Princess Bari
Translated by Sora Kim-Russell
Overview
A modern-day quest novel, by one of Korea’s most renowned novelists.
Princess Bari tells the story of a young girl, frail and brave, who escapes from famine and death in North Korea in the 1990s. Seeking refuge in China before crossing oceans in the hold of a cargo ship, she disembarks in London, with its bewildering mix of cultures, religions, and languages.
In this foreign city, Bari finds work as a masseuse—but she doesn’t just heal the body, she also comforts souls, having learnt from her beloved grandmother to read the pain and nightmares of others. Alone and in a strange land, Bari will have to fight, through pain and deepening sadness, to find love and the will to stay alive.
With Princess Bari, Hwang Sok-yong entwines an old Korean myth, which tells of an abandoned princess travelling to the ends of the earth to find the elixir of life that will bring peace to the souls of the dead, with the ethereal and haunting backdrop of the modern world.
Details
- Format
- Size
- Extent
- ISBN
- RRP
- Pub date
- Paperback
- 4.9in x 8.3in
- 256 pages
- 9781947534544
- USD$16.00
- 16 April 2019
Categories
Praise
“A mesmerizing odyssey through the beauty, suffering, and rage that flow from the irrepressible desire to live.”
“Drawing on an old Korean folktale about a princess on a quest and intertwining it with modern life in China and London, Sok-yong chronicles Bari’s journey in an enchanting style that explores Korean culture, beautifully balances reality with magic, and presents an immigrant's perspective of the world.”
About the Author
Hwang Sok-yong, born in 1943, is arguably Korea’s most renowned author. In 1993, he was sentenced to seven years in prison for an unauthorised trip to the North to promote exchange between artists in the two Koreas. Five years later, he was released on a special pardon by the new president. He has been given the Mark of Respect Award, acknowledging him as a distinguished national cultural figure and leader, and is the recipient of Korea’s highest literary prizes, including the Manhae Literary Prize, the Danjae Literary Prize, the Isan Literary Prize, and the Daesan Literature Prize. He has been shortlisted for the Prix Femina étranger, and for his novel At Dusk he was nominated for the 2019 International Booker Prize and awarded the 2018 Èmile Guimet Prize for Asian Literature. His novels and short stories have been published around the world to wide acclaim. He lives in South Korea.
Translator
Sora Kim-Russell has translated numerous works of Korean fiction, including Hwang Sok-yong’s Princess Bari, Familiar Things, At Dusk, and Mater 2-10 which was shortlisted for the 2024 International Booker Prize. She lives in South Korea.
