Korean Literature

Hope is not your typical teenage girl. After a tumultuous childhood, she is once again in a new town and a new school which her mother has dragged her to. As is often the case, she is one of the only Asian kids in an all-white school and is still dealing with family issues. Hope is struggling to adjust to her new environment as a freshman in high school, where she meets a school counselor who helps her wade through the entire school year as well as pushes her to explore her past.

Jade isn't even my real name. Jade began as my Starbucks name, because all children of immigrants have a Starbucks name. Jade has done all the right things. She's curated herself to fit right in at her law firm, but tells herself she has no choice. She's with a man who loves her, but isn't always herself around him. She's made her Omma and Baba proud, but resents that they can't properly understand her. Jade is perfectly in control of her life. Until one terrible night unravels Jade's carefully constructed world, leaving her wondering who she truly is.

A woman is born. A woman is filmed in public without consent. A woman suffers domestic violence. A woman is gaslit. A woman is discriminated against at work. A woman grows old. A woman becomes famous. A woman is hated, and loved, and then hated again. Crafted in Cho Nam-Joo’s masterful, razor-sharp prose, Miss Kim Knows brings together the lives of eight Korean women, aged 10 to 80. Contained in each of these biographies is a microcosm of contemporary Korea, and the challenges and injustices that women face from childhood to old age.

The time is roughly now and Kai, a white-collar worker, has just been abandoned by his longtime lover. Follow him through a labyrinth of alleyways as he reels from this sudden departure. Accompany him up snowy mountains where he contemplates ending his own life. That mourning can be both an art and ever-unfolding journey is epitomized in the paths that Kai crosses and the lives he alters for better or worse.

Manila, Philippines, 2003. Dane Chandler is visiting Manila on a writing assignment. Jack Pierce is a tough-talking Korean War veteran. When Jack asks Dane to join him for cards at the pension's cafe, Dane instinctively agrees, sensing the man's "command" presence. What unfolds will change their lives forever. Tokyo, Japan, 1949. Jack Pierce joined the army for honor and adventure, finding himself garrisoned at Camp Drake, Tokyo. On a raucous night at Ginza's glitzy Club Florida, the young corporal meets the love of his life, Michiko Okura.

Jungmin is down on her luck. She's worked tirelessly as a screenwriter her whole life, and has finally burnt out. But after months of isolation, she realises it's time to make a change, and ventures out into the streets near Seoul. When she stumbles upon a pottery workshop, a new world opens up to her. Leaning into the joys of her craft, Jungmin’s heart is slowly warmed by the kiln’s intense heat. Everyone at the workshop has their own story to tell, and as summer ebbs to autumn, autumn to winter, winter to spring, wounds begin to heal.

안녕하세요! 저는 백년도 더 전에 프랑스라는 나라에서 태어나 비행기 조종사가 되었던 앙투안 드 생텍쥐페리라는 사람입니다. 오늘 저는 제가 몰고 다니던 비행기가 고장나는 바람에 아프리카의 한 사막에 혼자 불시착했을 때 겪었던 이야기를 들려드릴 거예요. 그때 제가 만났던 어린 왕자라는 작은 친구가 나오는 이야기죠. 벌써 육년 전 이야기입니다. 어린 왕자는 어쩌면 여러분과 나이가 별로 차이나지 않는 어린이였을 수도 있어요. 저는 어린 왕자를 만났을 때 이미 어른이었기 때문에, 이건 어쩌면 어린이와 어른 사이에 대한 이야기일지도 모릅니다. 혹은 우리가 밤하늘의 별들을 어떻게 보는가, 에 대한 이야기일지도 몰라요.

로맨스 소설의 고전이자, 19세기 초 영국에서 유행한 고딕 소설로도 평가 받는, 여성 작가 샬럿 브론테의 대표작. 책은 가난한 고아 가정교사 제인 에어와 부유하지만 불행한 에드워드 로체스터의 사랑 이야기가 작품의 중심축을 이루고 이들의 사랑을 방해하는 장애물이 주된 갈등으로 작용한다. 작가는 자매들과 함께 다녔던 기숙 학교의 기억과, 비련으로 끝나고 만 사랑의 경험을 작품 속에 녹여낸다.

In her signature sharp prose, brilliantly translated by Jamie Chang, Nam-Joo returns with this haunting account of a neglected housing complex in the shadows of Town: a former fishing village bought out by a massive conglomerate. Town is prosperous and safe―but only if you’re a citizen with “valuable skills and assets,” which the residents of Saha Estates are not. Disenfranchised and tightlipped, the Saha are forced into harsh labor, squatting in moldy units without electricity.

Amelia Bae-Wood’s life is falling apart. Unemployed, newly single and completely broke—for reasons she hasn’t told anyone yet—she finds herself hitchhiking across California to deal with the fallout of her mother’s eviction from the family estate. Amelia needs somewhere to live and time to figure out what to do with the rest of her life, so moving with her mother and sister to Arcadia, the cancer retreat center where her sister volunteers, seems like as good an idea as any.

