THE DIVING GOURD

by Kim Yong ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 15, 1962

A warm, simple, skillfully told and mature story about Korean farmers and fisherfolk, by a korean author who has been recently and frequently published in America. Bau, the young man of the woman diver. Bosun, taken their old cow to be mated. On the way, he plays with Songha, the daughter of a rich farmer, and Songha steals her father's bull to male it secretly with Bau's cow, later Songha's arrogant father claims the resulting calf an his. He quarrels with , and the love between Bau and Songha, unwelcome to both families, becomes a family f. to avoid an arranged marriage with a rich boy, Songha run off with Bau and from there to a nunnery. on, who has broken with Bau and is bitter about her own falled marriage, goes briefly to the nunnery too. In the end Songha's father or a fight between the two bulls: his own is killed; and Songha and Bau are presumably married..... Gentleness, dignity, and naturalness surround this story. The valley and sea people are shown, most engagingly, going their lives; even the quarrel, in a sense, them, and the familles involved, closer together in the end. It is excellent writing, in that the people and their simple but profound psions unwind the story almost without a sense of intervention on the part of the author.

Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1962

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1962

Categories: FICTION