Playing with Fire

by Jo Jung-rae, Cho Chong-Rae, Chun (Translator) Kyung-Ja

In this work, the smoldering hatred of the Korean War period resurfaces decades later in the form of a ruthless quest for justice. The main character, a successful Seoul businessman, has a secret past: unknown to his wife and son, he once led another life under another name as a ruthless communist partisan. After a lifelong search, the son of one of his wartime victims discovers his true identity, then proceeds calmly and deliberately to exact a terrible revenge.

Playing With Fire was awarded the prestigious Korean National Literature Prize upon its publication in 1982. Cho Chong-Rae's novella "Land of Exile" appeared in English translation in 1992. Cho subsequently published the immensely popular ten-volume historical novel The Taebaek Mountains (Taebaek Sanmaek), which sold millions in Korea in the late 1980s and was successfully adapted into a film. In the 1990s Cho continued his success with Arirang, another ten-volume roman fleuve set in the period of Japan's occupation of Korea.

202 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1997

About the author

Jo Jung-Rae has devoted his entire life to literature. His writings attain an excellence that marks him as a world-class author. His popular multi-volume novels Taebaek Mountain Range and Arirang, which have become modern classics since their publication in the 1980s, are considered the epitome of his talent. With the publication of Han River in 2002, Jo completed his trilogy of works on Korean modern history. Sales reached a record-breaking number in Korea-- over 10,000,000 copies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo_Jung-rae

Reviews

[Cvk · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was just what I needed to jet me out of a reading slump. From the first page, I was totally hooked.

Driven by a strong plot, this taught me a lot about South Korean history along the way. I went in knowing nothing about the communist uprising there, nor the ultimate fate of its progenitors. I’m not typically a fan of historical fiction, but perhaps being far from the American and British stuff I grew up avoiding helped get me there.

My only criticism is that I feel like it lost some momentum near the end. That may be due to my own life circumstances grabbing me away, but I felt less propelled to finish as the time approached. Curious to see if others feel the same.

[Julian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cho forges a powerful narrative from the pain endured by the characters before, during, and after the Korean War. The reader is drawn into a cycle of vengeance begetting vengeance in a story where there are no clear heroes or villains.