Librería Samer Atenea
Librería Aciertas (Toledo)
Kálamo Books
Librería Perelló (Valencia)
Librería Elías (Asturias)
Donde los libros
Librería Kolima (Madrid)
Librería Proteo (Málaga)
Who is the 31st Man?My story takes place in the countryside, 220 kilometers south of Seoul, in the mid-thirties. Our township’s involvement in what transpired during that period converges with historical events and provides a rare and compelling glimpse into Korea’s past.When I was a young boy, our township’s well-respected teacher was known by his alias, 'Mr. Kang.' He was in fact, a legendary political fugitive, the sole escapee of the famous 31-man rebel group who orchestrated the 1919 nation-wide uprising against Japanese rule. In the aftermath of this event, Mr. Kang had been traveling for nearly 17 years, sometimes as an itinerant poet, other times as a hunter, thus earning a cryptic code name 'Tiger Hunter.'One day a rumor surfaced, accusing Mr. Kang of abusing his 14-year-old student, the beautiful daughter of Mr. Hung, township chief. This act supposedly took place in dense fog under the famous Virgin Bridge. As a result, the local waenom (’foreign devil’ policeman) put Mr. Kang under surveillance. As we students watched, Mr. Kang challenged the waenom to a fight and he felled the policeman with a single blow. We cheered, of course, and Mr. Kang fled later that day, accompanied by his errand boy Poong Do. The policeman was able to go home unaided, but committed a hara-kiri next day.
