The Color of Heaven (The Color of Earth) - Softcover

Kim, Dong Hwa

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1596434600 ISBN 13: 9781596434608

Publisher: First Second, 2009

Synopsis

A celebration of the triumph of true love

As Ehwa grew from a girl to a young woman in The Color of Earth and The Color of Water, she began to understand and experience love and relationships, with her mother as a model and confidante. Now, in the heartwarming conclusion to this lyrically written and delicately drawn trilogy, Ehwa's true love comes at last, and as her mother looks on, she takes the final steps towards becoming an adult.

In the tradition of My Antonia and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, from the pen of the renowned Korean manhwa creator Kim Dong Hwa, comes a girl's coming of age story, set in the vibrant pastoral landscape of Korea.

About this title

About the Author

Kim Dong Hwa is a widely revered Korean comic artist. Since his debut in 1975 he has become a mainstay of Korean manhwa (comics), best known for his tender stories and uncanny ability to write from a profoundly feminine perspective.

Review

“The final-and best-installment of manhwa artist Kim's moving trilogy chronicling the coming of age of a girl in pastoral Korea, based loosely on his mother's own youth. As summer comes to a close, the strikingly cinematic opening finds Ehwa bidding a hurried farewell to the handsome wrestler who caught her eye in the previous installment (The Color of Water, 2009). Her lover heads off to work as a fisherman, and Ehwa returns to her mother's tavern and begins an autumn of discontent. She's testy to friends and fresh with her mother, but most of all, she's frustrated by the distance between herself and Duksam. Winter arrives, bringing with it not only Duksam's unexpected return and plans for a spring wedding but also the artist's stark, crisp winter landscapes. As Ehwa and her mother prepare for the traditional ceremony, the nuanced nature metaphors and fertile scenery evoke the melancholy of change. This title, more than its predecessors, blends achingly beautiful artwork with a well-paced story-as fully realized, finally, as the heroine the artist has created. (discussion guide) (Graphic novel. 14 & up)” ―Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

“The tender and gorgeously illustrated manhwa trilogy (begun in The Color of Earth and The Color of Water, both 2009) honoring the artist's mother as she travels from childhood through girlhood to her status as a newlywed young woman comes to a successful close in this volume. Ehwa, at 17, is beautiful and lonely, having had to part with her true love when he must run away to sea. With her widowed mother, she learns to wait and to read traditional signs in nature, such as specific flower bloomings or the first snow. All turns out happily with her love's return and the ensuing marriage. The full cycle belongs in every literary collection.” ―Francisca Goldsmith, Booklist

“Having foundered a bit in terms of narrative flow in the second installment of this manhwa trilogy, Hwa regains his footing as he completes the coming-of-age tale of Ehwa, a young woman of early twentieth century Korea, in this graphic novel based on his mother's youth. After a tearful farewell to her young man, Duksam, who promises to return to her after he has made some money, Ehwa is lashed by her mother for staying out all night. Her punishment concludes, however, with a new sense of trust as he mother acknowledges that Ehwa is no longer a child. The two women commiserate over the trials of waiting for one's beloved, and Ehwa shares a funny moment with a randy female friend as they discuss the Korean ideals of beauty for women. When Duksam returns, he and Ehwa turn their attention to marriage, and Ehwa's mother mediates on the joy she has for her daughter commingled with the fears she has for her own lonely future. Fortunately, Mother's own suitor returns with intention to stay, so both women will enjoy futures with the men they love. Hwa is at his pictorial storytelling best in the chapter on Ehwa's bridal night, where he mingles increasingly ecstatic metaphoric imagery (starting with butterflies, clouds, flower petals, and paper lanterns and ending with pounding gongs, a mortar and pestle, and a waterfall) with discreet but illustrative linework of the beautiful young couple making love. The result is both sweet and sexy, but the erotic tension is broken by humorous scenes of the village girls listening at the door, and of one of the lascivious old men from the tavern, inspired by the wedding night, trying (and ultimately failing) at sex with his puzzled, sharp-tongued wife. The wit both cuts and sharpens the sweet by contrast, but it is the ultimate scene of the mother wistfully peering out into the night that sounds the haunting, sustained note of longing and nostalgia that flows through this profoundly moving picture of a girl's path to womanhood. An extensive discussion guide for the entire series, some of it repeated from the first and second books, follows the text.” ―School Library Journal

“Gr 10 Up–This manhwa concludes this quietly moving trilogy about Ehwa and her mother. Ehwa is in love with Duksam, who left at the end of The Color of Water (Roaring Brook, 2009) to make his fortune so that he could come back and marry her. Actually, he also left to escape the men who wanted to punish him for destroying the property of the old man who tried to take Ehwa for himself in volume two. Most of this book takes place in the village with the two women pining for their men and talking about men and nature and flowers and trees. Hwa's black-and-white illustrations are once again stunning, simple at first glance but on closer examination they are amazing in their detail. The Color of Heaven can stand on its own as an enjoyable read, but it is an absolute must for readers who have devoured the earlier volumes.” ―Andrea Lipinski, New York Public Library

“After months of painfully waiting for his return, seventeen-year-old Ehwa marries her fiancé, Duksam, in this romantic yet bittersweet conclusion to The Color Trilogy. Ehwa is thrilled to be marrying Duksam, who has been away at sea earning money so they can marry. But Ehwa is also heartbroken about leaving her childhood home and her widowed mother behind. Likewise, Ehwa's mother is happy for her but worried about sending her into marriage so young and inexperienced. Her mother is also afraid that she will be lonely when Ehwa is gone, although her lover, a traveling artist, does come to visit her with the promise of a more stable relationship.
The plot of the story is simple, as the book focuses on the inner lives of Ehwa and her mother. The culmination of the trilogy is the marriage ceremony and Ehwa's wedding night, depicted with evocative illustrations that rely heavily on nature symbols such as butterflies, flowers, and water. The book ends hopefully with the promise that Ehwa and Duksam will have a happy life. Ehwa's mother has learned, however, that love does not guarantee happiness, as death, distance, and age can leave women alone and longing.” ―Amy Luedtke, Voya

“In this concluding volume to the Color trilogy, Kim Dong Hwa takes the relationship between Ehwa and her mother to a new level, for the little girl is now seventeen and a blossoming woman. The women find they have more in common than they thought, as they wait and yearn for their lovers who are far away, wondering when they will return. Nevertheless, Ehwa still has some crucial lessons to learn from her parent. But Hwa must bring the series to a close, and he does so with Ehwa's betrothal to Duksam, and their beautiful wedding. Her mother says goodbye to the daughter she's had in her home for so long, and while her lover now returns to her for good, she finds herself once again looking out from her home, waiting, this time for the return of her daughter who she now misses greatly. Hwa's artwork and scenery continue to astound, while The Color of Heaven does an incredible job of revealing facets of Korean culture rendered in such a beautiful way.” ―Sacramento Book Review

Edition details

• Publisher: First Second
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1596434600
• ISBN 13: 9781596434608
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320