breach of security related to North Korea. Knowing that fact, Hwang remained unwavering in his decision to visit and stay in North Korea for quite a while after the ease of travel in 1989 that gave South Koreans more freedom to travel abroad.
In the first few chapters of this book, Hwang frequently compares the political situation in South Korea before 1989 to East Germany following his observation of life in Berlin during his exile. There was little freedom of speech for writers and the constant surveillance that followed to ensure the state's security. Other than that, South Koreans were also not allowed to travel abroad before 1989, something akin to the restriction of movement that was imposed on the citizens of countries in the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War. However, he also mentions that if the South Korean political landscape is similar to East Germany, then the situation in North Korea is even worse.
If you are a fan of Korean culture and want to know more about the Korean history of the twentieth century, this is a book to go to. Hwang Sok-yong recounts many parts of Korean history in this book with vivid description and detailed naming or historical dates, providing readers with perspectives on the history of Korea from his own experience starting from the division of the Korean peninsula after the end of the Japanese occupation in 1945 and the Korean War that followed. There is also an interesting description of his experience participating as part of the South Korean Marine Corps during the Vietnam War in 1966-1969 and the events leading to the Gwangju Democracy Movement in 1980 the year following the death of Park Chung-hee’s dictatorship.
As both a writer and a democracy activist, Hwang Sok-yong deserves praise for composing an autobiography that proves his consistencies in improving the political landscape and freedom of expression for artists and writers in South Korea. He is not ashamed to mention his failures and shortcomings here and there in this book to provide readers with as much objectivity as possible, although I might not know if there are any omissions since I’m not familiar enough with the history of South Korea to be able to judge this book fully. However, there are two things that I particularly like about this book. First, it gives a new perspective on the nature of North Korean society. Hwang tries to provide an objective opinion on Kim Il-sung as instrumental in his resistance against Japanese occupation that is commonly downplayed in South Korea. Second, it also gives a detailed description of how living in South Korea was like for both common citizens and political activists before 1998. (less)
There is a lot this book offers, and not just about the man who is telling the story about himself. There is a story about a country split into two, people who want it to be whole again, those who like the way it is, there are stories about literature and artists, about books and poetry and all that the man saw and experienced during his travels - both to North Korea and beyond. He was imprisoned, tortured, questioned several times.
In this book he goes through in detail about the life he led, the paths he took and the dreams he tried to materialize as an adult and sometimes failed as an older adult. Its heartbreaking in several parts with things he and his family go through. However amidst all this chaos, he has brilliantly produced multitudes of fictional material.
Thank you to Netgalley and Verso books for providing me with a free copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review. (less)
In this book he goes through in detail about the life he led, the paths he took and the dreams he tried to materialize as an adult and sometimes failed as an older adult. Its heartbreaking in several parts with things he and his family go through. However amidst all this chaos, he has brilliantly produced multitudes of fictional material.
Thank you to Netgalley and Verso books for providing me with a free copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review. (less)
If I had to describe this book in one word, I'd say tedious. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed reading it and the way in which the chapters are formatted is my only major complaint. This book is over 600 pages and there were only 14 chapters and an epilogue. This makes it dense and slow to get through. Another gripe that I have is that Hwang throws so may names out at any given time and it can be confusing. That being said, I really enjoyed learning about South Korea in the aftermath of the Korean War. As an outsider looking in South Korea has always looked like a well put together country that was thriving. It was very weird to find out that it wasn't even close. Hwang's account of life is fascinating and something that I, as an American, have never seen before. I'm very glad he wrote an autobiography and shared his story with the world. Everyone should go read this. Jus be warned that it is a dense and long journey. (less)
Apr 21, 2022saïd rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: 2_nonfiction, hangeul, lu_en_fr, translation_talk
Livre absolument brutal à lire. L'autobiographie de Hwang Seogyeong (황석영), 『수인』 (囚人), apparemment a été publiée en deux volumes en Corée. Les traducteurs vers l'anglais, Anton Hur et Sora Kim-Russell, ont décidé d'abréger l'intégralité du texte et de le publier en un seul volume, avec le consentement de l'auteur (apparemment). Les traducteurs vers le français, Choi Mikyung et Jean-Noël Juttet, l'ont traduit du coréen. (less)
Apr 08, 2021Paperwitch rated it really liked it
This book was surprisingly informative of wars and torture I was interested in this for the expiernece, and went in almost in blind. I do not know of this part in korean history, I am not even from Asia. And I am not familiar with the author’s previous work. I knew only of the long-rising tension between South and North Korea, and that this was a memoir of a man tortured and imprisoned for getting in between.
I was astonished and educated throughout the entirety of the novel. It’s interesting how things started off innocently enough, and then began to get worse and worse for the author. It shows the true nature of censorship, how it influences artists and stunts creativity. It’s both a memoir and a warning. (less)
I was astonished and educated throughout the entirety of the novel. It’s interesting how things started off innocently enough, and then began to get worse and worse for the author. It shows the true nature of censorship, how it influences artists and stunts creativity. It’s both a memoir and a warning. (less)
Apr 25, 2021Sean Talbot rated it it was ok
This really wasn't for me. I found the story wasn't put together well so it seemed disjointed. I am always one who loves memoirs however this just seemed off for me.
