Korean Literature

It’s as if her life only began once Moon appeared in it. The desultory copywriting work, the boyfriend, and the want of anything not-Moon quickly fall away when she beholds the idol in concert, where Moon dances as if his movements are creating their own gravitational field; on live streams, as fans from around the world comment in dozens of languages; even on skincare products endorsed by the wildly popular Korean boy band, of which Moon is the youngest, most luminous member. Seized by ineffable desire, our unnamed narrator begins writing Y/N fanfic.

In “The Center for Immortality Research,” a low-level employee runs herself ragged planning a fancy gala for donors, only to be blamed for a crime she witnessed during the event, under the noses of the mysterious celebrity benefactors hoping to live forever. But she can’t be fired—no one can. In “One More Kiss, Dear,” a tender, one-sided love blooms in the AI-elevator of an apartment complex; as in, the elevator develops a profound affection for one of the residents.

Born with mysterious powers she does not know how to control, young Jieun accidentally causes her family to vanish. She vows to live a million lives in search of them. Finally, one night, she brings the Marigold Mind Laundry into existence. Its service: to remove the deepest pain from our hearts. Jieun listens while customers share their unhappy memories. As they speak, she transfers their sadness onto T-shirts as stains. After a spin in the washing machine, the stains become flower petals that soar into the air, and Jieun’s customers find solace.

In an Empire run on necromancy, dead sorcerers are the lifeblood. Their corpses are wrapped in chains and drained of magic to feed the unquenchable hunger for imperial conquest. Born with magic, Arienne has become resigned to her dark fate. But when the voice of a long-dead sorcerer begins to speak inside her head, she listens. There may be another future for her, if she’s willing to fight for it. Miles away, beneath a volcano, a seven-eyed dragon also wears the Empire’s chains. Before the imperial fist closed around their lands, it was the people’s sacred guardian.

황제를 꿈꾸는 조조의 이야기부터 시작됩니다. 관우가 유비와의 의리를 지키기 위해 목숨을 걸고 두 형수를 유비에게 데려간 이야기는 우리의 가슴을 뭉클하게 합니다. 2권에서 가장 흥미로운 부분은 조조와 원소, 두 영웅이 다투는 관도 대전입니다. 관도에서 승리한 조조는 북방을 통일한 뒤 남방으로 눈을 돌립니다. 유비는 조조의 눈을 피해 어쩔 수 없이 형주 자사 유표에게 몸을 기대게 됩니다. 그러나 유비를 미워하는 채모는 끊임없이 그를 없애려고 합니다.

유비는 두 아우를 잃은 슬픔에 오나라를 공격합니다. 그러나 유비는 전쟁에서 패해 마음에 맺힌 원한을 미처 풀기도 전에 죽음을 맞이합니다. 비록 천하의 지략가인 제갈량이 황제를 보필하여 촉나라를 지키는 막중한 임무를 짊어지지만 국운이 다한 촉나라를 되살리는 못합니다. 결국 제갈량은 몸을 돌보지 않고 무리한 탓에 병을 얻어 오장원에서 죽습니다. 결국 사마염이 천하를 하나로 통일하며 삼국 시대는 막을 내리게 됩니다.

유비, 관우, 장비 세 사람이 만나 복숭아나무 아래에서 의형제가 되기로 맹세하는 부분부터 시작됩니다. 환관 십상시가 권력을 휘두른 이야기, 동탁이 정권을 마음대로 뒤흔든 이야기, 손견이 옥쇄를 감춘 이야기 등 흥미로운 이야기가 이어지고, 술이 식기도 전에 관우가 화웅의 목을 베어 오는 이야기나 유비, 관우, 장비가 여포와 싸우는 이야기를 읽을 때면 손에 땀을 쥐게 됩니다. 초선이 나라를 구하기 위해 자신을 희생한 이야기를 읽고 나면 가슴이 뭉클해질 것입니다. 동탁이 황제를 폐위하는 장면이나 조조가 아버지의 복수를 하는 장면을 보면 머리카락이 곤두서기도 합니다.

삼국지에서 가장 재밌는 이야기인 적벽 대전이 벌어집니다. 조조의 배들을 묶게 하는 봉추의 지혜와 동남풍을 불게 하는 제갈량의 능력이 돋보이는 부분입니다. 손권과 유비의 연합군은 적벽에서 조조의 백만 대군을 불바다로 밀어 넣어 마침내 대승을 거두게 됩니다. 관우는 옛정을 못 잊어 화용도에서 조조를 놓아주는 실수를 하게 됩니다. 이 실수로 조조는 다시 힘을 모아 유비가 다스리는 서천을 공격하게 됩니다. 관우의 이런 행동을 예상한 제갈량을 보면 사람을 꿰뚫어 보는 제갈량의 능력이 놀라울 따름입니다.

