The best K-reads of 2024
People are obsessed with K-pop, K-drama … what about K-books? If you’ve always been curious about Korean books but don’t know where to start, here’s a list of the best titles we read this year. They might just be your gateway to discovering the rich and beautiful world of Korean literature.
‘Kim Jiyoung Born 1982’ by Cho Nam-joo
Description from Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea): “Jiyoung’s painfully common life is juxtaposed against a backdrop of an advancing Korea, as it abandons family-planning birth control policies and passes new legislation against gender discrimination. But can her doctor completely cure her, or even discover what truly ails her? Rendered in minimalist yet lacerating prose, ‘Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982’ sits at the center of our global #MeToo movement and announces the arrival of a writer of international significance.”
KCC Book Club members: “A very brave take on documenting women’s inequalities from a Korean perspective that’s also on point on a global perspective.”
“A must read for all ages, no matter your gender identity.”
‘Cursed Bunny’ by Bora Chung
LTI Korea: “‘Cursed Bunny’ is a genre-defying collection of short stories by Korean author Bora Chung. Blurring the lines between magical realism, horror, and science-fiction, Chung uses elements of the fantastic and surreal to address the very real horrors and cruelties of patriarchy and capitalism in modern society.”
KCC Book Club members: “Reading this book is like falling into a rabbit hole of short stories.”
“‘Cursed Bunny’ will leave you gasping for breath as you realize that it’s exactly your reality—unfortunately.”
‘Dallergut Dream Department Store’ by Lee Mi-ye
LTI Korea: “In a mysterious town hidden in our collective subconscious, there’s a department store that sells dreams. Day and night, visitors both human and animal shuffle in to purchase their latest adventure. Each floor specializes in a specific type of dream: childhood memories, food dreams, ice skating, dreams of stardom. Flying dreams are almost always sold out. Some seek the dreams of loved ones who have died.”
KCC Book Club members: “If one is asked what dreams are made of, the answer would be ‘Dallergut Dream Department Store.’”
“With life’s constant pressure and chaos, who wouldn’t want a break from reality?”
‘Love in the Big City’ by Park Sang-young
LTI Korea: “A funny, transporting, surprising, and poignant novel that was one of the highest-selling debuts of recent years in Korea, ‘Love in the Big City’ tells the story of a young gay man searching for happiness in the lonely city of Seoul.”
KCC Book Club members: “I’m glad this was my intro to queer Korean literature.”
“How could this novel make me laugh even in the most serious intimate scenes?”
‘Greek Lessons’ by Han Kang
LTI Korea: “In a classroom in Seoul, a young woman watches her Greek language teacher at the blackboard. She tries to speak but has lost her voice. Her teacher finds himself drawn to the silent woman, for day by day he is losing his sight. Soon they discover a deeper pain binds them. In the space of just a few months, she has lost both her mother and the custody battle for her 9-year-old son. For him, it’s the pain of growing up between Korea and Germany, being torn between two cultures and languages. ‘Greek Lessons’ is a tender love letter to human connection, a novel to awaken the senses, vividly conjuring the essence of what it means to be alive.”
KCC Book Club members: “This is a book that demands to be felt.”
“‘Greek Lessons’ shows us the ironies of life subtly.”
‘At Dusk’ by Hwang Sok-yong
LTI Korea: “Park Minwoo is, by every measure, a success story. Born into poverty in a miserable neighborhood of Seoul, he has ridden the wave of development in a rapidly modernizing society. Now the director of a large architectural firm, his hard work and ambition have brought him triumph and satisfaction. But when his company is investigated for corruption, he’s forced to reconsider his role in the transformation of his country. At the same time, he receives an unexpected message from an old friend, Cha Soona, a woman that he had once loved, and then betrayed. As memories return unbidden, Minwoo recalls a world he thought had been left behind—a world that, he now understands, he has helped to destroy.”
KCC Book Club Members: “If you know how your story ends, will you make the same decisions?”
‘Concerning My Daughter’ by Kim Hye-jin
LTI Korea: “When a mother allows her 30-something daughter to move into her apartment, she wants for her what many mothers might say they want for their child: a steady income, and, even better, a good husband with a good job with whom to start a family.
But when Green turns up with her girlfriend, Lane, in tow, her mother is unprepared and unwilling to welcome Lane into her home. In fact, she can barely bring herself to be civil. Having centered her life on her husband and child, her daughter’s definition of family is not one she can accept. Her daughter’s involvement in a case of unfair dismissal involving gay colleagues from the university where she works is similarly strange to her.
And yet when the care home where she works insists that she lower her standard of care for an elderly dementia patient who has no family, who traveled the world as a successful diplomat and chose not to have children, Green’s mother cannot accept it. Why should not having chosen a traditional life mean that your life is worth nothing at all?”
KCC Book Club Members: “As a reader, it will take you through a journey—a dilemma—of wanting to reconcile differences or just agree to disagree on matters which would be trivial to argue about.”
“The pages flow through your hands like running water, but the emotions linger in your mind.”
The KCC Book Club is now on its third year. Next year, members will continue to explore different K-literature genres. There are monthly book club sessions where readers can have interactive and insightful discussions on the featured book of the month. Want to join? The KCC Book Club will accept new applicants in January 2025. The announcement will be made on KCC’s social media platforms (facebook.com/KoreanCulturalCenterPH and @kccphils on Instagram).
Reviews by Angelica Joy Laurente, Mariel Gamos, Cherry Enghog, Jean Lee Balatico, Maricar Maza, Ma. Ruth Montallana, Janina Bustos-Borromeo, and Joyce Lapido
