'Unforgettable' Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, author of The Mountains Sing
As the Korean independence movement gathers pace, two children meet on the streets of Seoul. Fate will bind them through decades of love and war. They just don’t know it yet.
It is 1917, and Korea is under Japanese occupation. With the threat of famine looming, ten-year-old Jade is sold by her desperate family to Miss Silver's courtesan school in the bustling city of Pyongyang. As the Japanese army tears through the country, she is forced to flee to the southern city of Seoul. Soon, her path crosses with that of an orphan named JungHo, a chance encounter that will lead to a life-changing friendship.
But when JungHo is pulled into the revolutionary fight for independence, Jade must decide between following her own ambitions and risking everything for the one she loves.
Sweeping through five decades of Korean history, Juhea Kim's sparkling debut is an intricately woven tale of love stretched to breaking point, and two people who refuse to let go.
Longlisted for the HWA Debut Crown Longlist 2022 * Longlisted for the Nota Bene Prize 2023
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Review
Jade is a courtesan...JungHo is a beggar on the streets of Seoul. Together, they are the compelling protagonists of an exciting debut that takes us through a vast arc of twentieth-century Korean history, lending an achingly human lens to sweeping historic events that still reverberate today.
-- "Globe and Mail (Toronto)"
[An] epic historical tale.
-- "USA Today"
A spectacular debut filled with great characters and heart.
-- "Lisa See, #1 New York Times bestselling author"
Gorgeous prose and unforgettable characters combine to make a literary masterpiece.
-- "Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"
About the Author
Raymond Lee is an Earphones Award-winning audio narrator.
Juhea Kim was born in Incheon, Korea, and moved to Portland, Oregon, at age nine. Her writing has been published in Granta, Guernica, Catapult, ZYZZYVA, and other outlets. She is the founder and editor of Peaceful Dumpling, an online magazine at the intersection of sustainable lifestyle and ecological literature. She earned her BA in art and archaeology from Princeton University. Beasts of a Little Land, her debut novel, will be translated and published around the world. After a decade in New York City, Kim now lives with her two rescue cats in Portland, Oregon.
Product details
ASIN : B096G9XVFN
Publisher : Oneworld Publications (7 December 2021)
Juhea Kim is an author, artist, and advocate. She earned her BA in Art and Archaeology from Princeton University. Her bestselling debut novel Beasts of a Little Land (Ecco) was named a finalist for the 2022 Dayton Literary Peace Prize and shortlisted for the 2024 Yasyana Polyana Prize, Russia’s largest annual literary prize awarded by the Leo Tolstoy Museum-Estate. Published in 13 countries around the world, it is being adapted into a series. Her second novel City of Night Birds will be published in November 2024.
She is donating a portion of the author proceeds from Beasts of a Little Land to the Phoenix Fund, a Siberian tiger and Amur leopard conservation NGO, and from City of Night Birds to Caritas Somalia, a development and emergency aid NGO. She serves as a goodwill ambassador for the Korean Tiger and Leopard Conservation Fund and currently lives in London.
I read this whilst on holiday in Japan and south Korea. Interesting read for a holiday that encompasses both countries and showed how much times have changed
This is a work of such astonishing elegance and beauty that it merits all five stars, despite the fact that it is seriously marred by poor editing. Because I skipped the intro and the "About the Author" blurb, I initially attributed the problem to clunky translating. But having since discovered that the book was written in English, I can only remark that although its excellence somehow manages to transcend the problem, the work abounds with not only atrociously bad grammar and "newspaper style" mistakes, but jarringly era-inappropriate vernacular phrases like "the economy tanked," and "It's not going to happen," etc. And worse, the author's casual use of vulgar and even rudely obscene slang in a non-literary way makes one wonder whether she has sufficient facility with the language to properly appreciate the meaning of these words, let alone understand that they are not proper English. The affected use of profanity in books purported to be works of "literature" has, of course, become so commonplace that it is difficult to imagine what words writers might use in contrast, should they ever wish to convey actual obscenity. But its use is very different here, and the reader gets the feeling that the author is not aware that she is being vulgar, and/or doesn't quite grasp the connotations of the terms that she has chosen to incorporate into otherwise poetic prose. But even if she does, her editor ought to have substituted terms that are contextually appropriate. Nevertheless, the story itself is such a rare treat that it is worthy of multiple awards for its own sake. Even apart from its insight and historical window into a faraway world which we in the West can never truly comprehend from the outside, the tale is compelling, and takes us in, in every possible sense. It is an Asian tale, written in classic Asian style, which paints with tender poignance the pain of longing and loss, startlingly juxtaposed with scenes of stomach-turning violence and brutality -- but masterfully, and all with the same gentle brush. Were it only written in proper English, it would be flawless.
