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by: Mun-yol Yi
Binding: Paperback
EAN: 9781860460111
ISBN: 1860460119
Label: Harvill Press
Manufacturer: Harvill Press
Number Of Pages: 206
Publication Date: 1995
Publisher: Harvill Press
Sales Rank: 2714969
Studio: Harvill Press
Editorial Review:
Product Description:
When the King's governor, after falling into rebel hands and changing sides, is recaptured by royal troops and executed, his sons and grandsons are also condemned to death. They survive by subterfuge, but they have lost their place in society. The Poet tells the story of Kim, the youngest grandson, consigned to a life of vagrancy and genteel begging as a wandering poet. In his efforts to recover the family's fortunes, he commits a second betrayal, this time against his own house. This is a haunting and luminous tale whose main themes are the search for self-respect and self-identity in an unjust society.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - highly recommended!
Poet is a very exciting and interesting book. Among all the books that I've read, this would be the number one book that I would recommend to everyone.
Rating: - Sad but True
I chanced to find this book at London when I was traveling there, and was very happy to find it on the shelve though it was placed too deep to find it out. Anyway, it really reminded me the discrepancy between what we believe right and what really happened several centuries ago. We are still believing that any forms of discrimination no matter what color we are, wher we live, how much we earn. But discrimination was there where the story goes. This book does not only mirror the emotional flows ... Read More
Rating: - a man, whose life made him a poet
this story is about family, art and history. the poet's self-exiled journey is still too realistic for many koreans even today. the ideology that an individual cannot be freed from, distorts individual life into empty cynicism and self-hatred, especially in the circle of "artists." the traditional connection of writers with intellectuals, and intellectuals with conscience, is in the root of (in)famous debates between "pure literature" and "engagement." the writer suffers in the middle, but still ... Read More
Rating:  - Taking the Reader on a Poet's Wanderings
Poetry is the highest level of language subtlety and complexity. It takes work to comprehend and understand. Korean poetry in translation is next to impossible to access, grasp, or appreciate, especially for readers steeped in Western traditions. Fortunately, this novel is not so much about poetry, even though some very nice explanations abound; it is about the poet. When a tradition mandates that the political miscalculations of a person must be visited upon the `third and fourth generation' by society, ... Read More
Rating: - A Strange Tale from Korea
This story relates the unhappy life of Kim Sakkat, "Kim who wears a bamboo hat".This talented poet composed a poem which dishonored his grandfather who allegedly aided rebels fighting the Choson dynasty.This lack of filial piety cost him his peace of mind. He took to a life of wandering about Korea. At one point, however, he learns that his grandfather was perceived as a hero by the local peasantry. This helps to mend the broken spirit which cursed him most of his life.The tale is interesting in that it mirrors Yi ... Read More
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