Category Korean
Stories Left Untold: The Magic of Hwang Sok-Yong’s “Princess Bari,” Translated from Korean by Sora Kim-Russell
By Kalau Almony The value of literature is often credited to the way literary texts allow us to vicariously experience places and events we otherwise would have no immediate access to. The argument goes that literature thus enables us to expand our own limited worldviews and become better people, capable of making more ethical decisions. […]
Truths Juxtaposed: Kim Kyung Ju’s I Am a Season That Does Not Exist in the World, Translated by Jake Levine
Reviewed by Heather Lang I Am a Season That Does Not Exist in the World by Kim Kyung Ju, as translated from the Korean by Jake Levine, is a raucous and surrealist read. Yet, this poetry collection remains anchored in the natural world. Our physical world is, for the most part, unyielding, and oftentimes its concreteness feels […]
Wandering Words: Jung Young Moon’s Vaseline Buddha, Translated by Yewon Jung
Review by Kalau Almony Jung Young Moon’s Vaseline Buddha, translated by Yewon Jung, is a strange and wonderful novel. First and foremost, it is a page-turner, but in a way entirely different from what the phrase “page-turner” usually evokes. It is not a tightly plotted novel. In fact, attempting to map out the bits of […]
Dissonant Anthem: Han Kang’s Human Acts, Translated by Deborah Smith
Reviewed by Kalau Almony The Korea of Han Kang’s Human Acts is not the Korea of the war or the vivid neon country of K-Pop. It is a vision of the Korea that existed somewhere between the two, where years of military dictatorship are coming to a head. It’s also a vision of the Korea […]