"A Baby Deer Caught in a Snare" (BIGI Publishing), a fact-based novel that author Oh Mun-soo wrote after five years of reading 40,000 pages of source material, has been published.
"Olmu" is another Korean word for "snare," and the baby deer refers to Sorokdo, the "Small Deer Island." The book recounts in detail the stories of leprosy patients, socially stigmatized, who shed tears while resenting the heavens.
Written in an omnibus format across nine chapters, the novel can be described as a documentary about people with Hansen's disease. "During the 73 years I have lived, the knowledge I had about leprosy patients was nothing but an empty shell," Oh said. "That is why I took on this challenge — to tell the world the truths that truly matter." The author said he cried while writing, and staff at the publishing house cried while editing.
Oh graduated from the Department of English Language and Literature at Chonnam National University and served as an English teacher at middle and high schools. He also worked as a citizen reporter for OhmyNews.
He said he visited Sorokdo and read "The 80-Year History of Sorokdo," "The 100-Year History of Sorokdo," and five volumes of transcripts recording patients' testimonies — each five times over. The book has been published simultaneously in Korean and English editions.
