Category: Korea

the vegetarian by Han Kang

~ winstonsdad ~ 11 Comments

The vegetarian by Han Kang

korean Fiction

Original title – 채식주의자

Translator – Deborah smith

Source – review copy

 

Heifer whines could be human cries
closer comes the screaming knife
this beautiful creature must die
this beautiful creature must die
a death for no reason
and death for no reason is MURDER
and the flesh you so fancifully fry
is not succulent, tasty or nice
it is death for no reason
and death for no reason is MURDER
and the calf that you carve with a smile
is MURDER
and the turkey you festively slice
is MURDER

Back when this came out maybe being vegetarian was the same here as it was for Yeong -Hye in Korea .Of course only one lyric for this book Meat is murder by the mighty smiths .

I was sent this just before it came out and I read it back when it came out and was going to review it then , but the day I went to write a post I saw a couple of other people had posted and a few did the next day so rather than be a  small fish in a shoal of fish ,I decided to wait til this month as I thought well I’m sure folks would be interested at the time and a gentle nudge may make a few more people want to read this book .Han Kang Teaches creative writing at Seoul institute of arts and has won a number of prizes in her native Korea incurring the Korean Literature novel award .

Before my wife turned vegetarian .I’d always thought of her as completely unremarkable in every way . to be frank , the first time I met her I wasn’t even attracted to her .Middling height ; bobbed hair neither long nor short ; jaundiced , sickly-looking skin ; somewhat prominent cheekbones ; her timid sallow aspect told me all I needed to know .As she came up to the table where I was waiting .I couldn’t help but notice her shoes – the plainest black shoes imaginable ,and that walk of hers – neither fast nor slow , striding not mincing .

Well poor Yeong-Hye her husband didn’t even notice her the first time they met bar her plain shoes .

Well I was excited about this especially after hear a discussion on  trying to find Vegetarian restaurant on the three percent podcast made me aware that there is actually not many vegetarians or a culture of being vegetarian in Korea  so the main decision in this book is a hard one to make .This novel is a trio of stories about one wives Yeong-Hye journey into become vegetarian and how it affects her husband and her sister and brother-in-law the later whom happens to be a video artist and uses Yo=eong-Hye in what are becoming more and more sexual and erotic works of art .All this send this woman into a downward spiral of self-destruction and sees her own sister come near to the edge as well .We see the ripples of this decision to become vegetarian .

“Lie on your side for me ” slowly as though timing her movements to some music only she could hear , she bent her arms legs and waist and rolled onto her side . He panned the camera down the ridge of her side and over the soft curve of her buttocks , then filmed first the flowers  on her back the flowers of night and the the flowers of the sun on her front .

I choose this as it shows Yeong-Hye could be very sensual in another’s eyes

The book is really a study of what happens when one person decides to do something outside society’s norms .The trio of stories  or as I view them myself they are more like a triptych so the in three parts the start middle and end of this breaking of the norms of society . The beginning sees the family coping how families cope , rather extreme at times as she is almost force-fed at some points .The next part sees a woman slowly become alone , but as this happens falling into an unhealthy partnership with the failing artist of a brother-in-law .the last part well I leave that to you to find lout this book is one that ,makes you think what would make people react the way Yeong-Hye family and friends reacted in the uk these days . I’m not sure what but I think if someone say is from a strong religious , cultural background or class the fallout may be the same as in this book . It shows what happens when a person is pushed out .I was reminded of some of the great pieces of central european fiction for example Blaugast , I have read where the story is the flip  and it is a male  perspective  on  being on the outside of society .Also a great translation by Deborah who we all followed on twitter as she did this one of her first translations .I love the cover which you have to look art ever so carefully to fully get !!

Have you read this book or any other korean novel ?

The salmon who dared to leap higher by Ahn Do-Hyun

~ winstonsdad ~ 10 Comments

The Salmon Who Dared to Leap Higher

The salmon who dared to leap higher by Ahn Do-Hyun

Korean Fiction

Original title – 연어 이야기 (연어 그 두 번째 이야기)

Translator – Deborah Smith

Source – Review copy

 

 

“War Of Man”

The little creatures
run in from the cold
Back to the nest
just like the days of old
There in the safety
of a mother’s arms
The warmth of ages,
far away from harm again.

Ears ringin’
from the battle fire
The tired warrior
aims a little higher
The black falcon
or the little sparrow
The healing light
or the flash of the barrel.

I choose a song from Neil young his war of man ,which has an eco message behind it .

When this book dropped through the letter box the other week , I nearly put it too one side till I saw it was translated by Deborah , whom I have spoken with on twitter and had a brief chat with at LBF and did talk about this book as i finished it a few days before  .Although the cover was appealing as well . Ahn Do-Hyn has won numerous prizes in Korea including the so-wol poetry prize which is one of the best known poetry prizes in Korea .He studied Korean literature and this is his first book to be translated into English .

Silver salmon had managed to avoid becoming a meal for the fierce eagle .

And yet , something strange – rather than the giddy relief of having cheated death , he feels a pang of sadness at having escaped unharmed . Because the salmon who had been caught – the one who’d swum by his side ever since they left their home river ,

Silver salmon escapes the clutches of a fish eagle .

This book is part of a series of novels that are marketed in Korea as Adult fables (thanks to Deborah for that ) .The salmon who dared to leap higher is the story of one salmon’s journey  the silver salmon  as we follow them from the sea up the river he came from .The journey is a perilous one that sees many of the salmon’s swimming along side . We are told little stories of the companions along side  . The fish have to avoid eagles and bears as they try to get to the river head . Of course the book is more a fable of modern life in Korea and the river maybe is the everyday journey in life of Koreans they are maybe the salmon’s trying to reach the river head and mate have children etc .But also the world around them and the human world .

