Whale – Jeon Myung-wan – ABC – 2026 – ISBN 978-5-389-30580-9
Whale
Whale
14.99 €
From one of the most original voices in contemporary Korean literature, Myung-kwan Chun. A finalist for the 2023 Man Booker International Prize, this magical and grotesque epic "straddles the line between Katherine Dunn's Geek Love and Salman Rushdie's Shame" (Words Without Borders) has been described by critics as "a kind of Korean answer to Charles Dickens's Great Expectations" (Financial Times).
In devastated post-war Korea, the enterprising Keum-bok builds a brick factory with the money of a miserly old woman—the foundation of her future empire, where the fates of a port giant, a one-eyed queen of the bees, and a lovesick yakuza will tragically intertwine. But when the grand whale-shaped cinema, the crowning achievement of her creations, burns to the ground in a fire that claims the lives of over eight hundred people, everything changes. In the dock is her daughter, the mute giantess Chunhee, whose only friend is a talking circus elephant. But who is the real culprit? Could the ghost of a deformed old woman, whose curse seems to befall all who touch her mysterious money, be behind the worst tragedy in the city's history?
"The Whale" is a surreal freak show where Korean folklore meets the magical realism of Gabriel García Márquez, and its satirical scope recalls the best works of Kurt Vonnegut.
The novel is being published in a new edition.
In devastated post-war Korea, the enterprising Keum-bok builds a brick factory with the money of a miserly old woman—the foundation of her future empire, where the fates of a port giant, a one-eyed queen of the bees, and a lovesick yakuza will tragically intertwine. But when the grand whale-shaped cinema, the crowning achievement of her creations, burns to the ground in a fire that claims the lives of over eight hundred people, everything changes. In the dock is her daughter, the mute giantess Chunhee, whose only friend is a talking circus elephant. But who is the real culprit? Could the ghost of a deformed old woman, whose curse seems to befall all who touch her mysterious money, be behind the worst tragedy in the city's history?
"The Whale" is a surreal freak show where Korean folklore meets the magical realism of Gabriel García Márquez, and its satirical scope recalls the best works of Kurt Vonnegut.
The novel is being published in a new edition.
See also:
- All books by the publisher
- All books by the author
- All books in the series A Great Romance