Han Kang is a South Korean writer whose novels in translation include Human Acts and The Vegetarian – for which she won the 2016 International Man Booker prize. Her latest work, The White Book, is a moving autobiographical meditation on loss and grief.
Your new book tells the story of your sister who died two hours after she was born. What made you want – or feel able – to write about that now?
I didn’t plan to write about my elder sister. I was raised by my parents who couldn’t forget her. When I was writing Human Acts, there was a line of dialogue: “Don’t die. Please don’t die.” It was strangely familiar and it hovered inside me. Suddenly I discovered that it was from my mother’s memory: she told me she kept saying those words repeatedly to the sister who had died before I was born.
You write about how you had “been born and grown up in the place of that death”. How did it affect you growing up?
It was not just about the loss. It was about how precious we are. My parents told my brother and me: “You have been born to us in such a precious way and we have waited for you for a long time.” But there was grief as well. It was a mixture of mourning and a sense of precious life.
Han Kang is a South Korean writer whose novels in translation include Human Acts and The Vegetarian – for which she won the 2016 International Man Booker prize. Her latest work, The White Book, is a moving autobiographical meditation on loss and grief.
Your new book tells the story of your sister who died two hours after she was born. What made you want – or feel able – to write about that now?
I didn’t plan to write about my elder sister. I was raised by my parents who couldn’t forget her. When I was writing Human Acts, there was a line of dialogue: “Don’t die. Please don’t die.” It was strangely familiar and it hovered inside me. Suddenly I discovered that it was from my mother’s memory: she told me she kept saying those words repeatedly to the sister who had died before I was born.
I didn’t plan to write about my elder sister. I was raised by my parents who couldn’t forget her. When I was writing Human Acts, there was a line of dialogue: “Don’t die. Please don’t die.” It was strangely familiar and it hovered inside me. Suddenly I discovered that it was from my mother’s memory: she told me she kept saying those words repeatedly to the sister who had died before I was born.
You write about how you had “been born and grown up in the place of that death”. How did it affect you growing up?
It was not just about the loss. It was about how precious we are. My parents told my brother and me: “You have been born to us in such a precious way and we have waited for you for a long time.” But there was grief as well. It was a mixture of mourning and a sense of precious life.
It was not just about the loss. It was about how precious we are. My parents told my brother and me: “You have been born to us in such a precious way and we have waited for you for a long time.” But there was grief as well. It was a mixture of mourning and a sense of precious life.
Han Kang: ‘Writing about a massacre was a struggle. I’m a person who feels pain when you throw meat on a fire’
You acknowledge in the book that if your mother’s first two babies hadn’t died, you and your brother wouldn’t have been conceived. How does that feel?
When my mother was pregnant with me, she was very sick, so she was taking lots of medication. And because she was so weak, she considered abortion. But then she felt me move inside her and decided that she would give birth to me. I think that the world is transient and I was given this world by luck.
In the opening pages, you say that you want the process of writing this book to be transformative: has it been?
Yes, the process has really helped me. It was like a small ritual every day: like a prayer. When I was writing, it felt as if I was getting closer and closer, day by day, to a certain part inside us which cannot be destroyed, which cannot be or harmed.
You’ve had debilitating migraines since you were a teenager. How has that affected you?
My migraines are always reminding me that I am human. Because when a migraine comes, I have to stop my work, my reading, my routine, so it’s always making me humble, helping me realise I’m mortal and vulnerable. Maybe if I was 100% healthy and energetic I couldn’t have become a writer.내 편두통은 항상 내가 인간이라는 것을 상기시켜줍니다. 왜냐하면 편두통이 오면 나는 일과 독서와 일상을 멈추어야하기 때문에 항상 나를 겸손하게 만들고 필자는 필사자이며 취약하다는 것을 깨닫게 해줍니다. 어쩌면 제가 100 % 건강하고 활력이 넘쳤다면 나는 작가가 될 수 없었을 것입니다.
You’ve said you knew you wanted to be a writer at 14. How did you know?
I was looking for answers to fundamental questions. And then, as a reader, I realised every writer is seeking answers and they don’t have any conclusions, but they’re still writing. So I thought why don’t I do that too?
Your father is also a novelist. In what ways did he influence you?
There were so many books in the house when I was growing up – I think that’s the most important thing.
You acknowledge in the book that if your mother’s first two babies hadn’t died, you and your brother wouldn’t have been conceived. How does that feel?
When my mother was pregnant with me, she was very sick, so she was taking lots of medication. And because she was so weak, she considered abortion. But then she felt me move inside her and decided that she would give birth to me. I think that the world is transient and I was given this world by luck.
When my mother was pregnant with me, she was very sick, so she was taking lots of medication. And because she was so weak, she considered abortion. But then she felt me move inside her and decided that she would give birth to me. I think that the world is transient and I was given this world by luck.
