Gwangju International Center

ONE THOUSAND CHESTNUT TREES

AUTHOR: Mira Stout

GIC LIBRARY GENRE: Korea

STARS: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

Reviewer: Joey Nunez (GIC Coordinator)

One Thousand Chestnut Trees by Mira Stout, written in English in 1988, reveals how Anna Kim, the story’s main character, becomes interested in discovering her Korean heritage. A Korean American with a Western father and a Korean mother, Anna is fully satisfied with life in Vermont, even after Uncle Hong-do from Korea comes for a visit.

As a teenager, Anna dismisses Hong-do’s Korean customs as bizarre. But when she becomes later dissatisfied with her own life in New York City and starts looking for life’s meaning, Anna takes five months to explore Korea, even learning the enjoy the companionship of Uncle Hong-do. Her mother only shares names and brief historical points of what their family did and how they struggled. The rest of the details are what Anna discovers, in wonderful and frustrating ways.

One Thousand Chestnut Trees’ title refers to the place where Anna’s great-great, grandfather, from the Kang family line, escaped Japanese imperialism and built a Buddhist temple on Mount Sorak. Thus, Uncle Hong-do still has a lively spark in him, and he agrees to help Anna find this literal “diamond in the rough,” because none of their family has ever visited.

I really enjoyed reading this book, and I know others will be too, as they rejoice, understand frustrations, become devastated, and reflect with Anna. While painful at times, what is necessary is that we truly learn how to live. And by discovering what is in our past, we are able to fully live in the present, and then, work towards developing our future.