Korean writer Ch’oe Myŏngik was a lifelong resident of Pyongyang, a city his short stories masterfully evoke in exquisite modernist prose. His career spanned decades of tumult, from his debut in the 1930s while Korea was under Japanese colonial rule through the Asia-Pacific and Korean Wars and the early years of the Democratic People’s Republic. … [Read More]
Booklist: Literature Fiction and Poetry (page 10)
The Daily Prophet
I had never distrusted Big Data. I accepted all its decisions and walked the path it laid out for me. Even the date of my birth had been set to the most optimal day through machine learning. My entire life, I lived without doubt. But as time went on, I lost vigor. Life slowly drained … [Read More]
The Stone Home
A hauntingly poetic family drama and coming-of-age story that reveals a dark corner of South Korean history through the eyes of a small community living in a reformatory center—a stunning work of great emotional power from the critically acclaimed author of If You Leave Me. In 2011, Eunju Oh opens her door to greet a stranger: … [Read More]
Dawn of Labor
Dawn of Labor, at last translated into English, is the legendary South Korean poet Park Nohae’s first collection, published in 1984 when he was twenty-seven years old. Despite a government ban, the book sold a million copies and propelled Park Nohae as the generation’s leading resistance poet. Dawn of Labor is an enduring classic that shook a … [Read More]
The Butterfly Disease
One night, a giant butterfly shadow sweeps over a city and its inhabitants. Most people rise the next morning to a day just like any other. Some, however, never wake up. Afflicted with the Butterfly Disease, they lose themselves in a series of pleasant dreams that always end in death. As always the sun began … [Read More]
Blurred Lines
Sleeping pills. Sleep. A dream. The dream world is almost like reality, but not quite. The sun is bright, but not warm. People’s faces shift and morph. Most importantly, in this world, he can do whatever he wants without consequence. The man, as always, is tending to the camellia bush in the yard and I, … [Read More]
The Invisible Hotel
Yewon is trapped. She’s stuck in Dalbit, the small Korean village of her birth, where the ancestral bones of her relatives live in her bathtub. Reeling from the loss of her father, she works long days at the convenience store and tries to keep the peace between her mother and sister, who are constantly at … [Read More]
Skylar and the K-pop Headteacher
Fans of Kpop Demon Hunters will love this hilarious body swap school adventure for 8+ readers from Costa-winning author Luan Goldie. A joyful and uplifting tale of friendship, fandom and chasing your dreams, perfect for fans of Jenny Pearson, David Solomons and all things K-pop. When K-pop obsessed Skylar switches bodies with her super-old headteacher, she’s … [Read More]
Counsel Culture
From prize-winning Korean author Kim Hye-jin comes the contemplative, superbly-crafted story of a woman scapegoated by sudden tragedy, and the unexpected paths she must wander in search of redemption. Haesoo is a successful therapist and regular guest on a popular TV program. But when she makes a scripted negative comment about a public figure who … [Read More]
Snowglobe
In a world of constant winter, only the citizens of Snowglobe escape the bitter cold—but Snowglobe hides dark and dangerous secrets at its heart. A groundbreaking Korean novel translated into English for the first time that is perfect for fans of Snowpiercer and Squid Game! Enclosed under a vast dome, Snowglobe is the last place … [Read More]
Your Utopia
By the internationally acclaimed author of Cursed Bunny, in another thrilling translation from the Korean by Anton Hur, Your Utopia is full of tales of loss and discovery, idealism and dystopia, death and immortality. “Nothing concentrates the mind like Chung’s terrors, which will shrivel you to a bouillon cube of your most primal instincts” (Vulture), yet these stories … [Read More]
The Butterfly Dance
What would a man do to win over the woman of his dreams? What if there was a way, an ancient and mystical method sent down straight from the gods, to gain the undying devotion of any woman on Earth? Mijin. Just a minute. Stay still for just a minute. I don’t want to have … [Read More]
Molting
In college, I began fixating on my appearance. I obsessed over my large, round nose, lamented how it threw off the balance of my entire face, didn’t go with any of my outfits, and even seemed to wobble about on my face whenever I ran. It had no redeeming qualities except for the functions every … [Read More]
dd’s Umbrella
What was it they were battling? Their smallness, of course, their smallness. A delicate and arresting queer novel from one of Korea’s most celebrated contemporary writers. d, a nonbinary gig worker living in Seoul, briefly escapes the grasp of isolation when they meet dd, only to be ensnared by grief when dd dies in a … [Read More]
Jaded
For fans of The List, Prima Facie, Queenie and I May Destroy You, discover the debut novel that readers describe as a timely, must-read novel. ‘Jade isn’t even my real name. Jade began as my Starbucks name, because all children of immigrants have a Starbucks name.’ Jade has become everything she ever wanted to be. Successful lawyer. Dutiful daughter. Beloved … [Read More]
Pehera’s Curse
What do we worship, and what do we curse? In a dark cave atop a cliff in a forgotten village lives the last remaining butterfly… I am me. If you think of me as a butterfly, then yes, I may just be a butterfly. Yuhi Kim is a young scientist who studies the legendary butterfly … [Read More]