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The White Book

Winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature
By Han Kang
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The White Book by Han Kang is a meditative exploration of life, loss, and transformation. Centred around the object of the colour white, the narrator reflects on personal history, grief, and the impermanence of life through poetic prose and vivid imagery. These reflections create a haunting yet beautifully contemplative look at memory and healing.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you enjoy poetic and contemplative narratives exploring themes of loss, memory, and identity. Crafted by the author of acclaimed works, it's immersive and thought-provoking, offering a profound meditation on the colour white and its connections to life and mourning.

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From the winner of the Man Booker International Prize for The Vegetarian comes a stunning meditation on the colour white; about light, about death and about ritual

WINNER OF THE 2024 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE: shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize 2018, this is a stunning meditation on the colour white; about light, about death and about ritual.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

From the author of The Vegetarian and Human Acts comes a book like no other. The White Book is a meditation on colour, beginning with a list of white things. It is a book about mourning, rebirth, and the tenacity of the human spirit. It is a stunning investigation of the fragility, beauty, and strangeness of life.

Translated from the Korean by Deborah Smith.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

The White Book by Han Kang receives praise for its profound exploration of grief, life, and death, delivered through evocative and intimate language. Several reviewers highlight its poetic nature, likening it to a secular prayer book filled with haunting and beautiful imagery. Translated seamlessly by Smith, the work is appreciated for its lyrical prose and the delicate balance between pain and beauty. Critics commend Han Kang's innovative style and emotional depth, describing the book as both a philosophical lament and a testament to the power of memory.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781846276958

Publisher: Granta Books

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 05 April 2018

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Granta Books

Contributors:

  • Translated by Deborah Smith
  • Translated by Deborah Smith

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 13.0mm

Width: 131.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 128

Collections

Fiction General Fiction Han Kang Literary Fiction Poetry

About the Author

Han Kang was born in Gwangju, South Korea, and moved to Seoul at the age of ten. She studied Korean literature at Yonsei University. Her writing has won the Yi Sang Literary Prize, the Today's Young Artist Award, and the Korean Literature Novel Award. The Vegetarian, her first novel to be translated into English, was published by Portobello Books in 2015 and won the 2016 Man Booker International Prize. She is also the author of Human Acts (Portobello, 2016) and The White Book (Portobello, 2017). She is based in Seoul.

Deborah Smith's translations from the Korean include two novels by Han Kang, The Vegetarian and Human Acts, and two by Bae Suah, A Greater Music and Recitation. In 2015 Deborah completed a PhD at SOAS on contemporary Korean literature and founded Tilted Axis Press. In 2016 she won the Arts Foundation Award for Literary Translation. She tweets as @londonkoreanist.

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