Short story books from South Korea
Recommended short story books (6)
Travel the world without leaving your chair.
If you are into short story here are some short story books from South Korea for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge.
1.
Bluebeard's First Wife by Seong-nan Ha EN
Country: Asia / South Korea
South Korea
Description:
Ha looks closely at the sordid underbelly of suburbia in Bluebeard's First Wife, the latest from one of Korea's preeminent authors.
2.
Diary of a Murderer : And Other Stories by Young-ha Kim EN
Country: Asia / South Korea
South Korea
Description:
From "one of South Korea's best and most worldly writers" (NPR): An electric collection that captivates and provokes in equal measure, exploring what it means to be on the edge--between life and death, good and evil
3.
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.
4.
Miss Kim Knows and Other Stories by Cho Nam-Joo EN
Country: Asia / South Korea
South Korea
Description:
FROM THE AUTHOR OF KIM JIYOUNG, BORN 1982 Eight women. Eight stories. One reality. A woman is born. A woman is filmed in public without consent. A woman suffers domestic violence. A woman is gaslit. A woman is discriminated against at work. A woman grows old. A woman becomes famous. A woman is hated, and loved, and then hated again. Written in Cho Nam-Joo's masterful, razor-sharp prose, Miss Kim Knows brings together the lives of eight Korean women, aged 10 to 80. Contained in each of these biographies is a microcosm of contemporary Korea, and the challenges and injustices that women face from... continue
5.
The Best Girls (Disorder Collection) by Min Jin Lee EN
Country: Asia / South Korea
South Korea
Description:
Inspired by a true event, this powerful short story from the author of National Book Award finalist Pachinko explores the meaning of patriarchy and the cost of female silence through the eyes of a dutiful young girl. An excellent student from a poor, traditional family in Seoul, the narrator has absorbed the same message her whole life: Only a boy can provide the family with dignity and wealth. Not her. Not her three sisters. Receiving approval only for uncomplaining sacrifice, she has resolved to take on her family’s troubles. She is a good girl. And she knows what good girls must do. The Bes... continue
6.
The Wings by Sang Yi, Chŏng-hyo An, James B. Lee EN
Country: Asia / South Korea
South Korea
Description:
Yi Sang was the most famous avant-garde writer of the colonial era. In his work he experimented with language, interiority, separation from inside one's self as well as the outer world. His poems, particularly, were influenced by Western literary concepts including Dadaism and Surrealism. "The Wings" is simple, apparently dumb and at least partly autistic. He lives in one room, kept by a wife who works as a prostitute; he understands neither sex nor money, but something of their importance is clear to him. When he begins to go out while his wife is with clients, to wander the streets at night,... continue