A sweeping, multi-generational tale blending fable, farce, and fantasy-a masterpiece of modern fiction perfect for fans of One Hundred Years of Solitude. A woman sells her daughter to a passing beekeeper for two jars of honey. A baby weighing fifteen pounds is born in the depths of winter but named Girl of Spring . A storm brings down the roof of a ramshackle restaurant to reveal a hidden fortune. These are just some of the events that set Cheon Myeong-kwan's beautifully crafted, wild world in motion. Set in a remote village in South Korea, Whale follows the lives of its linked characters: Geumbok, who has been chasing an indescribable thrill ever since she first saw a whale crest in the ocean; her mute daughter, Chunhui, who communicates with elephants; and a one-eyed woman who controls honeybees with a whistle. Brimming with surprises and wicked humour, Whale is an adventure-satire of epic proportions, by one of international literature's the most original voices.
Cheon Myeong-kwan is a South Korean novelist and screenwriter. Upon publication of his first story, Frank and I (2003), he received the prestigious Munhakdongne New Writer Award. His debut novel, Whale, was published the following year, won the 10th Munhakdongne Novel Award and became one of the most loved novels in South Korea, where it is regarded as a modern classic. His work has been translated into eight languages. Chi-Young Kim is a literary translator and editor. A recipient of the Man Asian Literary Prize for her work on Please Look After Mom by Kyung-sook Shin, she has translated over a dozen books, including works by Ae-ran Kim, You-jeong Jeong, and Young-ha Kim, among others.
Title: Whale: A masterpiece of modern Korean fiction
Author: Myeong-kwan, Cheon
ISBN: 9781787704336
Binding:
Publisher: Europa Editions (UK) Ltd
Publication Date: 2023-01-19
Number of Pages: 368
Weight: 0.3601 kg
A peerless work devoted to telling a powerful story and lauded for expanding Korean literature into new dimensions. * The Hankyoreh * A novel that seduces. * JoongAng Ilbo * [Whale] redefines what fiction can be. * The Kyunghyang Sinmun * Whale overflows with freshness. That's what makes it special. * OhmyNews * Fast-paced and imaginative. -- Dennis Maloney * Modern Family * Whale has leaped over the boundaries of a novel and entered a new space, just like South American fiction. -- Shin Soo-jung (South Korean film star) There has never been a novel like this in Korean literature...A novel that's more like reading out loud than reading quietly to oneself; its structure is like that of a folktale. You can feel the oral tradition in the rhythm of the sentences. * Lee Dong-jin, critic *