Beautifully written, with wonderfully developed and memorable characters. The background of political turmoil in 20th century Korea and how it reflects on the lives of ordinary and extraordinary people. It is a deeply moving story, that shines through the complicated political context and complexities of societal and economical changes that follow our characters. Epic book with a soul.
La storia è ambientata in Corea, negli anni pre e post occupazione giapponese. Un intreccio sulle cortigiane coreane, militari giapponesi, la guerra, l'amore e l'amicizia. "Beasts of a Little Land" è un romanzo storico, in cui le vicende politiche e la lotta per l'indipendenza della Corea sono il cuore pulsante della trama. Juhea Kim esplora l'ideologia di una nazione occupante da un punto di vista oggettivo e a ciò aggiunge una trama appassionante che porta alla luce la condizione delle donne coreane in questo periodo storico.
Il romanzo segue le vite di una ragazza di nome Jade, venduta all'età di dieci anni come apprendista a una cortigiana, e JungHo, un ragazzo povero che fa amicizia con lei. La storia, che inizia nel 1917 e termina nel 1965, si svolge sullo sfondo di un tumultuoso secolo di occupazione, fame e sconvolgimenti politici mentre i coreani bramano l'indipendenza. Lungo la strada incontriamo una vasta gamma di personaggi, tra cui ufficiali militari giapponesi, cortigiane famose, rivoluzionari comunisti e tigri.
La storia di Jade è una storia di forza e sopravvivenza. La vita di JungHo è altrettanto difficile mentre si trasforma da piccolo criminale in rivoluzionario.
Dalle stanze profumate di una scuola di Pyongyang ai caffè glamour di una Seul in via di modernizzazione e alle foreste della Manciuria, dove infuria la guerra, gli incredibili personaggi di Juhea Kim forgiano il proprio destino mentre scommettono su quello della propria nazione. Coinvolgente ed elegante, "Beasts of a Little Land" svela un mondo in cui gli amici diventano nemici, i nemici diventano salvatori, gli eroi vengono perseguitati e le bestie assumono molte forme diverse.
In conclusione, un romanzo travolgente in cui un incontro casuale tra un cacciatore coreano e un membro delle forze militari giapponesi darà il via a una catena di eventi lunga cinquant'anni.
I've never known much about Korea and I'm grateful that I was able to learn a bit as I read this beautiful story. I loved the female characters in the story; the male characters were harder to love, save two. I would recommend this book to those who like historical fiction and those who would like to learn about Korea.
This novel follows the lives of three Korean women, courtesans for decades. Luna, Lotus and Jade came to Seoul as young girls, accepted by the best courtesan school in the country which was run by Dani. Dani was acknowledged throughout the land as the most beautiful and accomplished courtesan. Luna and Lotus were sisters while Jade was Lotus's best friend. They received lessons in dance and song, art and music and etiquette.
When the girls were young women, each went a different way. Luna was the victim of a horrific attack and became a recluse. Lotus became a noted singer while Luna was a dancer and movie star. Both Lotus and Luna had men that they loved above all else but no man was willing to marry a courtesan no matter how much he loved her. The men were involved in business and politics as Korea was desperate to break away from Japanese rule.
This is a debut novel for Juhea Kim. She received her BA from Princeton in Art and Archeology and is very tied up in animal conservation. The substory of a tiger which runs through the novel is an indication of her love for these animals. Readers will be exposed to the history of Korea as it broke out from Japanese rule after World War II and became broken into the two Koreas existent today. The women, no matter how accomplished and how lauded were doomed to solitary lives. This book is recommended for readers of historical and women's fiction.
