Beasts of a Small Land - 2024 Tolstoy Literature Prize Winner

★2022 Dayton Literary Peace Prize Finalist
★Rave reviews from over 40 major English-speaking media outlets, including The Times and the New York Times
★Amazon's 2021 'Book of the Month'
★Real Simple, Harper's Bazaar, Ms. Magazine, Portland Monthly's 2021 Book of the Year
★Recommended major domestic daily newspapers such as Kyunghyang, Dong-A, Maeil, Munhwa, Seoul, and Hankyoreh
★Translated and published in 13 countries worldwide
★Planned for global OTT visualization “This is a story that we all know very well, but needs to be more widely known.”
Our story that heated up the blood of people all over the world!
The struggle and love of people who live bravely, overcoming the sorrow of stolen land. In 2021, Korean-American author Kim Joo-hye surprised the world by unfolding the history of a small land called Korea on a grand scale in the vast land of America. Her full-length novel, "Beasts of a Small Land," will be published by Dasan Books. "Beasts of a Small Land" was immediately selected as Amazon's "Book of the Month" upon its publication and was selected as a "Best Book of 2021" by Real Simple, Harper's Bazaar, Ms. Magazine, and Portland Monthly. It has also been recommended by over 40 media outlets across the United States, including The Times. Since then, the rights have been sold to over a dozen countries, and in September 2022, it was nominated as a finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, awarded to literary works that contribute to world peace. "Beasts of a Small Land" tells the story of Korea's struggle for independence over the past several decades and the people who lived amidst those turbulent times. Through various characters, it awakens the values ​​of love, empathy, and compassion that unite humanity. Author Kim Joo-hye has stated, "I wrote it thinking that it is not just a story about Koreans who lived in a small land far away from here about a hundred years ago, but also a story about humanity as a whole." It was perhaps inevitable that this Korean-American writer, who grew up hearing stories from her maternal grandfather who assisted Kim Gu in the independence movement, would set her debut novel in Japanese colonial Korea.

This novel, reminiscent of Tolstoy's work in terms of its wide narrative and breathing, is a masterpiece that will be widely read by readers who like epic novels and readers who like heartbreaking love stories, as well as across genders and generations. With K-contents starting with "Parasite," it is significant that "Our Story," which was first written in English, is now being published in its native language. In the Korean edition in particular, the author's message to Korean readers was included to engraved the meaning, and meticulous efforts were made to translate it to preserve the beauty of the native language.

summary
In the deep mountains of Pyeongan Province in the winter of 1917. A hunter who was chasing animals while fighting hunger in the extreme cold saves a Japanese officer from a tiger attack. Their lives are fatefully linked through this encounter, and a story spanning half a century unfolds. Hunters, soldiers, gisaengs, gangsters, students, businessmen, revolutionaries… … These colorful lives are tenaciously intertwined with the string of ‘fate’, meeting, parting, and reuniting, beautifully embroidering the history of the Korean Peninsula.

Characters
Ok-hee: “I want to be the means by which you can escape from the mud.”
Born as the daughter of a tenant farmer, she was sold to a kisaeng house at the age of ten. Contrary to the kisaeng house owner’s first impression that she had an ambiguous physiognomy for a kisaeng, she is observant, intelligent, intellectual, and honest. After becoming a full-fledged kisaeng, she has been approached by a steady stream of suitors. However, Ok-hee’s love has a different target.

Jeongho: “So, to become a communist, what do I have to do first?”
He came to Gyeongseong penniless after losing his father. While wandering around with a group of pickpockets, he happened to see a parade of gisaengs and fell in love with Ok-hee. In order to become a man recognized by Ok-hee, he entered an unfamiliar world.

Hancheol “I am not worthy of your love.”
He is a poor high school student who goes to night school and pulls a rickshaw during the day. As a descendant of a fallen noble family, his family expects him to rebuild his family someday. He gradually falls for Ok-hee, whom he meets as a rickshaw passenger.

Yamada: “Why do you keep pushing them until you see blood?”
A Japanese major serving in Gyeongseong. Born to a prominent samurai family, he became a captain at a young age and is a person who cannot be treated rudely even by those of higher rank in the military.

Ito: “It is desirable for a weak nation to be absorbed by a stronger nation.”
A Japanese military major serving in Gyeongseong with Yamada.

Yeonhwa: “I like beginnings. Okhee, do you remember when our lives began together?”
Ok-hee's best friend. She has been trained as a gisaeng with Ok-hee since childhood and has been through thick and thin together with her.

Wolhyang: “I don’t wish for any special happiness.”
Yeonhwa's older sister. She is a gisaeng known for her beauty, but she never gets involved in romantic relationships and only works to save money.

Yedan “That’s what every woman wants, to be loved consistently.”
While running a brothel in Gyeongseong, he secretly provided funds for the independence movement.

Seongsu: “I am an artist. Politics is for politicians like you. What can I do?”
President of a publishing company. Born into a wealthy family, he grew up in luxury and studied abroad in Tokyo.

Mingbo: “It is hunger that makes people evil, people themselves are not evil.”
A friend of Seongsu's from his study abroad days. He travels between Shanghai and Manchuria and forms an independence army.

[Continued from the recommendation]
It is a work written so skillfully and expertly that you would never know it was a debut novel.
-USA Today

A dreamy, beautiful, yet powerful debut, with a ravishingly captivating writing style.
-Publishers Weekly

A work that shows what true achievement is.
-North page

It's unlike any other novel I've ever read.
-Brandon Hobson, author of The Removed, a National Book Award finalist

It is a splendid debut work that conveys the passionate stories and passionate hearts of impressive characters.
-Lisa Shih, author of The Island of the Sea Women

Political and sensual, epic and personal, this novel will shatter your heart and then hold you in a quiet stillness with its wise insights and meditations on love and loss.
-Alexis Shaitkin, author of Saint X

It is very reminiscent of Tolstoy's work.
-Keja Parsinen, author of The Unraveling of Mercy Louis

The scope of the narrative is truly grand, but at the same time the novel is full of intimate and tender language and moments.
-National Public Radio (NPR)

Readers who enjoy grand epics that capture the human experience with precision and precision will enjoy this book.
-Booktrip

The story begins at Baekdudaegan and ends at the foot of Mt. Halla. It cuts through the March 3st Movement and Yushin in one shot. It flows from a hunter who encounters a tiger in a snowy field to a female diver who puts a child to sleep and embraces the warm sea. I respectfully fold my hands, recalling the famous saying that history repeats itself. Fate repeats itself in ways that mere humans cannot dare to guess, but the realization that the cells that make up that history are ultimately us humans is also unique. Some out of simple hunger, some out of lust and sensuality, some for political purposes. The various characters who connect, divide, and clash with their own desires simultaneously leave behind numerous questions and answers about the fundamental theme of life.
The land and its history that Kim Joo-hye portrays are as beautiful and painful as we know them, or even more so. Like a hunter who recognizes himself as both a hunter and a prey, the calm and sharp writing of the Korean writer embraces the perspectives of foreigners and natives, creating wonder. This is our story that came from a faraway country, and it is a signal flare announcing the emergence of a new orthodoxy. I am grateful for this shocking blessing.
- Park Seo-ryeon, author of the Hankyoreh Literary Award-winning work, ‘The Girl in the Gym, Kang Ju-ryong’