Recommendations based on "We Do Not Part A Novel"

In 1917, deep in the snowy mountains of occupied Korea, an impoverished local hunter on the brink of starvation saves a young Japanese officer from an attacking tiger. In an instant, their fates are connected, a chance encounter that will shape both of their lives for over half a century. Meanwhile, in the north of Korea, a young girl named Jade is sold by her family to Miss Silver's courtesan school in the glamorous city of Pyongyang. When she befriends an orphan boy named JungHo, they form a deep friendship. But before long, JungHo will be swept up in the revolutionary fight for independence, while Jade becomes a celebrated performer pursued by a wealthy romantic prospect.From the perfumed chambers of a courtesan school in Pyongyang to the glamorous cafes of a modernizing Seoul and the boreal forests of Manchuria, Juhea Kim's unforgettable characters forge their own destinies as they shape the future of their nation. Immersive and elegant, Beasts of a Little Land unveils a world where friends become enemies, enemies become saviours, and beasts take many shapes.

The second book of Miye Lee's whimsical and moving duology, translated from the Korean language by Sandy Joosun Lee.[Bokinfo].

Available for the first time in English, the ten short stories by modern Korean women collected here touch in one way or another on issues related to gender and kinship politics. All of the protagonists are women who face personal crises or defining moments in their lives as gender-marked beings in a Confucian, patriarchal Korean society. Their personal dreams and values have been compromised by gender expectations or their own illusions about female existence. They are compelled to ask themselves "Who am I?" "Where am I going?" "What are my choices?" Each story bears colorful and compelling testimony to the life of the heroine. Some of the stories celebrate the central character’s breakaway from the patriarchal order; others expose sexual inequality and highlight the struggle for personal autonomy and dignity. Still others reveal the abrupt awakening to mid-life crises and the seasoned wisdom that comes with accepting the limits of old age.The stories are arranged in chronological order, from the earliest work by Korea’s first modern woman writer in 1917 to stories that appeared in 1995―approximately one from each decade. Most of the writers presented are recognized literary figures, but some are lesser-known voices. The introduction presents a historical overview of traditions of modern Korean women’s fiction, situating the selected writers and their stories in the larger context of Korean literature. Each story is accompanied by a biographical note on the author and a brief critical analysis. A selected bibliography is provided for further reading and research.Questioning Minds marks a departure from existing translations of Korean literature in terms of its objectives, content, and format. As such it will contribute to the growth of Korean studies, increasing the availability of material for teaching Korean literature in English, and stimulate readership of its writers beyond the confines of the peninsula.

New romance and dangers abound in this companion to the crowd-pleasing Wicked Fox. After the events of Wicked Fox, Somin is ready to help her friends pick up the pieces of their broken lives and heal. But Jihoon is still grieving the loss of his grandmother, and Miyoung is distant as she grieves over her mother's death and learns to live without her fox bead. The only one who seems ready to move forward is their not-so-favourite dokkaebi, Junu. Somin and Junu didn't exactly hit it off when they first met. Somin thought he was an arrogant self-serving, conman. Junu was, at first, amused by her hostility toward him until he found himself inexplicably drawn to her. Somin couldn't deny the heat of their attraction. But as the two try to figure out what could be between them, they discover their troubles aren t over after all. The loss of Miyoung's fox bead has caused a tear between the world of the living and the world of the dead, and ghosts are suddenly flooding the streets of Seoul. The only way to repair the breach is to find the missing fox bead or for Miyoung to pay with her life. With few options remaining, Junu has an idea but it might require the ultimate sacrifice. In usual fashion, Somin may have a thing or two to say about that. In Dokkaebi: Vicious Spirits, Kat Cho delivers another beguiling and addictive read full of otherworldly dangers and romance.

"Destined to become a classic" (Iris Chang, author of The Rape of Nanking), this harrowing memoir of life inside North Korea was the first account to emerge from the notoriously secretive country -- and it remains one of the most terrifying.Amid escalating nuclear tensions, Kim Jong-un and North Korea's other leaders have kept a tight grasp on their one-party state, quashing any nascent opposition movements and sending all suspected dissidents to its brutal concentration camps for "re-education."Kang Chol-Hwan is the first survivor of one of these camps to escape and tell his story to the world, documenting the extreme conditions in these gulags and providing a personal insight into life in North Korea. Sent to the notorious labor camp Yodok when he was nine years old, Kang observed frequent public executions and endured forced labor and near-starvation rations for ten years. In 1992, he escaped to South Korea, where he found God and now advocates for human rights in North Korea.Part horror story, part historical document, part memoir, part political tract, this book brings together unassailable firsthand experience, setting one young man's personal suffering in the wider context of modern history, giving eyewitness proof to the abuses perpetrated by the North Korean regime.