It was interesting as I learned a bit about the culture other than that it left me cold. (less)
It was interesting as I learned a bit about the culture other than that it left me cold. (less)
Mar 29, 2022Mandy rated it really liked it
Hwang Sok-yong is an acclaimed Korean novelist and political activist and in this wide-ranging and comprehensive memoir he chronicles his life and work against the often tumultuous history of the Korean peninsula. In 1993 he was imprisoned for 5 years after his return from a visit to North Korea, the country from which he had fled with his family as a child at the start of Korean War. The memoir moves between his imprisonment and reminiscences of his life first as a boy in Pyongyang and Seoul, then his later life as a soldier in the Vietnam War, a time as a Buddhist monk, and then as a committed pro-democracy activist and prolific author. It’s a long and very detailed memoir and demands a great deal of investment in time and attention from the reader. The history and politics is complicated for anyone unfamiliar with the country, it jumps about in time and place, making it sometimes difficult to follow the chronology, plus Korean names are tricky for western readers – and Hwang cites a lot of people in the book – so that with so much detail to absorb, it’s certainly not an easy read. In fact I found it sometimes was just too dense and slow, and my concentration flagged. However, that said, it’s a fascinating insight into Korea’s history and repressive political regimes, and well worth persevering with. (less)
Aug 07, 2021Mags rated it liked it
This is a DENSE book. A real doorstopper.
I didn't know a lot about North and South Korea, so this gave me a lot of information. The unfortunate thing is that the author throws LOADS of names at you. So at some point it becomes very confusing as to who is who.
The bits about him being in North Korea are fascinating. Same for his experiences in prison. But the amount of names, the time jumping, and the sheer volume of information makes this quite a dense book to go through.
Worth reading, but set aside your time for it. (I'd make it a 3.5 rather than a 4, but half stars aren't available) (less)
I didn't know a lot about North and South Korea, so this gave me a lot of information. The unfortunate thing is that the author throws LOADS of names at you. So at some point it becomes very confusing as to who is who.
The bits about him being in North Korea are fascinating. Same for his experiences in prison. But the amount of names, the time jumping, and the sheer volume of information makes this quite a dense book to go through.
Worth reading, but set aside your time for it. (I'd make it a 3.5 rather than a 4, but half stars aren't available) (less)
Jul 06, 2021Venneh rated it really liked it
So, for a point of view of one of the reunification activists and one of the few outsiders to have been to North Korea and a political prisoner in South Korea, this book is incredibly choice, and a little bit over half of this book covers these topics, along with the Candlelight Protests against Park Gyun-He (look them up for what we could’ve done to get Trump out if we’d actually committed to protesting). These bits are incredibly well written, and highly recommended. The problem is that the other half of the book is a stealth memoir that is so dryly written and self centered that it came close to putting me to sleep while reading it, which almost never happens to me. I don’t know if this is the fault of the translation or if it’s just the way that the original writer wrote it. This is a low four/five because I can only really recommend half the book, but was still a fun exercise. (less)
Mar 03, 2022Jong Kim rated it it was amazing
The author, Hwang Sok-yong, is 10 years older than me. Since I left South Korea in 1981, I have not kept up-to-date on Korean politics. This book filled me in with lots of details on modern Korean history that I missed out. Hwang is a great writer as well as a great freedom loving activist.
I liked this book so much that I ordered his novel, Jang Gil-san. I am looking forward to reading it.
I liked this book so much that I ordered his novel, Jang Gil-san. I am looking forward to reading it.
Dec 05, 2021Ashley rated it really liked it
I received an electronic ARC via NetGalley.
This is an interesting memoir. Despite the title, it's more than simply a prison memoir--which gives it most of its power. I'll admit that as a reader, I had (and have) very little familiarity with Korean history. A reader with more knowledge would understand various aspects of it better than I did, I'm sure, but I felt that I learned quite a lot. (less)
This is an interesting memoir. Despite the title, it's more than simply a prison memoir--which gives it most of its power. I'll admit that as a reader, I had (and have) very little familiarity with Korean history. A reader with more knowledge would understand various aspects of it better than I did, I'm sure, but I felt that I learned quite a lot. (less)
Wow, now I want to read more autobiographies by novelists…great narrative and learned so much about Korean history I didn’t know!
Jan 08, 2022Kate rated it liked it
unsure how to rank this. there were parts of this that i will remember forever - really moving personal accounts of war, poverty, north korea and feeling like an exile everywhere you go. but on the other hand some sections dragged and the attitudes towards his relationships were often really frustrating to read.
but some chapters as standalones are 5/5s. i see why he had success as a short story writer i just think overall there are some weaker points in the big long narrative. still found this really interesting would highly recommend to anyone interested in 20th century history!!! (less)
but some chapters as standalones are 5/5s. i see why he had success as a short story writer i just think overall there are some weaker points in the big long narrative. still found this really interesting would highly recommend to anyone interested in 20th century history!!! (less)
Dec 05, 2021W added it
Really interesting to read. Parts that were super evocative and parts that really dragged (I mean that’s life I guess). I really liked the translation.
I do think that this edition would have been improved with the addition of a list of like, works referenced or something in the back. Otherwise I find myself putting down the book mid sentence, which takes you out of the experience needlessly.
In the months since I read this book I've found myself thinking about it a lot. I think it's a book that needs time. It's so open. Hwang Sok-yong is clearly one of the world's great dirtbags, and the book really just lays it all out there. It gives it a feeling of honesty that helps balance and contextualize the parts where the author really states his own importance. It's so hard to say, when talking about a translation, what was the translation and what was the original, but I feel like this translation contributed a great deal to that feeling of transparency that made this book compelling. (less)
I do think that this edition would have been improved with the addition of a list of like, works referenced or something in the back. Otherwise I find myself putting down the book mid sentence, which takes you out of the experience needlessly.
In the months since I read this book I've found myself thinking about it a lot. I think it's a book that needs time. It's so open. Hwang Sok-yong is clearly one of the world's great dirtbags, and the book really just lays it all out there. It gives it a feeling of honesty that helps balance and contextualize the parts where the author really states his own importance. It's so hard to say, when talking about a translation, what was the translation and what was the original, but I feel like this translation contributed a great deal to that feeling of transparency that made this book compelling. (less)
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