Flame (South Korean novel)

Flowers of Fire (hangul: 불꽃) is a Korean anti-communist novel by Seonu Hwi, in 1957.

Characters

• Old man Go (고 노인): very conservative old man. He always takes care of Hyun, but is primarily interested in ancestral graveyard and topography.

• Yunho (연호): Communist, who unsuccessfully attempts to alter Hyun's ideology. Instead he takes hostage Hyun's Grandfather, Old man Go.

• Hyun (현): Main Character of Novel. Always show passive action. He steals Communist element's gun and runs away to a cave. Once there, Hyun awakes the 'Flame of Life' (생명의 불꽃), and decides to live properly.

• Hyun's Father (현의 아버지): When Hyun was young, he did Korean Independence Movement. However, he is killed by Japanese soldiers.

• Hyun's Mother (현의 어머니): Sincere Christian. She subjugates her pain to take care of Hyun.

• Aoyama (아오야마): Hyun's only Japanese friend. Later Day, Aoyama volunteer for Imperial away, he gave some potatoes to Hyun.

• Teacher Cho (조 선생): She and her father run away from North Korea under Communist rule, because her father rejects the control of communist party. Later, she sees Communist elements kill her father.

• Professor Tanaka (타나카 교수):

Awards

Flowers of Fire won the Dong-in Literary Award (동인 문학상) in 1957.

English Translation

"Flowers of Fire" appears in the anthology Flowers of Fire.^[1]

Books

Seonu Hwi's novels have been well reviewed. They include:

• Bullgot (불꽃): Minuem-sa (민음사), ISBN 978-89-374-2021-4
• Bullgot - Sun U-Hwi; Danpyun-sun (불꽃 - 선우휘 단편선): Munhak-gwa Jisung sa (문학과 지성사), ISBN 978-89-320-1687-0
• Sun U-Hwi Jakpyun-sun (선우휘 작편선): Jimanji (지만지), ISBN 978-89-6406-314-9

References

1. Peter Lee, ed. Flowers of Fire: Twentieth-Century Korean Stories. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1986.