Staff Reporter
Summer, 1987. In the mountainous village of Bergalou, northern Iraq, it literally started raining birds. The poor animals dropped mid-flight when the Saddam Hussein administration dropped chemical bombs on the Kurds, a persecuted ethnic minority.
Temporarily blinded by the toxic attack, Joanna is saved by her husband Sarbast, a ``peshmerga,'' or Kurdish freedom fighter. The two miraculously escape, living through other bombardments and deadly hurdles. Now living in the United Kingdom, Joanna and her family are most fortunate ― unlike the other hundreds of thousands, they have survived to tell their story.
But this is more than a story of survival. Winged with hope and compassion, it is about a woman's extraordinary courage to live ― and to love.
Jean Sasson, the author of ``Princess'' and other international best sellers chronicling the oppression of Middle Eastern women, brings ``Love in a Torn Land.'' Topping charts in the United States and the United Kingdom, the incredible true tale now comes to Korea.
The Korean version is brought by David In-yeup Song, director of the Humanitarian Aid Team at the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and Gen. Choi Ik-bong, formerly dispatched in Korea's Camp Zaytun in Iraq. The Korean title ``Peshmerga Lovers'' (Today Book: 439 pp., 13,500 won) was selected through a contest, which drew over 2,000 submissions.
As with most translations, not all of Sasson's florid vocabulary comes through. However, the translation is thoroughly faithful, line-by-line, to the original, and captures the lush details ― the passion of Joanna's beating heart and the turmoil of the tumultuous times.
The prologue, an excerpt of Joanna's encounter of the chemical attack, is replaced by an original poem composed by Song ― a suggestion by Sasson herself. Written during Song's first days in Iraq in 2005, it depicts the heat and chaos of the moment. The translation also features extra footnotes for terms and concepts alien to most Koreans.
``Love'' is a window into the heart of the veiled Middle East, of Iraq and of the Kurdish people, and reads easily even for the most uninformed about the Middle East.
``Love'' conveys the power of literature to take people to distant, exotic times and places. Seen through the eyes of a Kurdish-Arab girl growing up in Baghdad, it provides a very intimate and very human look at the plight of the Kurds in Iraq ― as she perceives the world around her and develops her self-identity. It also paints a vivid portrait of the beauty and riches of the culture and landscape along the Tigris River.
The book provides a map of the Middle Eastern region where you can trace Joanna and Sarbast's rigorous journey to freedom. It also includes an index of basic terms and important figures and chronology of major events that affected modern Iraqi Kurds.
In many ways, Joanna is Iraq. She carries an Arab name, but her heart belongs to Kurdistan (Sulaimaniya). While upholding fundamental values of her two cultures, she is thoroughly modern and refuses to compromise her individuality.
``Love'' will captivate those simply wanting to read a dramatic love story. The love that pervades throughout has many dimensions ― patriotism, familial bond and breathtaking romance. In a time and place where arranged marriages at a young age were the norm, Joanna would wait nearly 10 years to marry the love of her life.
Sworn to the Kurdish cause since a young age, Joanna fearlessly pursues her passions as the wife of a ``peshmerga.'' She abandons the comforts of city life and the safeguard of her Arab bloodline to go straight into the target of bombs. Riveting and pulsating, it's hard to put down. After turning the final pages, a deeply resonating vibe rings in the heart.
In essence, the book celebrates the universal truths of love, freedom and peace. It is the story of human tragedy and triumph, atrocity and beauty ― a must-read for any citizen of the world, particularly those interested in human rights.
``Love'' testifies to the tragedy of war ― or two wars to be exact, the conflict with Iran (1980-1988) and the Kurdish people's long battle against discrimination and oppression. Daily events become a luxury. A fight with a brother instantly becomes regretful, for he may die in battlefield trenches a few days later. Marriage becomes risky business, for it is illegal to marry ― let alone associate with ― a ``peshmerga.''
When the Saddam Hussein regime declares complete eradication of Kurdistan and its people, Joanna shouts in frustration and despair, ``Where is the world? Where is the U.N.?'' And you wonder, where were we?
The Kurdish struggle strikes deep empathy for Koreans. Being barred from practicing language and tradition and the countless torture and rape are reflected in Korea's own history under Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945). It will be shocking that such atrocities and mass-scale genocides occurred so recently. The zeal of the ``peshmerga'' is like that of our own freedom fighters.
Today, the Kurdish struggle has not been in vain. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, Jalal Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (which Joanna's husband Sarbast was part of), became President of Iraq. ``He is the first Kurd in history to hold such an important post ― a dream come true for all Iraqi Kurds'' (p. 435).
The prologue, an excerpt of Joanna's encounter of the chemical attack, is replaced by an original poem composed by Song ― a suggestion by Sasson herself. Written during Song's first days in Iraq in 2005, it depicts the heat and chaos of the moment. The translation also features extra footnotes for terms and concepts alien to most Koreans.
