In recent decades, Korean literature has emerged from relative obscurity to claim its rightful place on the world stage, bringing with it distinctive narrative approaches, thematic concerns, and aesthetic sensibilities that have significantly expanded the palette of global literature
Han Kang’s literary landscape is one where beauty and brutality coexist in uncomfortable proximity, where the body becomes both canvas and battlefield for psychological and historical trauma. Her prose, marked by crystalline precision that renders the unbearable tangible, transforms collective wounds into universal meditations on human existence.
The novel traces the remarkable life of Geumbok, a woman who rises from abject poverty to become a powerful entrepreneur in a remote coastal village. Her journey spans decades of Korean history, from the Japanese occupation through the Korean War and into the nation’s rapid industrialisation period.
The Asian Review 