The Old Woman with the Knife by Gu Byeong-Mo, translated by Chi-Young Kim [in Booklist]
17 May, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Korean, Repost, Translation
Once upon a time, Hornclaw had a family...
BookDragon Chi-Young Kim Tag
It’s OK, Slow Lizard by Yeorim Yoon, illustrated by Jian Kim, translated by Chi-Young Kim [in Shelf Awareness]
11 Oct, by in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Korean, Repost, Translation
*STARRED REVIEW Author Yeorim Yoon invites readers into a welcoming haven in the Korean import It's OK, Slow Lizard, gorgeously illustrated by Jian Kim. In an idyllic forest live five wonderful friends: Little Bird, Elephant, Rabbit, Monkey, and Slow Lizard. Basking in gentle sunlight, Slow Lizard enjoys...
Seven Years of Darkness by You-Jeong Jeong, translated by Chi-Young Kim [in Booklist]
20 Apr, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Korean, Repost, Translation
Seven years ago, 11-year-old Sowon was left a virtual orphan: his father, Hyonsu was convicted of killing Sowon’s mother and a father and young daughter, then opening the Seryong Village dam’s floodgates, which wiped out half the town, drowning four policemen. While Hyonsu landed on...
My Brilliant Life by Ae-ran Kim, translated by Chi-Young Kim [in Booklist]
19 Nov, by in Adult Readers, Fiction, Korean, Repost, Translation, Young Adult Readers
The youngest winner ever of multiple important literary prizes in her native Korea, Ae-ran Kim’s first full-length novel arrives Stateside, hauntingly English-enabled by lauded translator Chi-Young Kim (no relation). Areum suffers from progeria, a rare disease that causes rapid, premature aging: “My dad sees his...
In Celebration of Women in Translation Month: Asian Women Authors — Part II [in The Booklist Reader]
30 Aug, by in Adult Readers, Arab, Fiction, Japanese, Korean, Lists, Repost, Short Stories, Thai, Translation
This is the second of a two-part series. Click here for Part I. Last week, we shared a baker’s dozen of titles by Asian women writers, made accessible by dedicated, invaluable translators who continuously, miraculously enable anglophone readers in discovering, enjoying, and sharing books from around...
In Celebration of Women in Translation Month: Asian Women Authors — Part I [in The Booklist Reader]
23 Aug, by in Adult Readers, Canadian Asian Pacific American, Chinese, European, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Lists, Repost, Short Stories, Thai, Translation
This is the first of a two-part series. Part II will publish on Friday, August 30, 2019. Before I can name even a single author or title, I must express my constantly regenerating, overflowing gratitude to translators who enable readers anywhere and everywhere to literally experience the...
13 Fall Faves, Speed-Dating Style [in The Booklist Reader]
03 Jul, by in Adult Readers, African, Black/African American, Caribbean American, Cuban, Cuban American, Fiction, Indian American, Iranian, Iranian American, Japanese, Korean, Latina/o/x, Lists, Memoir, Nonfiction, Persian American, Repost, Short Stories, South Asian, South Asian American, Translation, Turkish, Vietnamese American, Young Adult Readers
Oh, good gracious! I can’t stand it: soooo many amazing books and my aging eyeballs just can’t keep up! Last week at ALA Annual, I got to “Read ‘n’ Rave,” but I had such an embarrassingly overflowing list, the buzzer went off (uh-oh!), and I couldn’t...
Electrifying Reads from the Other Side of the World: Seven Korean Thrillers in Translation [in The Booklist Reader]
30 May, by in Adult Readers, Fiction, Korean, Lists, Repost, Translation
Despite my Korean heritage, I don’t read the language well enough to enjoy Korea’s latest, greatest titles. Thankfully, notable Korean-to-English translators, especially Sora Kim-Russell, Deborah Smith, and Chi-Young Kim, enable all Anglophone audiences to discover – and for many of us, become ardent fans of...