Kim Hyesoon’s poems “create a seething, imaginative under-and over-world where myth and politics, the everyday and the fabulous, bleed into each other” (Sean O’Brien, The Independent)*Winner of The Griffin International Poetry Prize and the Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Award*The title section of Kim Hyesoon’s powerful new book, Autobiography of Death, consists of forty-nine poems, each poem representing a single day during which the spirit roams after death before it enters the cycle of reincarnation. The poems not only give voice to those who met unjust deaths during Korea’s violent contemporary history, but also unveil what Kim calls “the structure of death, that we remain living in.” Autobiography of Death, Kim’s most compelling work to date, at once reenacts trauma and narrates our historical death―how we have died and how we survive within this cyclical structure. In this sea of mirrors, the plural “you” speaks as a body of multitudes that has been beaten, bombed, and buried many times over by history. The volume concludes on the other side of the mirror with “Face of Rhythm,” a poem about individual pain, illness, and meditation.

Never has a final year of high school had so many new beginnings. The second volume of the fan-favorite BL manhwa turned K-drama, now in print for the first time.Seo Haebom had only just gotten used to having his friend-turned-distant-housemate, Jo Taesung, acknowledge his existence, but now it seems like they might actually be...friends again? As Taesung brings Haebom into his social circle, Haebom discovers not only how much he’s missed his childhood playmate, but how much more fun high school can be if he has the confidence to stop being such a wallflower.But after so many years of a predictable—if lonely—life, Haebom now can’t seem to stop his world from changing too quickly. Just as he begins to enjoy his new normal, Taesung starts acting like he might want to change their relationship yet again, this time to something more than friends.Volume 2 includes episodes 16-30 of the webcomic Cherry Blossoms After Winter.

During the royal family's first public interview with Prince Sun, the nation is shocked when the youngest prince accidentally reveals Shin's intention to get married and leave the palace! Recognizing Sun's voice from her mysterious phone call a few nights before, Chae-Kyung drags her new boyfriend to the royal family's parade. Shin spots her from the car, and Chae-Kyung follows him to the palace, where they are reunited...

Waging war from the shadows, Yul and his mother, the Daebi, continue to turn the screws on Korea's royals - and the first casualties in their sights are Crown Prince Shin and Chae-Kyung! Convinced by Yul that an upcoming television interview will be her last chance to talk divorce, Chae-Kyung is distracted from the larger picture by her feelings for her husband and the thought of freedom from oppressive palace life. Meanwhile, as the Daebi fans the flames of suspicion that surround Shin in the royal arson case, the future king finds himself on the verge of losing his once-guaranteed position. But is a royal pregnancy the answer to saving the crown prince's sullied reputation?! The Queen Mother seems to think so, as she packs off Chae-Kyung and Shin to an isolated palace to consummate their marriage. However, with their relationship running equally cold and hot these days, divorce and romance seem to be a toss-up for the crown princess! Which will Chae-Kyung choose?!

An addictive, tell-all memoir about what happens when you try to make your dreams come true - as well as a love letter to KoreaAged twenty-one, fuelled by a love of K-dramas and a need to find herself, Alice Amelia moves to Seoul. She knows no one in her adopted country, doesn't speak the language, and hasn't tried kimchi, let alone grilled cow intestines or Korean corn dogs. But she soon realises that real-life Seoul isn't the romanticised city she'd watched on television - and it doesn't have subtitles.Determined to follow her dream, Alice becomes everything she wasn't in England: adding spicy gochujang sauce to every meal, dancing in K-pop videos, dating HOT Korean models, and even injecting salmon sperm into her eye bags. But as she breaks into the Korean entertainment industry which she idolised from afar, her life spiralled in ways she never could have imagined. Wanting to stay true to herself, she wonders, will she ever belong in Korea? And what price will it cost her to stay?