Korean American Books

Summaries and reviews of fiction and nonfiction books by Korean American authors,
books about Korean Americans and Korea, and Korean literature in English translation,
including some academic works and a sampling on the Korean War

Friday, October 3, 2008

Lost Names by Richard E. Kim


Describes the life of a Korean boy (the author) south of Pyongyang during the harshest era of the Japanese occupation, 1930-1945. The boy is from a small farming family with an apple orchard; his father is a political activist. History is plaintively inserted in a present-tense narrative that describes vivid scenes of school days, family life, infringement of Japanese mores into Korean traditional rural life, and how the language seeped into Korean culture. A precursor to WHEN MY NAME WAS KEOKO, by Linda Sue Park. Originally published 1988, New York: Universe Books.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This was actually published originally in 1970 by Praeger and reissued in 1998 by Univ. of California Press.

Book Oblate said...

Thank you for the fix.