Paradise Garden

Journalist-turned-author Kwon Ki-tae takes this question further in his first novel "Paradise Garden." By taking a stab at people's indifferent ideals of paradise, the 40-year-old author opens up a fictional world where different utopian ideals clash...Kwon also has antipathy toward the repression and control of society and reveals an intriguing vision of naturalism and anarchism. But he believes that a society free from control is not the answer. Such thoughts are depicted when Kim and his friends talk about Auroville in India. Formed by people who believed in a non-governmental society, Auroville was once regarded as a utopia. But with no economic and social laws, the village was nearly destroyed.

"I wanted to capture an aspect of current society where people are being watched and controlled by companies and organizations. But I don't regard naturalism or anarchism as ideal concepts," said Kwon. "I believe that a community isolated from the real world would only fall back into an idle primitive state." "Paradise Garden" is a lengthy novel of two separate books that have about 400 pages each. (hayney@heraldm.com) By Shin Hae-in 2006.08.11