*최숙렬의 <떠나보낼 수 없는 세월> 를 읽고

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Sook nuyl choi is a woman with a mission

Review on "Year of impossible goodbyes"

Choi Sook nyul is a woman with a mission: to bring Korean culture close to her readers. Born in the capital of North Korea, Pyong yang, she went through the last volatile days of Japanese occupation (1910~45) and of ideological conflicts until the outbreak of Korean War. Sookhan may have been Mrs. Choi herself otherwise nothing would have generated the sound of rice papered paneled doors, the warmth of 'ondol'' heated glazed rice papered floor and the hue of scarlet fingernails as vividly as in her book. Having taught grade students for years in U.S, she likes to educate our young readers---her ambitions clearly demonstrated throughout "Years of impossible goodbyes"---about what occurred during the last writhing colonial days in Korean peninsula--to bring Korean culture as close, and to make it familiar to those who have yet to encounter and for those who want to revisit in a different language.

Synopsis: Sookhan is a ten year old girl living in a small rural town off Pyongyang, the ancient capital of kokuryo. Under a clay tile roofed house also live Grandfather, quiet and wise; her younger brother, Inchun; and Mother, virtually a widow since her husband comprises himself in the independent movement in Manchuria and her two sons serve against their will for the glory of Imperial Japan. The first opening chapters abound with the reminiscences of the author---how she had her little fingernails coloured with wilted clusters of azalea leaves and how the girls at the sock factory go about their forced labour. Mrs. Choi also introduces many spiritual aspects of Korean family; headed by a wise old man imbued with Zen philosophy :and a Christian Mother, the ways of Confucianism all well adapted and blended and celebrated. Grandfather compliments his young grandchildren. "You're wise beyond your age. Mother taught you well." The grin on his face reflects how much he is satisfied with the upbringings of Sookhan and Inchun.

There appear numerous objects--- a wooden box on which a whooping crane and flours are carved and in which harbour weathered photos of family history and friends; oxtail brushes, the very instrument of Grandfather's painting; and a crafted silver hairpin and brass ware---may have evoked Choi's childhood memories---timepieces, as old as time, that reconnect the generation who didn't grow up with and those who did making use of.

Sookhan starts school where her mother language is not permitted under the cold guidance of Mrs. Narita, the wife of Captain Narita, an evil man and the source of her fear and hatred. Armed with a sword and a gun, the little wiry Japanese policeman walks in and out of their house at his will. For the young Korean girl, he is nothing less than the diable who knows perfectly how to win over the souls of Koreans.  In a mustered school ground, Sookhan takes part in military drills and chants the slogans and gets exploited in making weapons. Nothing was changed after the war. "Reds" or "commies" replaced "the White devils".

She grows angrier and angrier and even becomes nonsensical at herself. And she is thrusted into a darkness of post-war. Russians occupies the north side above the 38th parallel. People are forced to join the communist party. It is a do or die affaire for many---those who don't comply with the tooth and claws of Mother Russia and her great leaders are doomed under the mighty machine guns. (Among the many northerners who didn't escape to the US controlled South, there are the ones who became communist with their own will, a newfound pride in an ideology; and those who had to comply just to survive--pinks and phony reds--; and those who resisted and died.)

The freedom is a lost dream. Sookhan and her family won't be able to cross a street in their own town without a passport. The eyes are kept on them for their whereabouts and activities. How turmoil the era was! How much pan did they have to go through under the brutal totalitarian regime?

Mrs. Choi leaves something to be desired as a storyteller though she succeeds in bringing the depth of a Korean family and the era as close as yesterday. The suspense begins to build as Sookhan, Inchun and Mother attempt to escape to South. (If I have to make a graphic of abundance and entertainment as the progress of Go player, the first part of the novella  is a solid mound reaching the ceiling and still plenty to discover what it was like to live in a countryside of kurimi in 1945.) Readers can appreciate the beautifully edited prose in the beginning and stylized paragraphs dotted with impressive usages of inversion and explore more in the inner side of Korean culture. How the Koreans are named in a family--- a repetitive character alive in the given name as an endorsement of a noble and proud clan. However, when Sookhan's mother disappears from the scene, the heartbeat goes somewhat flat. The actions of the siblings are reduced to a series of ta-ta-ta or did-did-did--- verbs concerned with the living, actions fondamentales until the siblings crawl under the barb-wire bound for the free south.

The candle for Grandfather, a scholar, painter, calligrapher, burns out three days after the traitors hack down the pine tree under which he used to sit and mediate. Seething with anger and getting frustrated, he leaves a legacy to those left behind by offering Gandhi-like non-resistance; a spirit that rules over the violence. "One's life is short, but the life of the spirit is long." However, Sookhan lashes out. She takes her frustration out not only on the Japanese police, Japanese trained Koreans and her family, but also on herself. She feels cursed just being a Korean. More hatred grows inside her as the imperial authority presses more frantically on its subjects.

From the stump of the pine tree, maybe the end of a generation, collide the optimism and pessimism of the young heroes. Inchun, the younger brother of Sookhan, whom she calls a boy with a wise old man inside, sees the downfall of the precious pine tree as a boon. He always wants to give those poor girls at the sock factory something to cheer for-- a fragrant leaves of pine to take home with. The tree will grow again if watered and well tended.  So clear in his eyes are hope and enthusiasm as he trots to fetch water while his sister sees no future while the very thought of using wooden dishes and chopsticks next day smolders her heart.

Mrs. Choi continues to write in English so that children of all sizes and time zones and young adults will be able to discover more about Korea. She is an ambassador who works as a bridge between the past and present, and the old and new, and the present and the future--- how often do we find a Korean-born teacher who later on devotes herself to bringing Korea in writing?--- so that the Forgotten War will no longer be forgotten, but to be remembered and not to be repeated.

Lest we should forget...