Got the product in good condition. Cover and Paper quality as expected. The book so much more than what the blurb tells. Overall a captivating historical saga that explores love, resilience and the fight for survival in a tumultuous time. It's a great choice for readers who enjoy immersive historical fiction with strong characters.
This book was wonderful to trad. It explained the history of Korea before and after two wars. Characters were wonderful I cried and laughed at some parts,, but overall loved loved loved this book.
4.01 16,173 ratings2,374 reviews In 1917, deep in the snowy mountains of occupied Korea, an impoverished local hunter on the brink of starvation saves a young Japanese officer from an attacking tiger. In an instant, their fates are connected—and from this encounter unfolds a saga that spans half a century.
In the aftermath, a young girl named Jade is sold by her family to Miss Silver’s courtesan school, an act of desperation that will cement her place in the lowest social status. When she befriends an orphan boy named JungHo, who scrapes together a living begging on the streets of Seoul, they form a deep friendship. As they come of age, JungHo is swept up in the revolutionary fight for independence, and Jade becomes a sought-after performer with a new romantic prospect of noble birth. Soon Jade must decide whether she will risk everything for the one who would do the same for her.
From the perfumed chambers of a courtesan school in Pyongyang to the glamorous cafes of a modernizing Seoul and the boreal forests of Manchuria, where battles rage, Juhea Kim’s unforgettable characters forge their own destinies as they wager their nation’s. Immersive and elegant, Beasts of a Little Land unveils a world where friends become enemies, enemies become saviors, heroes are persecuted, and beasts take many shapes.
First published December 7, 2021 Book details & editions
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Juhea Kim's bestselling debut novel, Beasts of a Little Land, was named a finalist for the 2022 Dayton Literary Peace Prize and shortlisted for the 2024 Yasnaya Polyana Award, Russia's biggest annual literary prize awarded by the Tolstoy Estate-Museum. It has been published in 13 countries to date and a TV series adaptation is currently in development. She donates a portion of the proceeds of Beasts of a Little Land to Siberian tiger and Amur leopard conservation. Juhea's second novel, City of Night Birds, is forthcoming in November 2024. She donates a portion of the proceeds of City of Night Birds to Caritas Somalia, a development and emergency aid NGO.
Her writing has been published in Granta, Slice, Zyzzyva, Catapult, Guernica, Shenandoah, Times Literary Supplement, Joyland, Sierra Magazine, The Independent, Portland Monthly, The Massachusetts Review, and Dispatches from Annares anthology, among others. Her translation of Yi Sang Award-winning author Choi In-Ho was published in Granta.
She has given lectures and workshops at Arizona State University, Seoul National University, Yonsei University, the University of São Paulo, Seoul International Book Fair, and more.
In addition to writing fiction, Juhea also works with essays and narrative journalism focusing on the environment. She serves as a goodwill ambassador for the Korean Tiger Leopard Conservation Fund. She graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Art and Archaeology. She lives in London. Follow Juhea on Instagram @juhea_writes.
Follow August 8, 2021 Beasts of a Little Land is my debut novel, and after years of hard work I'm incredibly thrilled to see it out in the world very soon! I love it very much (biased!) and I hope it resonates with readers, too.
Follow March 18, 2022 oh wow. this is not a happy book. its honest and raw and shows how life doesnt always work out the way we might want it to.
and its because of that, because nothing happened the way i wanted it to, it made for such an infuriating and heartbreaking story. but thats life. its messy and complicated and doesnt always result in a happy ending. and this story showcases perfectly the specific challenges and difficulties the people in koreas history had to face.
and even though im walking away from this disappointed, its only because of how invested and connected to the characters i felt and how differently i wish their lives had been. im going to be thinking about them for quite some time.
Follow March 5, 2023 ‘Everyone dreams, but only some people are dreamers.’
