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Best Books 2020
Ha’s nitro-fueled collection captures the dark side of South Korean society in mischievous, unapologetic feminist stories. Shocking violence occurs between a new married couple, a dog is stolen, and neighbors are suspiciously noisy among other disturbances in this wonderfully weird book. -
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For Fall, 4 Literary Escapes — Worldly And Otherworldly
/November 1, 2020In a recent issue of n+1 , contributor Nausicaa Renner formally renounced reading essays about coronavirus. Until quarantine ends, she wrote , "I vow to only read fiction. For me, the well of individual experience has run dry." For me, though, reading fiction is no guarantee of release from my... -
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Four Literary Escapes—Worldly and Otherworldly
/November 2, 2020In a recent issue of n+1 , contributor Nausicaa Renner formally renounced reading essays about coronavirus. Until quarantine ends, she wrote , "I vow to only read fiction. For me, the well of individual experience has run dry." For me, though, reading fiction is no guarantee of release from my... -
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The workplace still isn’t equal for women
/August 19, 2020The novel, Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 , illustrates the struggle of an ordinary Korean woman, Jiyoung, to prove her worth in a surrounding that insists on putting a feather in men’s cap, even when they do not deserve it. She is a reflection of all those women who leave their jobs and careers because of... -
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Eerie Detachment and The Domestic Surreal: A Review of Ha Seong-Nan’s Bluebeard’s First Wife
/August 20, 2020“Bluebeard’s First Wife,” originally published in 2002, is a collection of short stories from South Korean author Ha Seong-Nan. Ha Seong-Nan has won five major literary awards in Korea, including the Contemporary Literature Award in 2009. Her second collection finally got an English-language... -
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Bluebeard’s First Wife by Ha Seong-nan, review: pertinent short story collection from celebrated Korean author
In Korean writer Ha Seong-nan’s most recently translated work, apparently ordinary characters and situations surreptitiously slip off-kilter. These stories act as acute reminders of how our supposedly normal lives can quickly become much stranger. Take “On That Green, Green Grass”, for example: a... -
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5 new books to read in June
Every month, a deluge of new books comes flooding out from big publishers, indie houses, and self-publishing platforms. So every month, The A.V. Club narrows down the endless options to five of the books we’re most excited about. -
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Bluebeard's First Wife
/ / /U.S.A./ Literature - Korean literature - Contemporary fiction2020Disasters, accidents, and deaths abound in Bluebeard’s First Wife. A woman spends a night with her fiancé and his friends, and overhears a terrible secret that has bound them together since high... -
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Flowers of Mold & Other Stories
/ Literature - Korean literature - Contemporary fiction2019On the surface, Ha Seong-nan’s stories seem pleasant enough, yet there’s something disturbing just below the surface, ready to permanently disrupt the characters’ lives. A woman meets her next-door...