Our Twisted Hero

I bought this book for a high school project years ago and have re-read it countless times. It's not an over the top story but something that everyone can relate with and sympathize with Han. Our Twisted Hero should be required reading for every student growing up. It's a very short book, but its message towers above the page length.

Great for anyone who really wants a personal sense of the cultural issues in South Korea, but did not really wow me. I did enjoy the ending however , although I did think it was quite dramatic.

My first Korean novel. Gave some good insights into Korean culture and politics. The books subtext is about Korea's move from a dictatorship to a democracy

My son required reading book.

Our Twisted Hero is both the story of a student dealing with a classroom bully and also a political allegory with hints of Orwell's Animal Farm, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and a fair bit of Golding's Lord of the Flies. The political allegory, of course, is intended to refer to Korea and its recent history.Beneath it's simple schoolroom setting is a meditation on totalitarianism, and how intellectuals who might oppose it are at least partially brought to heel by it, either through a process of intimidation, or a process of assimilation and ease. Even when they can escape, the process is messy and incomplete.In some ways it is a fish out of water story with a young protagonist (I say protagonist because he is not the "hero" of the title) moving from Seoul to the countryside and entering a new school there. The protagonist, Han Pyong-Tae is a clever fellow, and sees his new, somewhat bumpkin schoolmates as beneath him. He plans to become student #1. This ascension is blocked, however, by Om Sokdae, a student of extreme power and charisma, little formal intellect, but a rather devious understanding of power and coercion. Om Sokdae rules the classroom through a cult of personality that would be immediately recognizable by Koreans on either side of the 38th parallel.Om Sokdae's orderly rule is, of course, a representation of Korea under its dictatorial regimes and the idealistic but utterly failed leadership that follows is representative of the early democratic regimes, which could not successfully follow the dictatorships. A hint is also made here that in the new, freer regime, certain ex-subjects will look back with nostalgia on the previous oppressive era.This is an interesting take, and Yi Mun-yol was one of the first Korean writers who did not merely apply a romantic gloss to the awkward flounderings of the early Korean democracy. As far as I know, Ch'oe Yun's The Grey Snowman was the next to take on this kind of issue, and that was in 1992, nearly 5 years later.Han Pyong-Tae fights mightily against Om Sokdae's regime, but even when Han temporarily gets his teacher on his side, he fails. Om's regime is eventually threatened, but only by an even greater `totalitarian' power.Our Twisted Hero should only take an hour or two to read (Amazon estimates the Kindle pages at 64, and it combines an fairly understandable and relatable story of school and bullying with a brilliant series of political allegories.Definitely one of Yi Mun-yol's best.

I have good experience with this book.i like author and story.I was happy to buy this book on your site.

Our Twisted Hero is a great little novella, something that doesn't take long to read but will stay with you for a long time.The story concerns a 12-year-old boy, Han Pyongt'ae, who moves from Seoul to 'a small provincial town' when his father is transferred. Pyongt'ae assumes that, as he's from the city, he will have a leg up on his new, less-sophisticated classmates. But that's when he meets Om Sokdae, the popular leader of his class. Sokdae serves as the class monitor, a position that affords him great power over the rest of the students. Unfortunately, Sokdae does not use his powers responsibly, but instead abuses and subjugates the others. The teacher doesn't care as long as the students are well-behaved. Pyongt'ae, with his naive idealism, is outraged when he sees the stranglehold that Sokdae has over the rest of the class, and rebels. What ensues is a battle of wills.Our Twisted Hero is meant to be an allegory for the political upheavals that were rocking Korea around that time. However, you can still enjoy this story even if you're not interested in politics, as it stands on its own as a story of a young boy who wonders at what price he's willing to abandon his principles.The translation might strike some readers as a bit dry or stilted, and perhaps not believable as the voice of a 12-year-old boy. However, for me, this didn't detract from the story in the least. In fact, I enjoyed the overall detached tone that the story took; it seemed to fit with the cynicism that permeated throughout.Yi Munyol is an acclaimed author in Korea; however, he is virtually unknown here in the States. As far as I know, Our Twisted Hero and another book (a novel called The Poet) are the only books of his that have been translated into English. It's a shame, because after reading this book, I am definitely interested in reading more by this author!

The setting of this novel is a primary school, but Munyol really has bigger fish to fry. Although a bit heavy-handed at times," Our Twisted Hero" provides a pointed commentary about life in South Korea during the latter half of the 20th century when a controlling government was just starting to loosen its reins.I read this book with my son (who happens to be in the fifth grade like the main characters in this story). We focused on the immediate story and enjoyed the book well enough without exploring the bigger connections. Munyol's tale is a slow-moving one, but it's thought-provoking and makes you keep turning the pages. Some have called this book a Korean "Lord of the Flies." Although less violent and gripping than Golding novel, I think it's a fair comparison.

It is too typical story.