Our Twisted Hero
   Yi Munyol, Translated by Kevin O'Rourke
  2001 Hyperion East, NY USA
   ISBN: 0786866705


Thirty years ago Han Pyongt'ae was a twelve-year old new boy in a rural school, with all the city-dweller's condemnation of country-folk; no friends or brothers & an aging, ineffectual teacher who prefers the well-ordered room of 62 students which the class monitor controls with an insidious & implacable tyranny.

In a sudden turn of fortune his family had been banished from sophisticated Seoul, the capital of Korea, to a drab country town, just because his father didn't give the proper respect to a visiting inspector.

Our Twisted Hero is Han Pyongt'ae's memories of those first months in a strange town & school, when he compares his erstwhile clean & bright life & school in Seoul to the aged, ugly dump he now attends, & those first moments when he came face-to-face with Om Sokdae, the clear & absolute ruler of the 62 boys in his class.

Om Sokdae dominates by gentleness & charisma, he is, however, tireless & relentless & this new boy, like a terrier set into a kennel, barks back. The weeks turn into months of humiliations, confrontations & loneliness as Han Pyong'tae battles the power of corruption & intimidation. In his naivete he imagines the teacher eager to put a stop to this bully's means of keeping order, however, the teacher is inept, suspicious & secretly prefers the status quo. Finally, Han Pyong'tae succumbs.

When the new school year begins, the old master retires & a younger, energetic & politically observant teacher takes over & Om Sokdae's days are numbered. By spring the April 19 Revolution in South Korea has occurred as if mirroring Han Pyong'tae's school days of transformation from the old guard to the new.

Written as a memoir of those fearful first months in exile after his pampered life had been eliminated, Han Pyong'tae, now in his thirties & a family man, finds the memories of Om Sokdae surfacing as he, once again, confronts the conglomerate system of business & then, suddenly one day, he catches sight of his erstwhile nemesis.

A curious & fascinating read - utterly colorless & utterly masculine in its exposure of the battles for dominance between boys in school hierarchies & the confusion of justice, blame & power.

This is a riveting allegory, in the tradition of Lord of the Flies, which starts as a simple power play within a children's classroom & turns into a chilling tale of lust for power & the desperate need for acceptance deep within us all.

Yi Munyol, one of Korea's most acclaimed writers, is the author of 16 novels (many of which have sold into the millions), 52 novellas, and 2 collections of political & social commentary. His works has been translated into 8 languages, & he has received numerous literary awards. He lives in South Korea.

Translator Kevin O'Rourke, an Irish priest(Columban Fathers), is a Professor of English at Kyunghee University in Seoul.
(03/25/01)

Rebecca