The Age of Doubt collects some of Pak Kyongni’s most famous works, including her 1955 debut and other stories featuring characters that would appear in her 21-volume epic, T’oji. Many of Pak’s stories reflect her own turbulent experiences during the period following the Korean war and the various Korean dictatorships throughout the twentieth century. Pak … [Read More]
Author: Park Kyung-ni (박경리 1926-2008)
Selected publications by Park Kyung-ni
- The Age of Doubt (불신시대, 1957) tr Anton Hur, Dasom Yang, Emily Yae Won, Mattho Mandersloot, Paige Aniyah Morris, Slin Jung, Sophie Bowman, You Jeong Kim, Honford Star 2022
- Land (Vols 1, 2 and 3) (토지, 1969-94) tr Agnita Tennant, Global Oriental 2009
- The Curse of Kim’s Daughters tr Kang Choon-won, Homa + Sekey 2005
- Land (Vol 1) tr Agnita Tennant, Routledge 1996
Short stories in anthologies
- The Sickness no Medicine can Fix (약으로도 못 고치는 병, 1968) in:
- The Era of Fantasy (환상의 시기, 1966) in:
- Retreat in:
- The Age of Darkness (암흑 시대, 1958) in:
- Black is Black, White is White (흑흑백백, 1956) in:
- Calculations (계산, 1955) in:
- Illusion in:
- A time of disbelief / The Age of Doubt (불신 시대, 1957) in:
- Young-ju and the Cat in:
A look back at our 2022 reading diary
It was a busy year outside of my Korean interests, with the result that I didn’t read as much as I would like. And of the titles that I did read, I haven’t had a chance yet formally to write up my thoughts – though there are several half-written reviews which may eventually see the … [Read More]
I think I just don’t get Park Kyung-ni
Having failed to make much headway with Park Kyung-ni’s T’oji / Land, I thought I might give her Curse of Kim’s Daughters a try, in preparation for a re-watch of Yu Hyun-mok’s film adaptation of the novel. I didn’t particularly enjoy the movie the first time I saw it. But then, so far I haven’t … [Read More]
A week-long programme of films based on Korean novels at SOAS
April is the month of the London Book Fair (14-16 April at Olympia). Last year Korea was the market focus, an honour assumed by Mexico this year. But the Korea Publishers Association, LTI Korea and other bodies will be attending to fly the flag for Korea. To remind us of the fun we had last … [Read More]
Park Kyung-ni’s tomb in Tongyeong
For peope who like to track down literary landmarks, the tomb of Park Kyung-ni, author of the sweeping epic T’oji (Land) can be found on Mireukdo, Tongyeong, just above a memorial hall dedicated to her life and work. And for those who are short of time (like me), and like to tick off a number … [Read More]
I’m one volume in to T’oji, and nothing’s happened yet
Why Park Kyung-ni’s epic novel “Land” is like the long-running BBC radio soap opera “The Archers”. And why someone should create a Reader’s Digest version. [Read More]
Margaret Drabble reviews Park Kyung-ni’s Land
Margaret Drabble reviews Park Kyung-ni’s Land in the Times Literary Supplement: “a remarkable and important work in which Eastern and Western traditions fruitfully meet” http://bit.ly/iQ7SBn # [Read More]
“A major addition to world literature” – a report from the launch of the translation of Park Kyung-ni’s T’oji
Monday night at the KCC was part celebration, part education: the launch of an English translation of a major portion of one of Korea’s best-loved modern epics: Park Kyung-ni’s Land. The evening was fronted by the translation’s publisher, Global Oriental (now part of the 300 year old Brill publishing house), but the three speakers were … [Read More]
A celebration of the launch of Park Kyung-ni’s Land in translation
In the mid-90s Kegan Paul published what was billed as Part 1 of Park Kyung-ni’s epic novel, Land (Toji). Translated by Agnita Tennant (Née Hong), the volume extended to 657 pages. In fact, this was only half of Part 1. Global Oriental is now publishing all of it, in three volumes totalling 1,172 pages. There’s … [Read More]
T’oji hits the shops in May
1,172 pages and still only 20% complete. Park Kyung-ni’s The Land (T’oji) translated by Agnita Tennant hits the bookshops in May http://bit.ly/hlUvmT # [Read More]
2010 Travel Diary #20: The House of Choi Champan
Wednesday 5 May 2010. What is authenticity? Probably, over the course of Korea’s long history, most of Korea’s precious buildings have burned down and been rebuilt. It’s a natural hazard of building from sustainable materials such as wood. Marauding invaders or revolting slaves can cause great destruction with just a single spark. The reconstruction work … [Read More]