The MArtyred
“Mr. Kim’s book stands out in the great tradition of Job, Dostoevsky, and Albert Camus . . .”
—The New York Times
*A National Book Award for Fiction Nominee, 1964*
THE MARTYRED follows Captain Lee, of South Korea’s Army Intelligence, whose investigation of Communists’ murder of twelve Christians shatters his youthful ideals of truth and honor and replaces them with much less wieldy ambiguities of conscience.
During the early weeks of the Korean War, Captain Lee, a young South Korean officer, is ordered to investigate the kidnapping and mass murder of North Korean ministers by Communist forces. For propaganda purposes, the priests are declared martyrs, but as he delves into the crime, Lee finds himself asking: What if they were not martyrs? What if they renounced their faith in the face of death, failing both God and country? Should the people be fed this lie? Part thriller, part mystery, part existential treatise, THE MARTYRED is a stunning meditation on truth, religion, and faith in times of crisis.
First published by George Braziller, Inc. in 1964 and now a Penguin Classic, THE MARTYRED was praised as a masterpiece by two authors as different as Pearl S. Buck and Philip Roth. It was nominated for a National Book Award, and was on the bestseller list for 14 weeks. It has been published in Burma, England, Denmark, Holland, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Argentina, Sweden, the Philippines and Korea.
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LOST NAMES: SCENES FROM A KOREAN BOYHOOD
In this classic tale, Richard E. Kim paints seven vivid scenes from a boyhood and early adolescence in Korea at the height of the Japanese occupation, 1932 to 1945. Taking its title from the grim fact that the occupiers forced the Koreans to renounce their own names and adopt Japanese names instead, the book follows one Korean family through the Japanese occupation to the surrender of the Japanese empire. LOST NAMES is at once a loving memory of family and a vivid portrayal of life in a time of anguish.