The House of Pomegranate Trees

Hahn Moo-Sook’s fiction often embraces purity through literature. While many Korean writers enveloped in nihilism or existentialism, Hahn Moo-Sook made her mark by warmly rendering human joys rather than engaging in cynical pessimism. Her themes varied from universal concerns including love and suffering to issues specific to the Korean context, including her portrayal of the anguish of a generation that witnessed the brief democratic euphoria of the 1960 April 19 Revolution. All her works, however reveal her multitude of literary skills including vivid description of customs, precise language, and skillful representations of inner consciousness.