One thousand chestnut trees: a novel of korea (ISBN 1573227382)

Amazon.com Review:
How best to prepare for a trip to Korea? Forget the kimchi experiments and immerse yourself in a novel that's thick with the people, the history, and the feel of Korea. Mira Stout's protagonist is Anna (based loosely on Stout herself), a young artist who lives in New York and feels lost. Knowing little about her Boston Irish father and her Korean mother, and less still about Korea, she decides to journey to Korea, as Mira Stout herself did, to try to make sense of the random jigsaw pieces of her background--tidbits like the story of her great-grandfather, once the ruler of Kangwon Province, who was stripped of land and title by the invading Japanese and ordered a temple be built atop the highest mountain amidst 1,000 chestnut trees. In the novel, Anna's Korean curiosity begins as a teenager, when Uncle Hong-do arrives from Korea to visit Anna's mother, the sister he never met. Years later, Anna turns to Korea as an answer to her feelings of existential angst, retracing her mother's steps in an effort "to see my family undie." Told in her voice as well as her mother's and grandfather's, what you get is a stirring novel that combines Korea's epic history with a family legacy and a personal exploration. A fine read whether you're going to Korea or lounging in your living room, Stout's story is engrossing and educational.

A Different Voice Is Heard:
_One Thousand Chestnut Trees_, is a wonderful book from an author conveying a very special point of view -- and I thoroughly enjoyed reading Mira Stout's novel. I'm grateful to Stout for writing the book -- and pleased that she found a publisher. I am an Amerasian of Korean-German descent. My mother came to this country as a foreign-exchange student after the Korean War, and later, married an American. I find this book so phenomenal because of a greater context. It wasn't that long ago that 17 states banned marriages between Koreans and so-called "Americans." And if American racial prejudices weren't enough, so-called "half-breed" Korean-American children have also faced unspeakable discrimination from many Korean communities. That Mira Stout has risen above this type of background rhetoric to present her story is a testament to something quite special in her character. She lovingly represents the Korean side of her family through this novel. And while she does share the "dark sides" of her family, countries, and cultures that she must bridge, she doesn't succomb to a tiresome tirade of old accusations. Rather, she presents these people in a far more sophisticated way -- showing their struggles, misunderstandings, and achievements. Stout shares a personal journey with all of its heartache and humor. We have many good texts regarding Korean history in the 20th century -- but we have far fewer books that give historical statistics names and faces and feelings. As an Amerasian in the United States, my Korean heritage has been difficult to access. There are many reasons for this -- both benign and malicious. Benign in the sense that America is overwhelming European-American by habit; malicious in that racial prejudice still closes many doors on both sides of the Pacific. But Stout has been willing to risk writing a book that opens doors to my Korean heritage -- to my parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles. Stout shares the thoughts that my family will never be able to tell me -- but notions which deserve articulation. I appreciate Stout giving voice to the voiceless. And in voicing, giving us an insight into people that are more than mono-syllables and horrible accents -- but rather, a sophisticated amalgam of love and hope without demagoguery. I hope Stout writes another book soon.

A heartfelt journey:
Overall, an emotional, heartfelt and satisfying journey into the history of 20th Century Korea told through the life of Mira's grandparents and mother. The book reads like an autobiography at times and is ornate and detailed, sometimes distractingly so. There are other little faults here, such as she doesn't get all the historical facts straight, she mispronounces (quite badly at times) Korean words and there are slight grammatical errors. However, this book has so many other positives that it outweighs the aforementioned negatives. You can tell that she's genuinely made a connection with the Korean side to her, both culturally, emotionally and intellectually. But at the same token, she makes herself sound like an outsider looking into the Korean culture from a window outside. That is actually a plus sometimes because she can draw out the aspects of Koreaness that would be compelling to a Western audience. She tells her mother's story with empathy and spirit and she describes her own journey into discovering her Korean side with conviction and sincerity. In the begining of the story she seems to see her Koreaness (Mira is 1/2 Korean on her mother's side) as almost a liability and something to be minimized. As the story unfolds, she see's her Koreaness as an important and essential part of who she is. By the end of it, she discovers a whole new side to her, almost a spiritual rebirth of a Koreaness that cannot be explained, quantified or even fully understood, but it can only be experienced and enjoyed. Overall, it's a highly enjoying book, that will even jerk a few tears. Despite it's small flaws, I highly recommend it.

somewhat disappointing:
The premise for this book was promising - but the substance was a disappointment to me. I almost felt the book should have been twice as long - and would have preferred to have the personality of the characters developed further. It just seemed to go too fast. I thoroughly enjoyed the historical aspects - in fact I learned alot I didn't know about the Korean War, etc. I don't doubt the fictional story is based in interesting historical fact - but great periods of time seemed to have been left out. For instance - it referred at one point to the younger son having been put in a sanitarium but the details of this interesting occurance was left out of the story. It was just an OK story.

A must-read for Korean-Americans.:
As a Korean-American who grew up in the U.S., I have pitifully little knowledge of Korean history. Reading Mira Stout's book, all the bits and pieces I had heard of my parents' and grandparents' lives in Korea came together, and I realized the magnitude of the difficulties they all had to overcome. Anna, the main character in the book, comes to better understand her mother by exploring the history of Korea--Japan's overbearing influence, the "yangban" class, World War II, and the division of North and South Korea. This book drew me closer to my own mother and heritage. I couldn't wait to tell my mother about the book and to ask her more about her own story...

A must-read for Korean-Americans.:
As a Korean-American who grew up in the U.S., I have pitifully little knowledge of Korean history. Reading Mira Stout's book, all the bits and pieces I had heard of my parents' and grandparents' lives in Korea came together, and I realized the magnitude of the difficulties they all had to overcome. Anna, the main character in the book, comes to better understand her mother by exploring the history of Korea--Japan's overbearing influence, the "yangban" class, World War II, and the division of North and South Korea. This book drew me closer to my own mother and heritage. I couldn't wait to tell my mother about the book and to ask her more about her own story. My mother's Japanese-given name was Michiko--there's so much I never would have known if I hadn't read this book. Many thanks to the author.