A review by booklywookly
Mater 2-10 by Hwang Sok-yong

4.0

Mater 2-10 is a rusting locomotive now installed in the demilitarized zone that gives the novel its title. The locomotive, which was captured during the Korean War and points to the North, symbolizes the frustrated yearning for reunification of Korea, captures the grief, resilience, and hope of a nation, and represents the history and culture of the railway workers, who were the backbone of the industrialization and the resistance movements in Korea. 

The novel is an epic, multi-generational tome that threads together a century of Korean history, culture and identity through the lives and struggles of a family of railway workers, who witness the changes and challenges of their nation from the Japanese colonial era to the present day. It depicts the major events and changes that shaped Korea’s modern history, such as the Japanese occupation, liberation, division, the Korean War, dictatorship, democracy movement, industrialization, globalization, and nuclear threat. The novel explores themes of reunification, resistance, and memory, as well as the conflicts and contradictions within Korean society.

We follow Yi family. Starting with Yi Baekman in early 1900s. A simple Korean man who got so enamored with locomotives that he becomes a lathe operator loyal to imperial railways - the first in his family to work for railways. We also meet Baekman’s wife, Juan-Daek, a super enigmatic character straight out of a Salman Rushdie book, whose hulking appearance and later ghostly presence felt by Baekman’s sister, Mageum, has made her a legend. With this generation, we are introduced to the early days of railways and how it became a tool to propagate Japanese occupation of Korea. 

The heart of the book though is centered around Baekman’s sons, Yi Icheol and Yi Ilcheol. And their wives. Ilcheol is his father’s replica who with his sheer grit and ambitions manages to become one of the few Korean locomotive engineers, a high prestige job reserved only for the Japanese. He just wants to keep his head down and lead a conflict free life. His brother Icheol on the other hand, is the black sheep, who gravitates towards the idea of communism as a tool to eradicate Japanese invasion of Joseon, and joins the independence movement along with his wife. This part of the book reminds me of Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Lowland. We learn about the initial wave of communism that came to spread in Korea through its workers class, supported by “international parties” of China and Russia, and how Japan tried to curb it with force. There are intricate details on labor unions, secret meetings, manifestos, spies, arrests and torture. A claustrophobic cat and mouse game between “commies” and thought police.

Another historical moment we see is the division of Korea post world war 2. And we see its aftermath, Korean War and Cold War through the eyes of an unfortunate Yi Jisan, Son of Ilcheol and Geumi. 

And finally, in present, we follow Yi Jino, son of Jisan and Bokrye, a laid-off industrial worker who stages a months-long sit-in atop the factory chimney in protest of the injustice he and other industrial labourers received at the hand of capitalism. And in doing so, he realizes that in him runs the blood of three generation of failed commies, and what he has set out to do with this protest was anyway his predetermined destiny. What’s going to stop him from failing as well. 

I absolutely love how the women characters are written in this book. Doesn’t matter they belong to which generation, they are strong, feminist, and have an imposing presence throughout the book.

It is a powerful and moving story that shows the resilience and hope of the workers who struggle for a better future. It’s a lengthy and a very dense read. There is a very apparent pro communist tone, and combines realism and magical realism, as well as oral and written traditions. It has a complex and nonlinear structure, shifting between different time periods, locations, and narrators. Keeping a tab of all the names (people, places, parties) might prove challenging. All these characters, major or minor, represent different generations and perspectives of the Korean people, who have endured and resisted oppression and injustice. A must read for those who want an insightful perspective on Korea’s past, present, and future. And I predict this to be long listed for International Booker. 

Mater 2-10 is for those whole liked The Whale, Victory City, The Lowland, Tomb of Sand.