New Book 'Dal Neomeoro Dallineun Mal' by Kim Hoon: "The Greatest Barbarism of Our Time, Survival of the Fittest"

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] "I spent my childhood in Busan, a refuge. I entered university in 1966. I have no memory of what I learned at university. I was starving for humanism. I hoped the university would teach me something. However, the universities of that era did not accept the hopes of young people. Elections were frequent, and each time, corruption was rampant. After each election, universities nationwide were engulfed in protests condemning rigged elections. Lectures were rarely held. Occasionally, lectures took place. I barely learned about 19th-century Romanticism. 19th-century Romantic literature was a brilliant wonder. To put it simply, it said that humans are beautiful and the world is harmonious. It spoke of freedom and reason blossoming in humanity's future, that mountains and rivers are inherently beautiful, and that time is always new. 19th-century Romanticism soothed and filled the anxieties and deprivation of my childhood and the deficiencies of my youth. I deeply immersed myself in those books. Around that time, I also read the 'Nanjung Ilgi' (War Diary). It was a life-changing event for me. I was horrified. Ah, Romanticism was truly just romance... My despair was close to shock. While reading that book, I trembled and sometimes cried."

The author is novelist Kim Hoon (72). This excerpt is taken from a seven-page autobiographical essay titled 'In the Era of Temporary Buildings,' published in the 2004 Yi Sang Literary Award anthology. Kim Hoon won the Yi Sang Literary Award Grand Prize that year for his short story 'Cremation.'

The essay recounts a childhood brawl. The gist is as follows. It was during studies in a tent classroom. The classroom was divided between children sitting by the stove and those sitting beside the torn tent. For unknown reasons, the seating never changed. Kim Hoon was so cold that one day he brought a few pieces of anthracite coal in a tin can from home to the stove. Afterward, all the children shivering beside the torn tent brought cans to school. The children by the stove grumbled about being cold. Then a brawl broke out. The fight was brutal. Kim Hoon wrote that they "fought to the death."

A Fantasy War Story Not Found in History
A World Seen Through the Eyes of Two Horses
Incomprehensible Hostility Among Human Groups

There is a sense of hardship. When he opened his eyes to the world, it was the ruins of war, and from a young age, he had to fight wars. Perhaps because of that influence, his representative works are set against the backdrop of war. In the essay, Kim Hoon wrote, "When I grew older and more equipped, I had a premonition that I might write something about a man named Yi Sun-sin," and "More than 30 years later, I was able to complete the mediocre work 'The Song of the Sword.'"

Besides 'The Song of the Sword' (2001), Kim Hoon also wrote 'The Song of Strings' (2004) and 'Namhansanseong' (2007). 'The Song of Strings' depicts Silla's conquest of Gaya, and 'Namhansanseong,' which was also made into a film, is set during the Byeongja Horan (Second Manchu invasion of Korea).

Kim Hoon's new book, 'The Horse Running Beyond the Moon' (Param Book), is also a war story. However, it depicts a war that never existed in any history worldwide. It is fantasy.

In the novel, a fictional world divided into two countries, Cho to the north and Dan to the south, separated by the Naha, is created. Cho is a country uniting nomadic tribes. Its writing system is rudimentary, and all opposing groups are killed and buried. Dan is made up of an agricultural people. A peak towering over the grasslands is named Baeksan. Questions about farming, fighting, killing, and living are asked to Baeksan.

The protagonists are two famous horses named 'Toha' and 'Yabaek.' Toha is the mare of Pyo, the king of Cho, and Yabaek is the stallion of General Hwang of Dan. As Cho and Dan enter war, Toha and Yabaek roam the human battlefield. After being exhausted by war, Toha and Yabaek reunite in a country called Wol. Wol has no king. It is a small country where about seven tribes live as neighbors.

On the 16th, a press conference for 'The Horse Running Beyond the Moon' was held at a book caf? in Mapo-gu, Seoul. Kim Hoon stated, "What I wanted to write about was the incomprehensible hostility existing among human groups, the barbarism and violence that form the basis of humanity, and the so-called civilization and culture that arise from the process of barbarism."

He added, "In ancient history, Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla fought for 100 years. They fought every day without fail. In the Samguk Sagi, Kim Bu-sik wrote that blood flowed like a river, and shields floated away. It may be an exaggerated expression, but that was how the era's landscape appeared to human sensibility. Ancient Korea chose Buddhism and Buddha's compassion as state ideology. There was no ideology of progress or conservatism, left or right. Still, how could they fight so fiercely that blood flowed and shields floated away? What is the root of that? I tried to depict the lives of beings who, in such a process of barbarism, create culture, try to escape from it, resist endlessly, get trampled on, and try to flee."

Regarding the important role of horses in the novel, Kim Hoon explained, "I wanted to show the process of horses being domesticated by humans and portray how horses endure human civilization and barbarism."

Humans Find It Hard to Overcome Survival of the Fittest
A World Born from the Institutionalization of Barbarism
Problems That Cannot Be Solved by Appealing to Goodwill

Kim Hoon also pointed out, "The most prominent barbarism of this era is undoubtedly survival of the fittest." He said humans find it difficult to overcome survival of the fittest. "Whether Bolsheviks or the French, all revolutions in human society occurred because survival of the fittest was unbearable. Nevertheless, such revolutions did little to spread the idea that survival of the fittest must end. Survival of the fittest is systematized and visible. Barbarism is clearly evident, and I think humans just live in a world where barbarism has become normalized and institutionalized."

He continued, "(Survival of the fittest) cannot be solved by appealing to human goodwill. There is no historical experience of that. The problem of survival of the fittest cannot be naively resolved."

The reason the novel's setting is fantasy is probably because he wanted to escape reality. In the afterword of a book titled 'Behind,' he wrote, "It seems that the impulse to erase the world was residing deep in my heart, and this book is the product of that frustration."

The reason the book's title includes 'Beyond the Moon' seems to be in a similar context. It contains a dream of a world different from reality...

The essay also mentions the moon. In the shantytown of Daesan-dong, Busan, where Kim Hoon spent his childhood among refugees, fires often broke out. One winter night when a full moon rose, a fire broke out. Kim Hoon's mother took him to a high place to escape the flames. Kim Hoon wrote as follows.

His mother said, "Hoon-ah, don't look at the burning neighborhood, look at that moon." I cried loudly.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.