The 20th century was a whirlwind of change in Korea, from being annexed as a Japanese colony in 1910, to American occupation post-WWII and the Korean war and division along the 38th parallel in the 1950s. Beasts of a Little Land, the stunning debut from Juhea Kim, is a sweeping epic that takes us from 1917 to 1965 as it follows the lives and loves of many characters such as Jade, a young courtesan, and her childhood friend and potential love, Nam JungHo as their lives harmonize across the timeline and endure the whirlwind of history. Though this is less a romantic love story and more about the concept of inyeon (인연), the ties that bind people throughout their lives, Juhea Kim harnesses these interconnected fates to take us on a moving saga where fighting for freedom and survival seems a continuous struggle in the ever changing political landscapes. Deeply moving and with a rich historical context that propels the narrative and sends lives into action or disarray, this is a gorgeous meditation on fate, freedom and the ties that bind us and make life the bittersweet, emotional journey that it is.
‘Now that I’m older I know that life is not about what keeps you safe, but what you keep safe, and that’s what matters the most.’
I love a sweeping epic, and the criss-crossing lives of exceptional people during exceptional times of revolution and strife and decades of history culminating into important moments of love has a flair to it akin to Les Misérables or even Doctor Zhivago. The novel begins with an important lesson: ‘never kill a tiger unless you have to…. And that’s only when the tiger tries to kill you first.’ This comes as hunter Nam Kyunsoo is stirred into a moment of bravery where he saves the life of the occupying Japanese officers from a tiger who in turn allow him to live. This moment reverberates through the whole novel with these characters returning and their interconnected fates playing out over the course of history. Years later the ‘observant, intelligent, and hardworking’ Jade is sold by her family into the life of a courtesan and becomes fast friends with the ‘spirited, disarming, and confident’ Lotus, a friendship that redirects their lives as it intersects with the hunter’s now orphaned son, Nam Jungho as he arrives in town with nothing but a few personal effects of his late father. While just children, the stirrings of revolution can be felt around them.
‘Life is only bearable because time makes you forget everything. But life is worthwhile because love makes you remember everything.’
The coming-of-age stories, with Jade making headway into the world of courtesans and her education and Jungho organizing a band of orphans into a bit of a low-level organized crime ring, are mixed into a rather textured political drama that sees revolutionaries and local merchants butting heads or begrudgingly working together (jealousy of one another of a woman being a large impetus in one pivotal scene). Juhea Kim details a complex and varied political discourse of the times, with many factions disputing or trying to coalition build with the aim of Korean independence helping them set aside their ideological differences:
‘ It tied together groups from all points of the political spectrum under the one banner of independence: the Anarchists, the Communists, the Nationalists, the Christians, the Buddhists, and the Cheondoists. He was one of the senior leaders of the Communists, but among their ranks there were those who saw the struggle as primarily between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, the rich and the poor, and not between Japan and Korea, as MyungBo had always believed. The Anarchist credo was that any social order was destructive and oppressive. The Nationalists were the conservatives and some of them put more faith in America than in Korea itself. They also opposed the Communists almost as often as they fought the Japanese. Then some of the Christians were Pacifists, although a few of them had gladly assassinated Japanese generals and governors before putting a gun to their own heads. All the groups believed that Japan would send every Korean man to the mines and every Korean woman to the military brothels rather than admit defeat; their opinions diverged on what they could do to implode Japan from within before that point.’ There are scenes of violent uprising, brutal prison sentences that later give way into scenes of war as freedom is paid for in blood over the decades. Characters are courted by various ideological members, threatening to tear apart friendships and lives.
‘Everywhere around them, life was happening without their knowing, and their lives were also happening in the presence of all else. All existences were touching lightly as air and leaving invisible fingerprints.’
There is a great deal of symbolism present in this book that intersperses well with the attention of Korean mythology and folklore. The aforementioned tiger is brought up at various moments, a symbol of strength but also something elusive, symbolizing the idea of a united and free Korea. The cigarette case kept by Jungoho, given to his father by the Japanese officer Yamada, is a foreboding symbol that hints at the destruction of foreign forces and reappears late in the novel to close a fate. The image of a divided country comes alive in the many divided pairs that exist within the novel, such as rich vs poor, divided siblings, warring ideologies of capitalism and communism, and most notably, Japan and Korea.
The class divide is particularly investigated, and there is a parallel of Jade being on both ends at different points of relationships thwarted by one party being of a social standing that would defile the reputation of the other. Much of this novel is heartbreaking, with lives pulled apart, yet there is the bittersweet romance of two souls ricocheting across history and continuously returning to each other's orbit. ‘The only thing she felt sure of was the firm grip of JungHo’s hand,’ Juhea Kim writes, ‘not letting go.’ The ground beneath these characters, both socially and politically is endlessly unstable and they feel like pieces on a gameboard where national identity and freedom are the stakes.
