Yi Kwang-su (1892–1950)

Written in 1932, THE SOIL tells the saga of Heo Sung from farming poverty to city lawyer,
then back to help and inspire his home farming community to become educated and self sufficient.

Heo sung wanted to build "a New Korea," but sidelines his goal by betraying his first love, a country woman,
in favor of a wealthy beautiful city woman who does not share his values and eventually betrays him
in an adulterous alliance with his old friend. All of this and other improbable aside plot interventions slow the tale.

Evocative descriptions enhance slow moving plot and unreliable characters:

"The lights of the Busan port seemed like a mirage.
The tiny Oryuk Islands looked like doves nestled between the waves.
To the east was nothing but open sea with the water and waves stretching out into the unknown."… (más)