Must-read Korean Literature
Perhaps you’re just beginning your journey into the world of Korean Literature and need guidance on where to start, or are looking to expand your Korean Literature bookshelf with something new.
This comprehensive list provides something for every reader.
This comprehensive list delves into five of the most inspiring, haunting, and beautiful pieces of Korean literature that are absolute must reads for avid readers.
‘Lemon’ by Kwon Yeo-sun
This haunting crime fiction will leave you at the edge of your seat. Told through the perspectives of several characters involved in the murder of high-schooler Kim Hae-on, this novella has an ethereal quality that is reminiscent of Japanese novelist Banana Yoshimoto’s subtle and eerie work.
Written in first-person, ‘Lemon’ allows its reader to explore the complex minds of each character as they tell their side of the murder. This page turner will make your toes curl as you find out the truth behind what happened to Kim Hae-on.
‘Human Acts’ by Hang Kang
Known for her poetic style of work and hauntingly beautiful tropes, Han Kang describes the sickening events of the May 18 Uprising in Gwangju, South Korea, in her 2015 novel ‘Human Acts’.
Based on a real event, this novel creates a visceral reaction within its readers as they experience the events first-hand through the perspectives of several characters.
Han Kang’s exploration of death is spine-chilling but nothing short of stunning and will stay in the forefront of your mind for many years to come.
‘Endless Blue Sky’ by Lee Hyoseok
Following the lives of several characters in 1940s colonial Korea and Japanese-occupied Manchuria, this novel is a beautiful and raw depiction of societal pressures, human emotion, love, and race.
Juxtaposing luxury with poverty and right with wrong, Hyoseok asks readers to reflect on human nature at its most vulnerable. Weaving throughout the novel, lies the love story between Korean writer Ilma and Russian dancer Nadia whose love and deep appreciation for one another highlights how feelings can circumnavigate cultural differences to create something beautiful.
This melodrama is worthy of an on-screen adaptation.
‘The Mermaid of Jeju’ by Sumi Hahn
‘The Mermaid of Jeju’ is told from the perspective of Goh Junja, a Haenyeo living on post World War Two Jeju Island. While taking a trip to Mt Halla to trade sea delicacies the Haenyeo have caught, sea village girl Junja falls for a mountain boy Yang Suwol.
Their love story, and the tragic death of Junja’s mother are the hearthstone of this novel which sees Jeju island and its occupants overtaken by the perilous political climate of the time. Can Junja survive this unprecedented time while navigating the struggles of her first love?
‘Cursed Bunny’ by Bora Chung
This collection of short stories will often leave you turning back the page to check what you’ve just read.
Commencing with ‘The Head’, readers are thrust into a creepy and terrifying world where a woman finds a head in her toilet created from the woman’s discarded toilet paper, faecal matter, and fallen hair. Calling the protagonist ‘mother’, the head is a reminder of the legacies we leave behind, be them good or bad.
Chung’s work is raw, emotional, and thought-provoking — ‘Cursed Bunny’ will leave you looking in the mirror and asking yourself: “Am I a good person?”