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Korean novels to read if you enjoyed 'Squid Game'

TIMESOFINDIA.COM | Last updated on - Nov 26, 2021, 08:00 IST
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1/6

​Korean novels to read if you enjoyed 'Squid Game'

As the world got a taste of Korean lifestyle and culture via the popular survival drama series 'Squid Game', their interest in the same increased a thousand times. Within a short span of time, Korean beauty hacks, clothing brands, cuisine, and most importantly, literature saw an unexpected boom. Here is a look at 5 Korean novels in English you must read.

2/6

​'The Vegetarian' by Han Kang

It is a novel about modern-day South Korea, but also - as per the book's blurb - a novel about shame, desire, and our faltering attempts to understand others, from one imprisoned body to another.


Pic credit: Random House

3/6

​'The Interpreter' by Suki Kim

It centers on Suzy Park, a twenty-nine-year-old Korean American interpreter for the New York City court system, who makes a startling and ominous discovery about her family history that sends her on a chilling quest.


Pic credit: Picador

4/6

​'Drifting House' by Krys Lee

Set in Korea and the United States from the postwar era to contemporary times, the book centers on people struggling to reconcile the turmoil of their collective past with the rewards and challenges of their present. It speaks about the political and financial hardships of life in Korea and the unique immigrant experience.


Pic credit: Penguin Books

5/6

​'Please Look After Mom' by Kyung-sook Shin

The novel is the story of So-nyo, a wife and mother, who has lived a life of sacrifice and compromise. In the past she suffered a stroke, leaving her vulnerable and often confused. Now, traveling from the Korean countryside to the Seoul of her grown-up children, So-nyo is separated from her husband when the doors close on a packed train.


Pic credit: W&N

6/6

​'Fox Girl' by Nora Okja Keller

The novel tells the shocking story of a group of young people abandoned after the Korean War. At the center of the tale are two teenage girls - Hyun Jin and Sookie, who form a makeshift family with Lobetto, a lost boy who makes a living running errands and pimping for neighborhood girls.


Pic credit: Penguin Books

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