The Guest

Based on actual events, The Guest is a profound portrait of a divided people haunted by a painful past, & a generation's search for reconciliation.During the Korean War, Hwanghae Province in North Korea was the setting of a gruesome fifty-two day massacre. In an act of collective amnesia the atrocities were attributed to American military, but in truth they resulted from malicious battling between Christian & Communist Koreans.Forty years later, Ryu Yosop, a minister living in America returns to his home village, where his older brother once played a notorious role in the bloodshed. Besieged by vivid memories & visited by the troubled spirits of the deceased, Yosop must face the survivors of the tragedy & lay his brother's soul to rest.Faulkner-like in its intense interweaving narratives, The Guest is a daring & ambitious novel from a major figure in world literature.Hwang Sok-yong was born in 1943 & is arguably Korea’s most renowned author. In 1993, he was sentenced to seven years in prison for an unauthorised trip to the North to promote exchange between artists in North & South Korea. Five years later, he was released on a special pardon by the new president. The recipient of Korea’s highest literary prizes & shortlisted for the Prix Femina Etranger, his novels & shorts stories are published in North & South Korea, Japan, China, France, Germany, & the United States. Previous novels include The Ancient Garden, The Story of Mister Han, The Guest, & The Shadow of Arms. Based on actual events, The Guest is a profound portrait of a divided people haunted by a painful past, and a generation's search for reconciliation. During the Korean War, Hwanghae Province in North Korea was the setting of a gruesome fifty-two day massacre. In an act of collective amnesia the atrocities were attributed to American military, but in truth they resulted from malicious battling between Christian and Communist Koreans. Forty years later, Ryu Yosop, a minister living in America returns to his home village, where his older brother once played a notorious role in the bloodshed. Besieged by vivid memories and visited by the troubled spirits of the deceased, Yosop must face the survivors of the tragedy and lay his brother's soul to rest. Faulkner-like in its intense interweaving narratives, The Guest is a daring and ambitious novel from a major figure in world literature.