In the opening pages, you say that you want the process of writing this book to be transformative: has it been?
Yes, the process has really helped me. It was like a small ritual every day: like a prayer. When I was writing, it felt as if I was getting closer and closer, day by day, to a certain part inside us which cannot be destroyed, which cannot be or harmed.
Yes, the process has really helped me. It was like a small ritual every day: like a prayer. When I was writing, it felt as if I was getting closer and closer, day by day, to a certain part inside us which cannot be destroyed, which cannot be or harmed.
You’ve had debilitating migraines since you were a teenager. How has that affected you?
My migraines are always reminding me that I am human. Because when a migraine comes, I have to stop my work, my reading, my routine, so it’s always making me humble, helping me realise I’m mortal and vulnerable. Maybe if I was 100% healthy and energetic I couldn’t have become a writer.내 편두통은 항상 내가 인간이라는 것을 상기시켜줍니다. 왜냐하면 편두통이 오면 나는 일과 독서와 일상을 멈추어야하기 때문에 항상 나를 겸손하게 만들고 필자는 필사자이며 취약하다는 것을 깨닫게 해줍니다. 어쩌면 제가 100 % 건강하고 활력이 넘쳤다면 나는 작가가 될 수 없었을 것입니다.
My migraines are always reminding me that I am human. Because when a migraine comes, I have to stop my work, my reading, my routine, so it’s always making me humble, helping me realise I’m mortal and vulnerable. Maybe if I was 100% healthy and energetic I couldn’t have become a writer.내 편두통은 항상 내가 인간이라는 것을 상기시켜줍니다. 왜냐하면 편두통이 오면 나는 일과 독서와 일상을 멈추어야하기 때문에 항상 나를 겸손하게 만들고 필자는 필사자이며 취약하다는 것을 깨닫게 해줍니다. 어쩌면 제가 100 % 건강하고 활력이 넘쳤다면 나는 작가가 될 수 없었을 것입니다.
You’ve said you knew you wanted to be a writer at 14. How did you know?
I was looking for answers to fundamental questions. And then, as a reader, I realised every writer is seeking answers and they don’t have any conclusions, but they’re still writing. So I thought why don’t I do that too?
I was looking for answers to fundamental questions. And then, as a reader, I realised every writer is seeking answers and they don’t have any conclusions, but they’re still writing. So I thought why don’t I do that too?
Your father is also a novelist. In what ways did he influence you?
There were so many books in the house when I was growing up – I think that’s the most important thing.
Sign up for the Bookmarks email
What were some of your favourite children’s books?
I loved lots of Korean writers and also books in translation, such as Astrid Lindgren’s The Brothers Lionheart.
Which writers have most influenced your writing?
Among Korean writers I love the short stories of Lim Chul-woo. And among foreign writers I love Dostoevsky.
Which literary figures, dead or alive, would you most like to meet?
I don’t want to meet writers: I’ve already met them through their books. If I’ve read their books and felt something, that’s a precious thing. Writers pour the best of themselves into their books so it’s enough for me to read them.
Your novel The Vegetarian won the International Man Booker prize. What impact has that had on your career?
I’ve met more readers and a wider audience. But I wanted to recover my private life after a few months, because a lot of attention isn’t always good for a writer. It’s impossible to care about attention and still write.
• The White Book by Han Kang is published by Granta (£10). To order a copy for £8.50 go to guardianbookshop.com or call 0330 333 6846
What were some of your favourite children’s books?
I loved lots of Korean writers and also books in translation, such as Astrid Lindgren’s The Brothers Lionheart.
I loved lots of Korean writers and also books in translation, such as Astrid Lindgren’s The Brothers Lionheart.
Which writers have most influenced your writing?
Among Korean writers I love the short stories of Lim Chul-woo. And among foreign writers I love Dostoevsky.
Among Korean writers I love the short stories of Lim Chul-woo. And among foreign writers I love Dostoevsky.
Which literary figures, dead or alive, would you most like to meet?
I don’t want to meet writers: I’ve already met them through their books. If I’ve read their books and felt something, that’s a precious thing. Writers pour the best of themselves into their books so it’s enough for me to read them.
I don’t want to meet writers: I’ve already met them through their books. If I’ve read their books and felt something, that’s a precious thing. Writers pour the best of themselves into their books so it’s enough for me to read them.
Your novel The Vegetarian won the International Man Booker prize. What impact has that had on your career?
I’ve met more readers and a wider audience. But I wanted to recover my private life after a few months, because a lot of attention isn’t always good for a writer. It’s impossible to care about attention and still write.
I’ve met more readers and a wider audience. But I wanted to recover my private life after a few months, because a lot of attention isn’t always good for a writer. It’s impossible to care about attention and still write.
• The White Book by Han Kang is published by Granta (£10). To order a copy for £8.50 go to guardianbookshop.com or call 0330 333 6846
댓글 없음:
댓글 쓰기