Steeped In Seoul: An Urban Reading List
With translated literature becoming a literary staple in recent years and Korean soft power, from films to K-Pop to food, becoming increasingly prominent, we decided to continue our lists of city books with Seoul. From more books that have been nominated for international prizes to phenomenal success overseas, Korean literature is having a global moment, and these books, set in Seoul, are a great place to start.
Lost Names: Scenes From A Korean Boyhood- Richard E.Kim, 1970
In this autobiography, Richard Kim paints seven vivid scenes from his boyhood and early adolescence in Korea at the height of the Japanese occupation. Taking its title from the grim fact that the occupiers forced the Koreans to renounce their own names and adopt Japanese ones instead, the book follows one family through the occupation to the surrender of the empire. Examining the intersections of Japanese and Korean history, Lost Names is at once a loving memory of family, an ethnography of Zainichi Koreans, and a vivid portrayal of human spirit in a time of suffering and survival.
The Dwarf- Cho-Se Hui, 1978
Considered by many as one of the most important post-war Korean novels, Cho-Se Hui’s enormously popular and acclaimed work speaks to the painful social costs of reckless industrialisation, even as it tellingly portrays the spiritual malaise of the newly rich and powerful. The lean, clipped, deceptively simple prose style, rapidly shifting points of view, terse dialogue and subtle irony evoke the particularities of life in 1970s South Korea as it opens up to global economic forces.
I Have The Right To Destroy Myself- Young-Ha Kim, 1995
A spectral, nameless narrator haunts the lost and wounded of big-city Seoul in the 1990s, suggesting solace in suicide. Wandering through the bright lights of their high-urban existence, C and K are brothers who fall in love with the same woman – Se-Yeon. As their lives intersect, they tear at each other in a struggle to find connection in their fast-paced, atomized world.
The Vegetarian- Han Kang, 2007
The Vegetarian is a bristling three-part novel that doesn’t shy away from gore, sex and violence, and became an international phenomenon upon translated. It’s a strange, violent novel that delves deftly into themes of incest, familial bonding, misogyny and what freedom from societal duty looks like. Centered around a woman who suddenly stops eating meat and then has a slow, devastating falling apart, the novel is powerful and the characters Han Kang builds stay with you long after the conclusion.
At Least We Can Apologise- Ki-ho Lee, 2009
At Least We Can Apologise focuses on an agency whose only purpose is to offer apologies on behalf of its clients. This seemingly insignificant service leads us into an examination of sin, guilt, and the often irrational demands of society. A kaleidoscope of minor nuisances and major grievances, this novel heralded a new comic voice in Korean writing. In this dark comedy the two central characters, who find themselves unexpectedly set free from a mysterious mental institution, can’t get paid work in the outside world, so they set up the business, which deftly depicts the fragmented, desperate lives of people trying to survive in Seoul.
I Hear Your Voice- Young-Ha Kim, 2017
From one of Korea’s literary stars, this is a novel about two orphans from the streets of Seoul; one becomes the head of a powerful motorcycle gang, the other follows him at all costs. In South Korea, underground motorcycle gangs attract society’s castoffs. They form groups of hundreds and speed wildly through cities at night. For Jae and Dongyu, two orphans, their motorcycles are a way of survival. Told in a voice that’s both detached and insightful, it’s the story of rising from humble beginnings to become a charismatic leader, and a whole lot more.
If I Had Your Face- Frances Cha, 2021
The novel takes a disturbing look at the unrealistic and westernised beauty standards placed on working class women in Seoul. South Korea is believed to have one of the highest rates of plastic surgery in the world with over half its women stating having gone under the knife before the age of 30. The novel explores the relationship of four women to their bodies, looks, dreams, ambition, pop culture and each other, becoming a global phenomenon in the process.