An English translation from the Korean by Janet Hong, based off of Park Wan-seo's novel of the same name, this slow, detailed...
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"An English translation from the Korean by Janet Hong, based off of Park Wan-seo's novel of the same name, this slow, detailed graphic historical work is like a translation of an interpretation masterfully done at every level. A beautiful balance likened to Alison Bechdel's Fun Home of art, meaning, and writing, with the inclusion of some of Hong's translation footnotes. The smudgy cold art seeps from the page in this Korean war story."
--Shoshana
A delicate, timeless, and breathtaking coming-of-age story.
The critically acclaimed and award-winning cartoonist Keum Suk Gendry-Kim returns with a stunning addition to her body of graphic fiction rooted in Korean history. Adapted from Park Wan-seo's beloved novel, The Naked Tree paints a stark portrait of a single nation's fabric slowly torn to shreds by political upheaval and armed conflict.
The year is 1951. Twenty-year-old wallflower Lee Kyung ekes out a living at the US Post Exchange, where goods and services of varying stripe are available for purchase. She peddles hand-painted portraits on silk handkerchiefs to soldiers passing through. When a handsome young northern escapee and erstwhile fine artist is hired despite waning demand, an unlikely friendship blossoms into a young woman's first brush with desire against the backdrop of the Korean War at its most devastating.
Gendry-Kim brings a masterpiece of world literature to life with bold, expressive lines that capture a denuded landscape brutally forced into transition and the people who must find their way back to each other within it. Available for the first time in English, this edition of The Naked Tree is exquisitely translated by award-winning expert Janet Hong.