The historical framework functions well to give context and weight to these characters experiences, but the author herself cautions against reading historical fiction for a history lesson and reminds us the narrative is the purpose. In an excellent article she wrote for LitHub, Juhea Kim questions why authors of color are expected to be a history lesson in a standard that seems less expected of white authorssuch as how she notices reviews seem to expect this book to be a dynamic history lesson of 20th century Korea in a way not asked of, say, Lauren Groff’s (quite wonderful) Matrix to be a working education of 12th century France. She writes ‘authors who write a non-white book must brace themselves for some serious othering,’ adding that ‘Asian female characters in a historical era can pigeonhole a book into a weirdly salacious mould and label it primarily as Asian Historical Fiction rather than Literary Fiction, with profound critical and commercial consequences.’ It should be noted that this is less a book about history and more an testament to humanity in the face of history and the emotional resonance far outpaces the historical lessons. The latter is the stage for which the performance takes place, but don’t overlook the actors for the scenery.
‘Death was such a small price to pay for life.’
This is a gorgeous novel that covers a lot of territory. It can be a bit dense and plodding at times, and it does unfortunately tend to tell more than show through the storytelling. That said, the prose is beautiful and cuts straight to the heart. This is a sweeping epic that lets you feel the weight of history and the passing of decades to paint a moving collage of lives caught up in the timeline of major events. Juhea Kim has delivered an impressive debut, bound in quite delightful cover art, and I look forward to anything she will write.
3.75/5
‘There are just two things in the world that give you true confidence. One is overcoming difficulties on your own, and the other is being deeply loved. If you experience both, then you will be confident for the rest of your life.’ korea 186 likes Like Comment
Follow September 29, 2021 4 stars for an epic story of unrequited love, desperate poverty, and the brutality of the Japanese occupation of Korea. There are descriptions of graphic violence and rape for anyone who avoids such books. The characters are believable. They include murderous Japanese soldiers, Korean courtesans, Korean Independence activists, and homeless street kids among others. If you read The Island of Sea Women you will enjoy this book. I read it in 2 days, although it is 416 pages. Two quotes: "The sky was white and the earth was black, like at the beginning of time before the first sunrise. Clouds left their realm and descended so low that they seemed to touch the ground." " Her imagination ran its circular course inside familiarities--a fountain rather than a river, particularly when it came to thinking about her own life. " Thanks to Ecco for sending me this eARC through NetGalley. #BeastsofaLittleLand #NetGalley. Pub. date Dec. 7,2021 literary-fictionnetgalley 142 likes Like Comment
Follow October 19, 2021 If I’m reading historical fiction, I want it to teach me something. This book does that in spades. I was aware that Japan had annexed Korea at the start of the 20th century, but unaware of the various attempts by Koreans to free themselves of this tyrannical rule. This book begins in 1918 and really ramps up in 1919, when the March 1st Movement began. It continues through 1965. The two main characters are a young courtesan in training and a young beggar boy who meet and become friends. Kim does a great job of giving us a solid sense of the time and place (although she occasionally slips up using contemporary language). She manages to sneak in enough facts to explain what’s happening in a “big picture sense” without disrupting the story. The story is told from multiple perspectives - in addition to the main characters, there is an older courtesan, two sisters who are also training as courtesans, a rich Korean, one of the rebels and two Japanese majors. This keeps the story moving at a nice, steady pace. While the story was very plot rich, at times, it came across as flat. It didn’t grab me emotionally, although it totally interested me intellectually. Surprisingly, for all the unrequited loves and affairs, it’s the romantic parts of the book that fell the flattest. In some ways, the book reminded me of Dr. Zhivago - a romance spread across the history of a country in turmoil. But, don’t get your hopes up too high. This doesn’t come close to living up to that epic romance. Still, I recommend this for those looking to learn about Korea. My thanks to NetGalley and Ecco for an advance copy of this book. netgalley 115 likes Like Comment
Follow October 21, 2021 Sweeping historical fiction that covers decades in Korea. Often brutal and gory but also fascinating and made me realize just how little I knew about Korea's Independence movement. Nothing like a good book to make you realize how stupid you are.