Five More to Go: Susan Choi’s Trust Exercise [in The Booklist Reader]
10 Apr, by in Adult Readers, British Asian, Fiction, Filipina/o American, Hapa/Mixed-race, Japanese, Korean, Korean American, Lists, Pakistani, Repost, South Asian, Translation
Trust Exercise by Susan Choi “That whole thing about fiction not being the truth is a lie,” one character admonishes another in Susan Choi’s fifth (and finest) novel. Returning to the multilayered teacher-student power struggles that were seared into My Education (2013), Trust Exercise immediately puts...
Five More to Go: Alice Stephens’ Famous Adopted People [in The Booklist Reader]
02 Nov, by in Adult Readers, Fiction, Korean, Korean American, Lists, Nonfiction, North Korean, Repost, Translation, Young Adult Readers
Famous Adopted People by Alice Stephens “Everyone, it seems, is telling our story but us,” observes Lisa Pearl, the Korean-born, Bethesda, Maryland-raised transracial adoptee protagonist in Alice Stephens’ recent October debut. The author, who describes herself as being “among the first generation of transnational, interracial adoptees,”...
The Good Son by You-Jeong Jeong, translated by Chi-Young Kim [in Booklist]
26 Jun, by in Adult Readers, Fiction, Korean, Repost, Translation
The opening sentence – “The smell of blood woke me” – gives way to a young man discovering his mother’s freshly murdered corpse. He’s gone off his epilepsy medications again, and has trouble remembering, but he’s determined to figure out what happened. Initially, the whodunit and...
Ten Works of Contemporary Korean Literature in Translation [in The Booklist Reader]
27 Jun, by in Adult Readers, Fiction, Korean, Lists, Repost, Translation
Despite Maureen Corrigan’s rather nasty NPR review of Korean author Kyung-sook Shin’s 2011 Stateside debut, Please Look After Mom – her phrase “cheap consolations of kimchee-scented Kleenex fiction” caused particular affront – Mom became a major bestseller. In a stroke of well-deserved vindication, Shin became the first woman...
The Investigation by J.M. Lee, translated by Chi-Young Kim [in Library Journal]
20 Aug, by in Adult Readers, Fiction, Korean, Repost, Translation
*STARRED REVIEW Watanabe Yuichi sits behind bars in Japan’s infamous Fukuoka Prison. After World War II, the former “soldier-guard” is now an incarcerated “low-level war criminal” under U.S. control. His written confession, which highlights two people — “one prisoner and one guard; one poet and one...
The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly by Sun-mi Hwang, translated by Chi-Young Kim, illustrated by Nomoco
01 Jan, by in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, Fiction, Korean, Translation, Young Adult Readers
This new year couldn't start off with a better title. At a mere 134 pages, it's perfect to read in a single sitting, although the story's loving spirit is sure to linger. It's also the ideal gift to share with anyone and everyone who holds...
Tongue by Kyung Ran Jo, translated by Chi-Young Kim
07 Nov, by in Fiction, Korean, Translation
Here's what stands out most about this slim Korean novel for me: it's surprisingly not Korean. Except for the few Korean names, virtually no other Korean markers exist within these pages, which I found rather strange in a novel set in Seoul featuring the lives of...
I Have the Right to Destroy Myself by Young-ha Kim, translated by Chi-Young Kim
20 May, by in Adult Readers, Fiction, Korean, Translation
In densely populated Seoul, a mysterious man makes a lucrative living by helping "clients" commit suicide. He’s not exactly Dr. Death Kevorkian offering physically depleted bodies reprieve; instead he has a special talent for finding lost, disconnected souls ready to leave behind their unfulfilling existence...
Please Look After Mom by Kyung-sook Shin, translated by Chi-Young Kim [in Library Journal]
15 Dec, by in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, Fiction, Korean, Repost, Translation
*STARRED REVIEW
The Korean title of this indelible novel, Omma rul put’ak hae, contains a sense of commanding trust that is missing in its English translation: “I entrust Mommy [to you].” That trust...