Your Republic is calling you (Young-Ha Kim)
I imagine being a sleeper agent is a lot like crashing a drunken party. You walk in the door, pretending to be invited. You eat a couple chips and drink a beer. You join conversations and chat with people, avoiding specific conversation topics but not really holding back. ultimately the consequence of your actions may be discovery and ejection from the party. Depending on the climate of the group, you could be offered to stay, or you could be painfully beat to the ground, you could simply be ignored going forward.
I have trouble thinking about being a spy, let alone a sleeper agent. Coming to a country, melding myself with the culture, people, and policies but knowing full well that I did not belong. building relationships, having a family, working a job that ultimately may need to be shed like a second skin and left behind.
Young-Ha Kim’s “Your Republic Is Calling You” was an incredibly fascinating read. Ki-Yong imports movies from other countries. He is moderately successful South Korean businessman and enjoys life for the most part. He met his wife in college where they were both political dissidents. They have a teenage daughter who is well liked. They have their share of family concerns, but overall, things are going well.
The novel covers the full scope of a single day from the perspective of Ki-Yong’s family. Ki-Yong heads to work with a throbbing headache, and receives a coded message via email. He is a sleeper agent for the North Korean government. He came south as a spy during his college years, but lost contact with the north after a regime change. Ki-Yong has been given 24 hours to close out any open business he has, cover his tracks and disappear. A mini-sub will take him back north in the morning.
I have to wonder how I would react in a situation like this? The love for my wife and child would be legitimate, even if my name and history would be false. If I were to stay, the North could send down an assassin to clean me. If I leave, I lose the life i built and the world i have grown accustomed to… I do not think I could make the choice..
This book was very visually and emotional ambiguous. Portions were self destructive/hopeful, calm yet disconcerting. In the end, it was an excellent view into the New South Korean culture, very different in the last 20 years from how it was when the UN was assisting during the Korean War.
- Title: Your Republic Is Calling You
- Paperback: 336 pages
- Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/Mariner Books (2010)
- ISBN-10: 0151015457
- ISBN-13: 978-0151015450
Looks like a book with a thoughtful message! I am not sure how I would respond either. I doubt I would even go in for such a life. It's hard giving up what you are comfortable with. I sure would like to read this one.
ReplyDeleteoh you definitely should give it a read.
ReplyDeleteit will not be on shelves in english for a while still, but if you read ebooks, it is very easy to get a promo copy.
in fact, i seem to be reading more arc ebooks on my kindle than personal reading :)
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young-ha is becoming one of my favorite recent authors, coincidentally, jest before i received this book, i read his novella "i have the right to destroy myself" which was fairly incredible, if not a bit like an art-house movie.
On your suggestion, I requested the book from Netgalley! Now looking forward to reading it! :)
ReplyDeletei think you will like it a lot, with the exception of a short erotic scene, needed at least in part for character development, i dont think you will see much wrong with it..
ReplyDeletelet me know what you think!