유비가 세 번이나 몸소 찾아가 제갈량을 얻게 되는 이야기부터 시작됩니다. 제갈량이 유비에게 천하를 세 개로 나누라는 계책을 알려 주는 부분에서 우리는 그의 지혜에 놀라게 됩니다. 또한 흥미로운 이야기도 많습니다. 그 가운데서도 조운이 홀로 유비의 아들 유선을 구해 내는 이야기, 허수아비만 가득 실은 빈 배를 이용해 조조군에게서 10만 개의 화살을 거저 얻어 내는 이야기 등이 그렇습니다. 이런 이야기들은 자꾸 봐도 질리지 않고 볼수록 더 빠져드는 재미가 있습니다.

A greedy tiger roamed the forest looking for food. One day he came upon a rabbit. But the rabbit conitnued to outsmart the tiger and not get eaten. "Rabbits are dangerous," thought the tiger. "I must warn everyone about them."

One winter morning, Kyungha receives an urgent message from her friend Inseon to visit her at a hospital in Seoul. Inseon has injured herself in an accident, and she begs Kyungha to return to Jeju Island, where she lives, to save her beloved pet—a white bird called Ama. A snowstorm hits the island when Kyungha arrives. She must reach Inseon’s house at all costs, but the icy wind and squalls slow her down as night begins to fall. She wonders if she will arrive in time to save the animal—or even survive the terrible cold that envelops her with every step.

In the aftermath of World War II, Goh Junja is a girl just coming into her own. She is the latest successful deep-sea diver in her family. She urges her mother to allow her to make their annual trip to Mt. Halla, where they trade sea delicacies for pork. A sea-village girl, Junja has never been to the mountains, where it smells like mushrooms and earth, and it is there she falls in love with mountain-boy Yang Suwol. But when Junja returns one day later, it is just in time to see her mother take her last breath, beaten by the waves during a dive she was taking in Junja's place.

1999: At the end of the millennium, the Kim family is struggling to move on after their mother, Sunny, vanished a year ago. Sixty-one-year-old John Kim feels more isolated from his grown children than ever before. One evening, their fragile lives are further upended when John finds the body of an unhoused stranger in the backyard with a letter to Sunny, leaving the family with more questions than ever. 1977: Newly married, Sunny is pregnant and has just moved to Los Angeles from Korea with her hardworking and often-absent husband.

In a near-future world, a new technological therapy is quickly eradicating cancer. The body’s cells are entirely replaced with nanites—robot or android cells which not only cure those afflicted but leaves them virtually immortal. Literary researcher Yonghun teaches an AI how to understand poetry and creates a living, thinking machine he names Panit, meaning Beloved, in honor of his husband. When Yonghun—himself a recipient of nanotherapy—mysteriously vanishes into thin air and then just as suddenly reappears, the event raises disturbing questions.

Life near the North Korean border is a zero-sum game, an ongoing battle in which you either win or you lose. This dangerous, shadowed netherworld is home to an unforgettable woman known only as the “trickster.” Inspired by the story of Lee’s great aunt, one of the oldest women to escape alone from North Korea, 8 Lives of a Century Old Trickster consists of eight dark and spellbinding chapters that follow this remarkable character and her family as they struggle to survive during the most turbulent times of modern Korean history.

Emma Yoon dreams of opening her very own culinary school in Los Angeles. She’s saving up for it by teaching young ladies the art of Korean royal court cuisine, a prerequisite to marrying into the exclusive upper crust Korean families. Thanks to her godmother, a renowned Korean matchmaker, business is booming, and Emma doesn’t have the time, nor the desire, to settle down herself. But when rival matchmakers come after her godmother by taking issue with Emma’s single status, her godmother’s reputation and Emma’s dreams face potential ruin.

Riley Oh can't wait to see her sister get initiated into the Gom clan, a powerful lineage of Korean healing witches their family has belonged to for generations. Her sister, Hattie, will earn her Gi bracelet and finally be able to cast spells without adult supervision. Although Riley is desperate to follow in her sister's footsteps when she herself turns 13, she's a saram - a person without magic. Riley was adopted, and despite having memorized every healing spell she's ever heard, she often feels like the odd one out in her family and the gifted community.

On its surface, life in Houston in the 1950s is as you'd expect: stoic fathers, restless teens, drive-in movies, and souped-up Cadillacs. But underneath lies a world shifting under high school junior Aaron Broussard's feet. There's a class war between the "haves" and the "have-nots" as well as a real war, Korea, happening on the other side of the world. It is against this backdrop that Aaron comes of age, trying to understand how first loves, friendship, violence, and power can alter what "traditional America" means for the people trying to find their way in a changing world.

After crashing their spacecraft in the middle of nowhere, a shapeshifting alien finds themself stranded on an unfamiliar planet and disabled by Earth’s gravity. To survive, they will need to practice walking. And what better way than to hunt for food? As they discover, humans are delicious. Intelligent, clever, and adaptable, the alien shifts their gender, appearance, and conduct to suit a prey’s sexual preference, then attacks at the pivotal moment of their encounter.

Sori has worked her whole life to become a K-pop idol, until she realizes she doesn’t want a life forever in the spotlight. But that’s not actually up to Sori—she’s caught between her exacting mother’s entertainment company and her father’s presidential aspirations. And as the pressure to keep her flawless public image grows, the last person she should be thinking about is her ex-boyfriend.