Black Flower

This novel relates a little known true story that in 1905 some 1,000 plus Koreans boarded a British ship and sailed from Korea to Mexico ending up not in the new utopia they expected but instead being sold into four years of indentured servitude as field hands. They arrived in the Yucatan and were separated into groups sent to various large haciendas harvesting henequen (which was used to make robe). The journey and destination was both ugly and depressing as they left behind a Korea that had ceased to exist as it had been annexed by Japan. It was my interest in learning more about this history that drew me to choose this book.The publisher in part is also marketing the book in part as "...an epic story of star-crossed love..." It is true that the book does have two young characters that meet ship board and a small part of the story follows their fate and separation. But this is not in any way a love story. The book is mainly a history lesson. Its multiple characters are interesting but lightly drawn and only provide the reader with a cross section of the 1,000 plus passengers. They are mainly a plot device in service to tell the history rather than their own stories. It is a question of emphasis. In my view the book is written as if it is non-fiction and has no real plot beyond the actual history of events. I did love the epilogue that brings the characters fate up to date but the novel has a lot of weaknesses that distract from a rave on my part. Mine is a guarded recommendation.The biggest weakness is the writing style or maybe it is with the English translation from Korean. The book in the original Korean did win Korea's Dong-in Prize. The style when translated into English is a very simple journalistic offering of the facts and characters' actions. It's that these short declarative sentences don't flow or deliver any internal reasoning, emotion or visual sensory experience. I found the style takes some getting used to.No doubt many people are going to give up on the book early and my only comment is to recommend one stays with it as you will be rewarded with some very interesting history of Mexico (some revolutions) and these Korean's who got swept up by history because they made a decision to seek a better life. Theirs is a story common to refugees who in this case thought they were sailing to freedom and bit of utopia. And some even formed a new country, New Korea on the Yucatan peninsula which became a little known fact of this tragedy.

I enjoyed this book very much. It's about a subject I didn't know much about and I was pleased to learn about it even if in a fictionalized setting. The story keeps you engaged, it's easy to read and very interesting, but it does speak of the difficulties people face when migrating. Sometimes there are happy endings, sometimes there aren't. Great book, I highly recommend.

I read this book in one sitting.It covers historical events across the globe and individual fates while being just 300 pages. Definitely much bigger on the inside.I appreciated the writing: detached but not indifferent, conveying feelings and tragedies and cruelty in a down-to-earth, almost dry, manner. That managed to move me deeper than any sentimental fireworks.The characters are presented with all their flaws and shortcomings but the author never judges them. His care for them is evident.It is also exclusively written in ''tell'', so if you want a break from the show-don't-tell dogma that plagues most of modern litterature, go for it.I loved it. No-nonsense storytelling at its best. I'll be checking more of his work soon.

As a Mexican who has read (not deeply study though) Korean diasporic communities I can say that the book impressed me a lot, mainly because of the knowledge of key historical events of Korea (Joseon in those times and later a colony of the Japanese empire) Mexico and even Guatemala that the author demonstrates in his writing. The novel is fictional in nature, but it is moving. The narrative is catching and often times nostalgic. It is a way to honor the memory of those Koreans who arrived to Mexico in the early 20th century to work under slavery conditions for the henequen fields of Yucatan.

I have read three of this authors book and one of him novellas and this one was a little disappointing ... Black Flower lacks some of the unconventional and astounding intricacy found in the plotting of the other novels and novella I have read but is a worthwhile read.

Thanks for the book.

Good book just the delivery was not satisfying. The back of cover got torn off.

Though the history of this book is interesting, the translation is poor and the literary elements are missing. It is just a good tale but boring to read

Excellent Buy