Land

Acclaimed as an important piece of modern Korean writing, this book is set against the background of the struggle between conservative and modernizing forces at the turn of the century. Comprising the first 53 chapters of Park Kyong-ni's epic novel, this translation follows the fortunes of several generations of Korean villagers during a time of turbulence and change.

"Park Kyong-nii s among Korea's finest living writers and her epic novel "Land (T'oji)" is widely esteemed by her compatriots as a monument of contemporary Korean literature... Why has "Land" been so consistently popular, selling more than one million copies since the first installment appeared in 1969? The main reasons are artistic and moral. Beyond her great talent as a creative writer, Park Kyong-ni in "Land" unobtrusively espouses her own vision of natural justice and of the dignity of the humble...Park Kyong-ni manages to address a spectrum of today's timely issues, not least that of the public status of women in a society which long limited female voices to the private sphere." -- Chun Kyung-Ja, Harvard University, "Korean Studies Review"

Park Kyong-ni, one of Korea's most important authors, was born in 1926 in Chungmoo, on the southern coast, and educated at Jinjoo Girls' High School.