``Love'' is a window into the heart of the veiled Middle East, of Iraq and of the Kurdish people, and reads easily even for the most uninformed about the Middle East.
``Love'' conveys the power of literature to take people to distant, exotic times and places. Seen through the eyes of a Kurdish-Arab girl growing up in Baghdad, it provides a very intimate and very human look at the plight of the Kurds in Iraq ― as she perceives the world around her and develops her self-identity. It also paints a vivid portrait of the beauty and riches of the culture and landscape along the Tigris River.
The book provides a map of the Middle Eastern region where you can trace Joanna and Sarbast's rigorous journey to freedom. It also includes an index of basic terms and important figures and chronology of major events that affected modern Iraqi Kurds.
In many ways, Joanna is Iraq. She carries an Arab name, but her heart belongs to Kurdistan (Sulaimaniya). While upholding fundamental values of her two cultures, she is thoroughly modern and refuses to compromise her individuality.
``Love'' will captivate those simply wanting to read a dramatic love story. The love that pervades throughout has many dimensions ― patriotism, familial bond and breathtaking romance. In a time and place where arranged marriages at a young age were the norm, Joanna would wait nearly 10 years to marry the love of her life.
Sworn to the Kurdish cause since a young age, Joanna fearlessly pursues her passions as the wife of a ``peshmerga.'' She abandons the comforts of city life and the safeguard of her Arab bloodline to go straight into the target of bombs. Riveting and pulsating, it's hard to put down. After turning the final pages, a deeply resonating vibe rings in the heart.
In essence, the book celebrates the universal truths of love, freedom and peace. It is the story of human tragedy and triumph, atrocity and beauty ― a must-read for any citizen of the world, particularly those interested in human rights.
``Love'' testifies to the tragedy of war ― or two wars to be exact, the conflict with Iran (1980-1988) and the Kurdish people's long battle against discrimination and oppression. Daily events become a luxury. A fight with a brother instantly becomes regretful, for he may die in battlefield trenches a few days later. Marriage becomes risky business, for it is illegal to marry ― let alone associate with ― a ``peshmerga.''
When the Saddam Hussein regime declares complete eradication of Kurdistan and its people, Joanna shouts in frustration and despair, ``Where is the world? Where is the U.N.?'' And you wonder, where were we?
The Kurdish struggle strikes deep empathy for Koreans. Being barred from practicing language and tradition and the countless torture and rape are reflected in Korea's own history under Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945). It will be shocking that such atrocities and mass-scale genocides occurred so recently. The zeal of the ``peshmerga'' is like that of our own freedom fighters.
Today, the Kurdish struggle has not been in vain. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, Jalal Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (which Joanna's husband Sarbast was part of), became President of Iraq. ``He is the first Kurd in history to hold such an important post ― a dream come true for all Iraqi Kurds'' (p. 435).
``I was deeply moved by the story,'' Song told The Korea Times. ``It has a ring of (Korea's iconic author Park Kyung-ni's) `Toji' (Land) and Khaled Hosseini's `A Thousand Splendid Suns.' I blindly decided to translate it,'' he said. While Jean Sasson is widely known abroad, she is relatively unknown here and it was difficult to find a publisher. Nechirvan Barzani, the prime minister of Kurdistan Regional Government, offered to fund the publication, but Song refused. Fortunately he found someone who loved the story and ``Peshmerga Lovers'' was born in Korea.
``Korea and Iraq are not distant countries,'' he said. Indeed, through the power of literature, the love story draws Iraq close to our heart.
Korea is helping to rebuild post-war Iraq ― constructing hospitals, schools, Information & Technology facilities and more ― through state-funded organizations like KOICA and the army base, Camp Zaytun.
The bilateral relationship is a healthy one, said Song. Korea is considered a model for Kurdistan's development while Korean businesses thrive in Iraq. In addition to Joanna's family photos inserted in the original, the local version includes images of Korea-Iraq relations, such as little Kurdish boys learning taekwondo.
Fans of the book can look forward to a film adaptation, which is in pre-production.
``Korea and Iraq are not distant countries,'' he said. Indeed, through the power of literature, the love story draws Iraq close to our heart.
Korea is helping to rebuild post-war Iraq ― constructing hospitals, schools, Information & Technology facilities and more ― through state-funded organizations like KOICA and the army base, Camp Zaytun.
The bilateral relationship is a healthy one, said Song. Korea is considered a model for Kurdistan's development while Korean businesses thrive in Iraq. In addition to Joanna's family photos inserted in the original, the local version includes images of Korea-Iraq relations, such as little Kurdish boys learning taekwondo.
Fans of the book can look forward to a film adaptation, which is in pre-production.
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