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Booklist: Literature Fiction and Poetry (page 34)

Funereal

by pub Signal 8 Press (2015)

From the publisher’s website: Soobin Shin is an aspiring young woman in a near-future version of Seoul. Ever since her college graduation, she has struggled to escape from her dead-end job in a doughnut chain. Her twin sister Hyewon is one of Korea’s most recognizable models, but Soobin just can’t seem to find her lucky … [Read More]

The Vegetarian

by tr Deborah Smith pub Portobello Books (2015)

Yeong-hye and her husband are ordinary people. He is an office worker with moderate ambitions and mild manners; she is an uninspired but dutiful wife. The acceptable flatline of their marriage is interrupted when Yeong-hye, seeking a more ‘plant-like’ existence, decides to become a vegetarian, prompted by grotesque recurring nightmares. In South Korea, where vegetarianism … [Read More]

Fired (K-Fiction 013)

by tr Teresa Kim pub Asia Publishers (2015)

To be considered interesting storytelling, a story’s structure should be built around a clear conflict between good and evil–a good-hearted and righteous underdog, hired as a temporary employee, who stands up to his Goliath of a boss, who is a shameless and brazen oppressor. But from the onset of the story, Chang Kangmyoung’s “Fired,” the … [Read More]

Modern Family

by tr Park Kyoung-lee pub White Pine Press (2015)

Forty-year-old In-mo, a movie director who’s been jobless for the past decade decides to move in with his widowed mother. His older brother, with five criminal convictions, has already moved back. Then younger sister Mi-yeon arrives with her bratty, rebellious fifteen-year-old daughter. Mom is delighted to have her entire dysfunctional family back again, but what … [Read More]

Danny (K-fiction 007)

by tr Jeon Seung-hee pub Asia Publishers (2015)

No synopsis available Not readily available in the UK [Read More]

Magnolia: a novel

by pub Renaissance (2015)

From the publisher’s website: Here is an extraordinary love story that speaks to the crisis of separation and scorn, love and hate, following the Korean War ceasefire in July 1953. Four years later, Sukey, a graduate with much promise, falls in love with Kwon, a man who confesses to having been a North Korean spy. Although … [Read More]

Maninbo: Peace & War

by tr Brother Anthony of Taizé, Lee Sang-wha pub Bloodaxe (2015)

From the publisher’s website: Poetry Book Society Recommended Translation Ko Un has long been a living legend in Korea, both as a poet and as a person. Allen Ginsberg once wrote, ‘Ko Un is a magnificent poet, combination of Buddhist cognoscente, passionate political libertarian, and naturalist historian.’ Maninbo (Ten Thousand Lives) is the title of a … [Read More]