Korean Literature

“Faded, threadbare, worn out” — Review of Hwang Sok-yong’s ‘The Road to Sampo’

“The urine and shit dropped by foreigners” — Review of Nam Jung-hyun’s ‘Land of Excrement’

“Unwanted life within” — Review of Pak Wanseo’s ‘Three Days in That Autumn’

“North Korea from the shore of the river, weeping” — Review of Yi Mun-Yol’s ‘An Appointment with My Brother’

“A breath, a breath, a breath…” — Review of Lisa See’s ‘The Island of Sea Women: A Novel’.

The Korean Romeo and Juliet — Review of Horace Allen’s ‘The Faithful Dancing-Girl Wife’

The Korean Cinderella — Review of Rausch, Lee, and Lee’s ‘The Story of Changhwa and Hongnyon’

All good stories of a certain age start this way, with disappointment… and a sudden, swollen belly — a “warmhearted” husband, a barren wife, and the “pity” of “heaven”.

“We’re tiny dwarfs” — Review of Cho Se-hui’s ‘The Dwarf’

“The hallmark of a Nunchi-deficient person” — Review of Euny Hong’s ‘The Power of Nunchi’