I finished 그날, 서울에서는 무슨 일이, a collection of four short stories by different authors with the common theme of Seoul.

I loved this collection so much! All 4 short stories were great, but the first one by 정명섭 was my favourite. I also really loved the second one, by 최하나, which tackles the problem of urban renewal and the impact on people living in targeted areas.
The last one was written *in Korean* by American essayist Colin Marshall, which is really impressive!
#FinishedReading #KoreanLiterature

I finished the short story 천사는 마로니에 공원에서 죽는다 by 김아직, a murder story set in the Marronnier Park at Daehangno. It’s funny because I’ve been there several times, and I had no idea it was called “Marronnier Park”.

I’ve been taking notes for my Korean food reading challenge, and there were so many mentions of food in this short story!
Ramyeon, brioche, ox bone soup (설렁탕), grilled chicken on skewer (닭꼬치), fried chicken (닭튀김), sandwiches…
Fictional characters really do eat a lot in Korean novels     
#KoreanLiterature #ReadingChallenge #KoreanFood

I finished the short story 선량은 왜? by 최하나 from the collection 그날, 서울에서는 무슨 일이. The main topic is the urban regeneration of old neighbourhoods, and I found the story quite depressing, but I loved it.

The two first short stories of this collection were both excellent! Two more to go!   
#KoreanLiterature

Following my post here

https://c.im/@jemmesedi/115483897308266747

I got hold of a copy of "The Vegetarian" and finished it this afternoon.

On one level, this novel - or is it a trilogy of linked novellas? - is a critique in fiction of the repression of women in socially conservative South Korea.

Yet "The Vegetarian" is much more than that, questioning as it does our distinctions between sanity and madness, care and cruelty, and humanity and nature.

More disturbing for me than all the body horror aspects of the book was the suggestion that a supreme moment of creative expression might be inextricably bound up with cruelty, exploitation, and betrayal.

At just under two hundred pages, this is not a long read. Thanks to @isa for your recommendation!

#Books #TheVegetarian #HanKang #Fiction #Literature #KoreanLiterature #SouthKorea

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202511/1347167.shtml

Now I want to read "The Vegetarian" and some of the other works that Dong Xi mentions, especially Zhuangzi -- On Seeing Things as Equal.

#Literature #Books #KoreanLiterature #HanKang #TheVegetarian #ChineseLiterature #OnSeeingThingsAsEqual #DongXi #Transformations

The Impact of Baek Se-hee’s Book on Mental Health Awareness in South Korea

Baek Se-hee's book, I Want to Die but I Want to Eat [translate:tteokbokki], has resonated deeply in South Korea and beyond since its 2018 release. The title's candid contradiction captures the author's struggle with dysthymia and anxiety, shared through conversations with her psychiatrist. The book ... [More info]

I've been dipping into "Lost Souls", a volume of short stories by Hwang Sunwon.

One that has particularly caught my attention is "Booze", written in 1945.

Following the August 15th liberation of Korea from Japanese rule, the Nakamura distillery is to be taken over by Koreans. Which Koreans though? As we follow the head clerk Chunho's attempts to manage the takeover, his household, and himself, we see a decent individual struggling with challenges going way beyond a change of name for the distillery.

"Booze" not only absorbed me in its narrative but also made me think about both decolonization and writing about decolonization.

#HwangSunWon #KoreanLiterature #Booze #ShortStories #Books #TwentiethCenturyLiterature #Postcolonialism #AsianLiterature #Korea

https://cup.columbia.edu/book/lost-souls/9780231149686/

𝟯 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄: “𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗩𝗲𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻” 𝗯𝘆 𝗛𝗮𝗻 𝗞𝗮𝗻𝗴 -

A surreal/but-real tale of a woman who dares to make her own choices and of the struggles of family (most male) who cannot contend with it.

#bookreviews #books #bookworm #readreadread #3words #hankang #thevegetarian #nobelprize #koreanliterature #asianliterature