For rollercoaster designer Theo, living on the edge is just part of the job. He’s used to wandering the world perfecting thrills, his heart immune to commitment. But then a commission in repressive North Korea exposes him to emotions he’s never dared to feel. Tour guide Min has a soul that wants to soar, but she knows it’s safer to build walls around her heart and mind. Skilled in showcasing the mesmerising beauty of capital city Pyongyang without revealing its darker secrets, she introduces Theo to a country he will never forget....

오늘날까지 세계적으로 널리 사랑받는 캐릭터 무민은 1945년, 무민 시리즈의 서막이라 할 수 있는 『무민 가족과 대홍수』 이후 1970년까지 26년에 걸쳐 그림책 4권과 연작소설 8권으로 출간되었다. 무민 골짜기에서 살아가는 무민과 친구들의 이야기가 담긴 '무민 연작소설'로 어린이 문학의 노벨상인 한스 크리스티안 안데르센상을 수상했지만, 사실 토베 얀손은 "특정 독자층을 염두에 두지 않고" 글을 썼다. 이번에 출간하는 '토베 얀손 무민 연작소설'은 어린이뿐만 아니라 어른까지 세대를 막론하고 쉽게 가까이 다가갈 수 있다. 『혜성이 다가온다』는 8편 가운데 첫 번째 작품이다. 제2차 세계 대전 종전 후인 1946년에 발표했던 무민 연작소설 『무민 골짜기에 나타난 혜성』을 1968년에 다시 쓴 작품이다. 중역 없이 스웨덴 어 원작을 최대한 원문에 가깝게 번역했으며, 1968년 개정판 국내 초역본이라 할 수 있다.

『어린왕자』의 작가 생텍쥐페리의 자전적 소설인 『야간비행』은 작가의 항공 회사에서의 업무 경험을 토대로 한 행동주의 문학의 대표적인 작품이다. 문학적 가치와 사실적 가치를 보기 드물게 잘 결합시켰다는 이유로 앙드레 지드의 격찬을 받은 이 소설 속에는, 비행 중에 폭풍우를 만난 조종사가 자신의 임무에 충실하기 위해 최후의 순간까지 사투를 벌이는 모습이 생생하게 그려진다.

『토우의 집』은 권여선 소설가가 이룬 가장 의미 있는 문학적 성취라고 할 수 있다. '장독 뒤에 숨어서'라는 제목으로 계간 『자음과모음』을 통해 2014년 봄부터 가을까지 연재된 작품으로, 우리가 정면으로 응시해야 할 고통과 상실의 현장을 다루고 있다.

『엄마의 말뚝』은 박완서가 쓴 80여 편의 단편소설 중에서 유일한 연작소설이자 대표작으로 손꼽히는 작품이다. 『엄마의 말뚝 1』은 송도에서 대처로, 대처에서 서울 문밖으로, 문밖에서 문안으로 이동하던 박완서의 유년 시절 어머니에 대한 기억에 기인한다.

Nine-tailed fox spirit Sunny Cho has spent years running from her destiny, but fate is upon her. Inevitable or not, she doesn’t like it one bit. After a harrowing battle with a dark enemy from her past, Sunny has nowhere left to go but back to the Realm of Four Kingdoms. She grudgingly trains as a suhoshin cadet by day while learning to harness the Yeoiju’s magic by night…to disheartening results. At least throwing herself into training with Jihun and her suhoshin friends keeps her from running to Ethan—a love that can never be.

Gary Pak has emerged as one of the most important Asian Hawaiian writers of our time. In this new collection, Pak expertly crafts a memorable cast of Hawai'i's Korean Americans, Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans, and Native Hawaiians, amplifying our cross-cultural understanding of Hawaiian life today.

"The Little Match Girl" is a short story by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published in 1845. We use the public domain English text from A Christmas Greeting: A Series of Stories by H. C. Andersen in Project Gutenberg.

우리 집에 대학생 엄마가 살고 있다 "그대, 엄마의 이름을 불러본 적이 있는가!" 자발적 하숙생이 되어버린 엄마, 강순희와 느닷없이 하숙집 아줌마가 된 딸, 백연화의 좌충우돌 휴먼 드라마. 만나기만 하면 으르렁대는 모녀. 서로가 서로를 진심으로 이해할 날은 찾아올까? WELCOME TO 연화하숙. 연화였지만 언젠가 순희 씨가 될 세상의 모든 딸들과 이제는 순희 씨가 되어버린 모든 엄마들에게, 이곳 연화하숙으로 초대합니다.

Jonas Stuyvesant's silver-spoon upbringing has not prepared him for the horrors of war. When Communist North Korea launches a surprise invasion of the South, Jonas finds himself leading his platoon against a well-trained, battle-hardened army. Soviet-made tanks break through the American lines. These are not the pitchfork-wielding peasants he expected. What should have been an easy victory turns into a devastating rout. Jonas and his men begin their retreat down the Peninsula, fighting a rear-guard action.