I can usually read two books a day but this one took me two days alone so if you're looking for a long epic with lots of characters it's a good read.
Follow December 8, 2021 The debut novel of Korean American writer Juhea Kim is a saga charting the lives of a group of individuals tied together by destiny, linked by the red thread of fate, which may stretch but never breaks. Inspired by her family’s past, Kim’s is a broad sweep narrative covering the colonial era and the brutal Japanese occupation of Korea, running through from 1917 to independence in 1945 and beyond. Its vast array of characters includes Jade, ten when the book opens, who becomes an apprentice to a courtesan. When Jade's sent to Seoul with the courtesan’s daughters, she meets an orphaned boy JungHo, the start of a fateful relationship that will last a lifetime. Alongside central Korean figures, we have Yamada a Japanese official and his associates, including the vain, sadistic Ito who will play a part in Jade’s future survival.
It’s a richly-detailed piece, perhaps too detailed, which manages to incorporate elements of everything from Korean myth and legend, Seoul’s café society in the 1920s, through to resistance group factions, post-independence partition, and even the beginnings of the car industry, finally reaching the 1960s and the early years of Park’s military dictatorship. The result’s a well-researched and, in its early stages, fairly involving story. The prose is uneven, competent, even lyrical at times, at others clunky and clumsy. Kim’s characters are sketchily drawn, with a tendency towards cliché – the Japanese military are almost cartoonish in their villainy - and there’s more than a dash of sentimentality and melodrama. Even so it’s very readable novel, at least until the half-way point when the action rapidly speeds up, shifting back and forth between characters at an almost bewildering pace. In its later stages it’s increasingly fragmented as Kim fast forwards through entire years and sequences of years, many skipped over altogether. I didn’t dislike the novel and I was fascinated by the depiction of key moments in Korea’s traumatic history but the style and episodic plot didn’t quite work for me. Although I think fans of Lisa See, Jin Min Lee or sageuk k-drama should find plenty that appeals here.
Follow May 21, 2022 Note to self: Recently published historical fiction is almost always thinly disguised romance. Don't bother.
This could have been a good story if there wasn't so much drivel weren't so many romantic feelings saturating the text. On and on, her feelings for him and his feelings for her and his feelings for someone else, etc.
(Image: Melissa McCarthy rolling her head back saying, "Oh my God, Well that's... I am balls deep in boredom.")
There are several characters and I think all of them were in love with someone or other. Yes, in real life, most people do fall in love at least once (though not everyone is hetero like in most novels). However, I don't want to read about it. I simply don't care about most fictional characters' feelings of love and lust and longing.
And I certainly didn't care about the characters' feelings in this book because I never felt like I got to know them, in spite of all the emotions. I don't know if it was just me or something to do with the writing but these characters failed to leap off the page.
The writing was decent but stilted, and then there was stuff like "her high-waisted trousers riding up her firm, heart-shaped ass" that had me rolling my eyes. Really, her firm, heart-shaped ass? 🙄
The dialogue was anachronistic and unbelievable. If you're going to write period fiction, please write the voices as though the characters are in that period and not in the present. And please make the characters sound different from each other. I had trouble keeping track of the characters because they all sounded the same (in print, perhaps the audiobook uses different voices which would at least make them more distinguishable).
I appreciated learning about Korea's recent (twentieth century) history, so there was that and it's the only reason I'm giving this two-and-half rounded up to three stars instead of one.
If you like romance in your historical fiction, 1) you're lucky because that's about all that's published anymore, and 2) you'll like this more than I did.
