Anthology of 20th Century Korean Short Stories

The Korean Short Stories Anthology contains works from one of the darkest periods in Korean history - the Japanese Occupation (1910-1945). In the complex situation in which writers are compelled to comply with the state power and the dominating censorship, they manage skilfully to re-create the reality through the eyes of a wide palette of personas. The main characters in the stories vary from geniuses to mentally retarded, from freedom fighters to people who have reconciled to extreme poverty. Writers are faced with the dilemma of accepting or struggling with the measures imposed by the authorities, and they reflect their anguish over the described characters, which are often contradictory in their nature. The reader is breathless from the depth of emotions, the complex reconstruction of the shocking reality, and the revelations of characters' motivations, and he often has to choose to condemn or justify the actions of the characters.