Fiction. Southeast Asia Studies. Translated from the Korean by Yoo-Jung Kong. This literary rewriting of the life of Pontius Pilate is a South Korean contribution to the rich body of world literature based on the life of Jesus and other biblical characters. The novel focuses on Pilate as a pragmatic foreign leader striving to maintain peace in a region rife with religious and political tension. It brings to life a large, diverse cast of fictional and historical characters, including: the philosopher Philo; Saul, who later became the apostle Paul; and finally Jesus himself. Based on considerable historical research on the period, this novel is bound to spark controversy with its interpretations of sacred texts and figures.

Author City: SEOUL KOR

Jeong Chan was born in Pusan in 1953. He graduated from Seoul Educational University in 1974. He began his writing career with the publication of the short story "The Tower of Language" in The World of Language. His other works include the short story collections The River of Memory, Perfect Soul, Cozy Path, Death in Venice, and White and Round Moon and the novels Evening of the World, Golden Ladder, Under the Rodem Tree, Shadowy Soul, and Wilderness. He received the Tongin Literary Prize, one of the three most prestigious literary prizes in Korea, in 1995 for "Song of Sadness" and the Tongseo Literary Prize in 2003 for Death in Venice.