Description
Book SynopsisYi Mun-yol's
Meeting with My Brother is a sobering yet hopeful depiction of the volatile relationship between the divided Koreas. Yi, the narrator, is a South Korean university professor searching for his father, who defected to the North at the outbreak of war. Instead he finds his half-brother, and their tense meeting takes a surprising turn.
Trade ReviewYi Mun-yol is one of South Korea's most gifted writers, and this translation gives his simple style all of the elegant force it can bring to bear. This story of two brothers who find each other only after their defector father has died balances the weight of the country's history on their meeting as effortlessly as only a master could achieve. Compelling and essential reading. -- Alexander Chee, author of the novels The Queen of the Night and Edinburgh Meeting with My Brother is renowned writer Yi Mun-yol's fictional account of the different politics and desires coalescing along the Chinese side of the North Korean border, where people are both dreading and ardently wishing for national reunification between the two Koreas. The reunion of two brothers in Yi's story is deeply moving. Yi refuses to romanticize blood ties or to take recourse to melodrama. Instead, nuance and sensitivity color this story, which should be read by all those interested in a possible reunification. -- Janet Poole, translator of Eastern Sentiments by T'aejun Yi I've always wondered why more Korean literature in translation isn't available in the United States. Heinz Insu Fenkl's stylish translation of beloved Korean author Yi Mun-yol's complexly layered novella might change that. Meeting with My Brother trenchantly explores the ruptures of Korea's partition and hopes of reunification. -- Marie Myung-Ok Lee, author of the novel Somebody's Daughter A haunting, powerful story about a divided family and country by one of South Korea's most important writers. -- Krys Lee, author of the novel How I Became a North Korean A modest but quietly controversial look at two very different Koreas, questioning long-held orthodoxies... Yi's novella complicates our understanding of relations between North and South. Kirkus Reviews Yi's exploration of identity, family, citizenship, and nationhood is urgently profound and deeply compelling. Booklist (starred review)
Table of ContentsIntroduction Acknowledgments Meeting with My Brother