I won't bother writing what it's about. The blurb is enticing so check it out if you're interested. To be fair, it does mention romance in the blurb but I only read the first sentence before reading the book. asian-authorshistorical-fic 67 likes Like Comment
A sweeping novel of friendship and forgiveness against the backdrop of Korea in its fight for independence. Passionate and all-encompassing, the characters struggle to find their place in a world filled with betrayal, violence, and unrequited love. But ultimately, forgiveness and new beginnings prevail, complete with an achingly bittersweet finale. This is a story in which its characters gracefully mirror the changing tides of their nation; their journeys are compelling, emotional, and filled with thought-provoking dynamics regarding rebellion, class, and desire. A beautiful debut that is as wild and free as the forests where beasts roam. family-sagaromance 60 likes 2 comments Like Comment
In 'Beasts of a Little Land,' a portrait of Korea's quest for independence
December 26, 20215:01 PM ET
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Elissa
Elissa Nadworny
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Elissa Nadworny speaks with writer Juhea Kim about her debut novel, which explores the stories of people who's lives shaped — and were shaped – by the country's decades-long struggle for independence.
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ELISSA NADWORNY, HOST:
Author Juhea Kim says she had to learn to write twice. The first was in Korean, her native language and the country of her birth. She learned to write Korean at the age of 2 by looking over the shoulder of her older sister. But when she moved to Portland, Ore., at the age of 9, it was a different story.
JUHEA KIM: I was dropped into this environment without any English. I actually didn't even know the alphabet. I remember very clearly not being able to distinguish between B and D. And many people assumed that I would pick up English in about six months tops. And what actually happened was I was pretty much deaf and mute for the next year, year and a half. I almost didn't understand anything. But once I started actually picking up the language, I realized language is agency. Language is power. If you don't have the language, you can't express yourself. You can't assert your identity.
NADWORNY: Much of Kim's work centers on identity. And in her new book "Beasts Of A Little Land," she writes about Korea in the early 20th century, when it was fighting for independence from Japan and trying to maintain a national identity despite divisions about what that meant. The novel centers on a young girl named Jade. Her life is shaped by the struggle for independence and all the social and political divides it created. The novel is epic in scope, but it's also filled with intimate language and moments. Juhea Kim says that's by design.
KIM: I always tell people that Korean gave me my values. It's hierarchical, of course, but it's also very warm. It's highly textured. It has a ton of onomatopoeias, and it's very affectionate. And it values integrity and honor above everything else, whereas English is very rational. It's not the international language of science for no reason. I think in English when I'm trying to be logical. And it's very egalitarian. So every time I acquire a new language, I feel like it allows me to access a different side of me, which is very valuable to me as a writer.
NADWORNY: You know, there's a lot of characters in this book, but one of the main kind of shepherds of the story is Jade. And we meet her as a young girl who becomes a courtesan - a sex worker, essentially - to help support her family. How did this character come to you, and how did you decide to center so much of the story on her?
KIM: The Korean courtesan was essentially almost the only women intellectuals and women artists for centuries in Korea, going back to the medieval times. And so I knew that I wanted a woman who's very strong-willed and well-educated and creates her own destiny. And during that time, one of the only professions that could do those things for a woman was being a courtesan.
NADWORNY: Why is it that courtesans played that role in Korea?
KIM: I think that because courtesans were a part of the lowest class of society, they also were driven to prove themselves with acts of extraordinary valor and courage and honor. And another explanation, too, is that they're people, too, right? So they're driven by the same desires for validation, for love and for self-expression that everybody else is also driven by.
NADWORNY: Korea has a fascinating history, especially given the way the country - well, now two countries - exist today. And in the book, the political divides we see on the Korean Peninsula today were taking shape. You know, you know - we all know how that story ended. And so I kind of wonder how your knowledge of North Korea and South Korea now impacted the way you thought about your characters, especially those with political alliances.
KIM: For me, it was important to highlight the fact that there are these independence activists who were more socialist who were erased by history. I consider myself pretty idealistic. So my personal sympathies were, of course, to uncover these people who were forgotten. But at the same time, I know very well that the communist experiment failed, and North Korea - right now, it's committing its own human rights atrocities. So I definitely wanted to give a more complex view on the topic than just to say one ideology or one country is better than the other. It's really not about that, and it's about acknowledging the whole complexity.
NADWORNY: What do you hope people take away from the novel?
KIM: This, for me, was an exploration of how to live meaningfully in the face of all of these threats - violence, injustice, poverty, colonialism. And sadly, these are not issues that have gone away. These are issues that we're still facing today. And on top of that, the world is even more in peril now than ever before with its ecological destruction and climate crises. So I think these characters show how we can live in a meaningful way, even when the world is falling apart, even when the sky is falling down.
