Culture | Say no more

Han Kang’s new novel, “Greek Lessons”, is a reflection on loss

The hit South Korean writer returns with an elliptical, enigmatic book

2EJ4G0C Overhead view of couple walking alone in futuristic looking walkway area in city. — Image: Alamy

Apr 19th 2023

Han Kang was already a literary star in South Korea when “The Vegetarian” was published in 2007, but her reputation was burnished when Deborah Smith’s English translation won the International Booker prize in 2016. The surreal and sinister novel chronicled the cruelty inflicted on a woman after she stops eating meat; an overseas audience proved hungry for the story of female oppression and resistance, as well as a narrative style that broke free of realist literary norms.

This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “At a loss for words”