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Printed/Published Work Korean(한국어)

전갈

전갈
Original Title
전갈
Title Romanization
Jeongal
Title Sub
김원일 장편소설
English Title(Printed)
The Scorpion
Classification

KDC구분 > literature > Korean Literature > Korean Fiction > 21st century

Author
Kim Won il
Co-Author
-
Published Year
2007
Publisher
실천문학
ISBN
9788939205710
Main Characters
Kang Chimu, Kang Cheondong, Kang Jaepil
Subject/Theme
Family history; three generations of a family
Writer default image
  • Kim Won il
  • Birth : 1942 ~ -
  • Occupation : Novelist
  • First Name : Won il
  • Family Name : Kim
  • Korean Name : 김원일
  • ISNI : 000000008175885X
  • Works : 35
Plot

Raised by his violent and often drunk father, Jaepil joins a gang and ends up in prison. There, he realizes that he is no different from his father, and upon his release he decides to learn more about the life of his grandfather, Kang Chimu, who is said to have fought for independence. He discovers that his grandfather had once indeed been an independence fighter, but after getting tortured he became an assistant to the Japanese guards, later transforming into a partisan and an interpreter in a prisoner-of-war camp post-liberation. 
Jaepil’s father, Kang Cheondong, has lived a life of violence and extortion ever since he was fired from his job at an industrial complex in Ulsan when his hand was cut off at the wrist by a press. Meanwhile, as Jaepil traces his grandfather’s life, he is approached by a gang who offers him a deal involving a large sum of money. He accepts, but at the last minute he takes the money and runs, moving abroad.

Descriptions(Languages 2)
  • Korean(한국어)
  • English(English)

2005년부터 2006년까지 <실천문학>에 연재된 김원일의 장편소설이다. 할아버지, 아버지, 아들 삼대에 걸쳐 일제강점기부터 1980년대까지 한국을 살아온 가족사를 이야기하고 있다. 한국 현대사의 그늘 속에서 소외된 민중의 삶을 밀도 높게 묘사하고 있다고 평가된다.

Kim Won-il’s The Scorpion was serialized in the literary mook Practical Literature from 2005 to 2006. The novel follows three generations of men in a family living in Korea, from the Japanese colonial period to the 1980s. Critics regard the work as a tightly-packed depiction of the lives of marginalized individuals living under the shadow of modern Korean history.

Translated Books1

  • The Scorpion
    English(English) Funded by LTI Korea Available
    The Scorpion
    Kim Won il / Kim Won il / 2018 / KDC구분 > literature > Korean Literature > Korean Fiction > 21st century

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