NADWORNY: That's writer Juhea Kim. Her novel, "Beasts Of A Little Land," is out now. Juhea Kim, thank you so much for your time.
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Gorgeous prose and unforgettable characters combine to make a literary masterpiece.
An epic novel brings complex 20th-century Korean history to life.
In this extraordinary historical novel, debut author Kim weaves together the story of friends and rivals trying to survive and thrive from the era of the Japanese occupation of Korea to the political purges of the mid-20th century. The book begins with a Korean hunter encountering a tiger in the snow when he is captured by a lost squad of Japanese soldiers. With its near-mythic evocations of several kinds of beasts, the prologue establishes the themes of the book. The majority of the novel follows Jade, whose impoverished farming family sends her as a young girl to work as a servant for a courtesan. Jade observes the rivalries of other girls in training, particularly Luna, the spoiled favored daughter of the head of the household, and Lotus, the spirited but plainer younger sister. Thanks to her intelligence and resourcefulness, Jade will grow up to become a celebrated courtesan and movie star in Seoul, where she and the two sisters end up as adults. Together they encounter various men, including the revolution-minded MyungBo, an intellectual fighting for Korean independence; the ever loyal JungHo, the leader of a street gang of orphaned boys; the slick and wealthy patron SungSoo; and the ambitious rickshaw driver HanChol. Jade, Luna, and Lotus fall in love with men from very different backgrounds, but their love and loyalty are not always returned. Kim shows clearly how patriarchy harms these resourceful women in one of the novel's major themes. Late in the book a Japanese general will remark, "How such enormous beasts have flourished in this little land is incomprehensible." He is referring to tigers, but he might as well be talking about the humans who fight here, too.Gorgeous prose and unforgettable characters combine to make a literary masterpiece.
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'Beasts of a Little Land': Korean history unfolds in Juhea Kim’s epic debut novel Eliot SchreferSpecial to USA TODAY
If Juhea Kim’s "Beasts of a Little Land" (Ecco/HarperCollins, 416 pp., ★★★ out of four, out Tuesday) were filmed, you’d want to see it in theaters, with a giant screen and a sweeping soundtrack. Military campaigns, anti-capitalist gatherings, orphan girls groomed into world-famous courtesans, street rats rising to glory, all against the backdrop of Korea’s tumultuous 20th century – the cast grows large and the storyline reaches far.
You wouldn’t know from reading it that "Beasts of a Little Land" is Kim’s debut novel. There is no shortage of ambition on display here, and fleet-footed narrative pacing to match it. We start in the wintry mountains of 1917 Korea, where the paths of a starving Korean man, a Japanese officer and a tiger cross with portentous consequences. It is a blunt and loud literary move. Two opposing nations meet up with a rare beast. There be symbols here!
"Beasts of a Little Land," by Juhea Kim.
After its fable-like opening, the novel settles down to introduce its roster of central characters: Jade is one of three orphan girls training to join the ranks of Seoul’s elite courtesans; JungHo is a street urchin, violent yet somehow guileless, destined to become a leader of the oppressed; HanChol is an upwardly mobile (and unusually handsome) rickshaw driver whose rosy destiny foretells Korea’s ascendence to an economic powerhouse in the 21st century; MyungBo and SungSoo represent the dueling impulses of Korean men under occupation, debating whether to fight for freedom or give in and profit from all the Japanese (and American) interference.
"Beasts of a Little Land" might recall for some readers the bestselling, award-winning "Pachinko" by Min Jin Lee, a novel that also gave us the twisting fates of a large Korean cast suffering under Japanese occupation. Though this novel offers many of the same pleasures, it is more diffuse and less impactful than "Pachinko."
Author Juhea Kim. Kim drops her characters into interesting scenes but often leaves them inert, as if we’re watching a filmstrip. The narrative describes their internal states at length (“she was surprised and disappointed when nothing changed in the smallness of their daily routine”), but action feels muddy and distant. The effect is that the book can feel like it’s written in synopsis, that we’re getting the digested version of the characters’ raw experience.
Still, this is a book written with warmth, wisdom, and an inherent sense for the dramatic. Readers who take to its style will gladly follow the tangled lives of its charismatic cast.
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