Bag-of-bones salmon was also in possessions of exceptional memory . His mind was like an enormous storehouse where all manner of facts are filed and preserved .Circling over the riverbed ,he mutters to himself , “Yes , the rapids have increased in height by 35 centimetres since we leapt down over them ”

The salmon remember the world through a sort of collective passing of tales almost their own fables .

I read this in one sitting , which for me is the sign of a book of  120 pages I have actually really enjoyed . This is a fun fable , I initially compared it in my head to Jonathan Livingstone seagull and yes the salmon of the story journey through its life is similar too Jonathan’s journey . But for me this is maybe more based in Korean culture , I was reminded of one of the other books I read from Korea on the Blog please look after mother and maybe this is the same story in a fable manner the salmon as a whole are trying to reach a point but some get eaten and some just can’t make the journey and this is maybe mirroring modern Korea where the country has jumped so quickly in the last fifty years since the end of the korean war .But also serves as a remind of the natural world around them .I feel Deborah did a great job of what must be a poetic book in the original Korean a lyrical feel to the story in english .I must admit I do love the cover art as well and the book has some great illustrations through the book capture the novella well .

Have you a favourite fable ?

A million sell in Korea -please look after mother by Kyung-Sook Shin

~ winstonsdad ~ 40 Comments

Source – Review copy

Translator – Chi-young Kim

Kyung-Sook ,family we re farmers ,she worked in an electronic plant study at night whilst finally reaching the Seoul institute of arts ,her first novel came out in 1985 ,she is part of the 386 generation of Korean writers .Please look after mother is her sixth novel and the first to be translated to english a runaway best seller in her homeland .

So I wondered what would make  million korean’s buy this novel when I got it the blurb is appealing but not grabbing .But then I started the book and I slowly got drawn into the family .The family is a husband and wife ,the mother of the title she has disappeared en route to visit her family in Seoul ,the other characters in the family are thew soon and daughter .The story is told by each of these ,ending with the mother’s story .As the pages drifted by we learnt more and more how the mother had sacrificed so her kids could get at start in life ,but as the kids grew and moved away they maybe felt embarrassed by their simple plain mum who wore simple clothes and worked on the land .The husband tells of his wife the jobs she did round the farm her dealing with fish and making things .so we see them starting the search and as these memories drift through eaches stories you see the mother grow and the love they have for her grow as they remember here ,I ll leave the mother story as you have to read this book .

A women takes on of his flyers and pauses for a moment to look at the picture of Mother .Under the clock tower where  Mother used to wait for him .

After he found his place in the city,Mother would arrive at Seoul station looking like a war refugee .She would walk onto the platform with bundles balanced on her head and slung over her shoulders and in her hands,the things she couldn’t otherwise carry strapped to her waist .It was amazing that she could still walk .

The son’s story ,as he remembers his mum arriving when he moved away from home .

The quote gets to the core of this book and why it  is such a success in Korea ,but also such a great book for anyone wanting to know about Korea .As I said she is a member of the 386 generation ,this is the generation that got the country moving the ones that drew Korea from a broken country to the trading powerhouse it is today .so this story of the family is a story most Koreans have experienced as they moved from the land got good education and moved to the cities to make invent and design the numerous products we get from Korea .we see the older generations giving up so much to make this happen but also they like the family life they have and are happy ,the kids that want to get away for the country and into the modern world and large cities of Korea ,but still work hard and keep family contacts even thou the older generation to them now seem very out of step with the world .so if you want a heart-warming story of family and what parents mean this is the book to read .I must admit I now can see why a million Koreans brought it .

Do you have a favourite Korean book ?

THE GUEST BY HWANG SOK-YONG

~ winstonsdad ~ 10 Comments

Hwang Sok -Yong was born in the 40’s when Japan was in Korea ,he has always been involved in politics been arrested on a number of occasions and in 90’s jailed for his activities in north Korea as a southern korean he was jailed for 7 years but after a campaign from PEN was release  .he has written numerous novels and all so spent a lot of time in America and fought for america in the Vietnam war .THe guest starts of the story of two exiled brothers from Korea living in new york and new jersey .THE main character Ryu Yosop the younger brother has found a way to return for a visit to North Korea ,and is visiting his brother Ryu Yohan in New Jersey .his brother isn’t so keen on the idea but gives his blessing but before he travel Yosop brother die he ,take a bone after cremation to take part of his brother home to Korea and the area they grew up which is now in north Korea .Just before the journey is told there is a change in policy and they have to travel to Pyong yang the capital not th area he is from ,on arrival the american Korean visitors are met by 3 guides that are stern and tow the Government line .he does meet his family and an incident that happened more than forty years ago is brought to life and what happen to the family members that where left behind when the north became the North .

The homeland visitors were taken to the Koryo Hotel and ,in the lobby ,introduced to their guides ;two men and one women .the first man ,in his fifties was rather fat and had beady eyes ;the other in his forties had oiled and neatly combed hair every last strand of his hair all the way back .this second man was extremely thin and looked particularly high-strung .The women looked suave ,though she too was somewhat on the plump side .She had a high soprano voice .

Ryu Yosop meets his 3 North Korean guides .

This book is about so many things war ,the aftermath of war belonging changes ,returning to your home and not quite belonging ,family .It is a powerful story on so many levels and gave me a wonderful in sight into the Korean life and how it affects people in the north Korea .the book is equal parts horror and Beauty in parts .some places in maybe drifts into an anti American polemic .I really enjoyed it and found it a refreshing insight into a country and society I knew very little about .