The long road

Description

In-Suk Kim is one of the best of the new breed of socially- and politically-conscious writers to come out of Korea. She has an intense, internalized style of writing, with strong narrative skills. A short novel, The Long Road has many characteristics of a play, with the three main characters articulating their disappointments, disillu-sionments, anger and grief. Her characters are in turmoil, unable to reconnect or to reconcile. Life is not what they expected or hoped. Choices made are not free and clear; any decision made has consequences. The future is bleak . . . Kim writes in a particularly strong social and political voice. Her stories resonate with inner conflicts of the main characters, who carry with them the effects of modern Korea s upheavals dictatorships, secret police and torture, and student uprisings. She describes cultural incompatabilities be they social and class divisions, economic and political boundries, or gender differences . . . [Her writings] take aim at South Korea s modern social and political history for creating the country s exiles. Her stories offer no clear resolution, however, they explore how the devastation of a generation of Koreans through war and political strife has left its mark. As with the Korean dilemma, her stories no clear resolution or reconciliation