Contemporary fiction books from South Korea
Recommended contemporary fiction books (14)
Travel the world without leaving your chair.
If you are into contemporary fiction here are some contemporary fiction books from South Korea for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge.
1.
Aloft by Chang-rae Lee EN
Country: Asia / South Korea
South Korea
Description:
Jerry Battle, a suburban middle-aged man from Long Island, loves to fly his small plane solo and just "disappear", but when a family crisis occurs, Jerry must face his disengagement in his relationships and learn what it means to be a father, husband, son, and lover.
2.
Country: Asia / South Korea
South Korea
Description:
Esta história é, em resumo, sobre um monstro encontrando outro monstro. Um dos monstros sou eu. Yunjae nasceu com uma condição neurológica chamada alexitimia, ou a incapacidade de identificar e expressar sentimentos, como medo, tristeza, desejo ou raiva. Ele não tem amigos — as duas estruturas em forma de amêndoas localizadas no fundo de seu cérebro causaram isso —, mas a mãe e a avó lhe proporcionam uma vida segura e tranquila. O pequeno apartamento em que moram, acima do sebo da mãe, é decorado com cartazes coloridos com lembretes de quando sorrir, quando agradecer e quando demonstrar preocu... continue
3.
Counterattacks at Thirty by Won-Pyung Sohn, Sean Lin Halbert translator EN
Country: Asia / South Korea
South Korea
Description:
From the bestselling author of ALMOND, The Devil Wears Prada meets The Office in this witty, humane, and ultimately transformative story of a group of young workers who rebel against the status quo. Jihye is an ordinary woman who has never been extraordinary. In her administrative job at the Academy, she silently tolerates office politics and the absurdities of Korean bureaucracy. Forever only one misplaced email away from career catastrophe, she effectively becomes a master of the silent eye-roll and the tactical coffee run. But all her efforts to endure her superiors and the semi-hostile wor... continue
4.
Flowers of Mold : Stories by Ha Seong-nan EN
Country: Asia / South Korea
South Korea
Description:
Unsettling, haunting short stories in the vein of Yoko Ogawa and Brian Evenson.
5.
I'll Go On by Hwang Jungeun EN
Country: Asia / South Korea
South Korea
Description:
From one of South Korea’s most acclaimed young authors comes the story of two sisters, Sora and Nana. When Sora was ten years old, and Nana was nine, their father died in a freak accident at the factory where he worked, his body sucked under a huge cogwheel, crushed beyond recognition. Their mother Aeja, numb with grief, gives in to torpor, developing an unhealthy obsession with the paradoxical violence implicit in life.
6.
La Clase de Griego / Greek Lessons by Han Kang ES
Country: Asia / South Korea
South Korea
Description:
En Seúl, una mujer asiste a clases de griego antiguo. Su profesor le pide que lea en voz alta pero ella permanece en silencio; ha perdido la capacidad del lenguaje, así como a su madre y la custodia de un hijo de ocho años. Su única esperanza de recuperar el habla es mediante el aprendizaje de una lengua muerta. El profesor, que acaba de regresar a Corea después de pasar media vida en Alemania, se encuentra dividido entre dos culturas y dos lenguas.
También él afronta pérdidas: su vista empeora irreversiblemente a cada día que pas... continue
7.
My Year Abroad by Chang-rae Lee EN
Country: Asia / South Korea
South Korea
Description:
INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER A New York Times Notable Book * Named a Best Book of the Year by Vogue, TIME, and Marie Claire “A manifesto to happiness—the one found when you stop running from who you are.” –New York Times Book Review “An extraordinary book, acrobatic on the level of the sentence, symphonic across its many movements—and this is a book that moves…My Year Abroad is a wild ride—a caper, a romance, a bildungsroman, and something of a satire of how to get filthy rich in rising Asia.” – Vogue From the award-winning author of Native Speaker and On Such a Full Sea, an exuberant, provocat... continue
8.
Native Speaker by Chang-rae Lee EN
Country: Asia / South Korea
South Korea
Description:
ONE OF THE ATLANTIC’S GREAT AMERICAN NOVELS OF THE PAST 100 YEARS The debut novel from critically acclaimed and New York Times–bestselling author of On Such a Full Sea and My Year Abroad. In Native Speaker, author Chang-rae Lee introduces readers to Henry Park. Park has spent his entire life trying to become a true American—a native speaker. But even as the essence of his adopted country continues to elude him, his Korean heritage seems to drift further and further away. Park's harsh Korean upbringing has taught him to hide his emotions, to remember everything he learns, and most of all to fee... continue
9.
Nowhere to Be Found by Bae Suah EN
Country: Asia / South Korea
South Korea
Description:
A nameless narrator passes through her life, searching for meaning and connection in experiences she barely feels. For her, time and identity blur, and all action is reaction. She can’t quite understand what motivates others to take life seriously enough to focus on anything—for her existence is a loosely woven tapestry of fleeting concepts. From losing her virginity to mindless jobs and a splintered, unsupportive family, the lessons learned have less to do with the reality we all share and more to do with the truth of the imagination, which is where the narrator focuses to discover herself.... continue
10.
Please Look After Mom by Kyŏng-suk Sin EN
Country: Asia / South Korea
South Korea
Description:
Follows the efforts of a family to find the mother who went missing from Seoul Station and their sobering realizations when they recall memories that suggest she may not have been happy.