‘Eight Lives of a Nameless Woman’
Already Rinae‘s debut work published in Korean
“I’m glad that my father can read too.”
A huge hit with a 200 million won advance from an American publisher
“I’m glad that my father can finally read my book.”
Slave, escape expert, murderer, terrorist, spy… . I met new writer Lee Mi-ri-nae (41), who has been attracting attention with the publication of her first full-length novel in over 10 countries including the UK and Italy, which tells the story of a woman who transformed like a chameleon during the Japanese colonial period and before and after the Korean War, at the Dong-A Media Center in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 7th. Her debut work, “Eight Lives of a Nameless Woman” (Wisdom House), written in English, first created a stir overseas, receiving a multi-million won advance payment in the US, and was recently translated and published in Korean. She said, “I’m especially nervous about presenting this book to Korean readers who can understand it as is without any background explanation.”
In 2021, HarperCollins purchased this author’s debut novel for 200 million won, which was a big deal in the publishing industry. HarperCollins is a publisher that has published many classics of English literature, such as ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ and ‘Moby Dick’. It was published under the main brand, not as a sub-brand that mainly publishes works by foreign authors, such as Asians.
Lee was born in Seoul and finished elementary, middle, and high school in Korea. After majoring in English literature at an American university, he has lived with his family in Hong Kong for 13 years. He tried writing novels in Korean but it didn’t work out well. Lee said, “Since I lived in a place where English was the common language, I naturally ended up writing novels in English,” and “Since it wasn’t my native language, I could write as I wanted without self-censorship.” He was inspired by real people, such as his paternal grandfather who lost one leg to an anti-personnel landmine in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, and his great-aunt who defected from North Korea.
The merits of a novel written in English by a native Korean who grew up in Korea until his early 20s are evident throughout the work. He uses sentences freely, crossing over Eastern and Western emotions. He describes dandelion seeds as “like watery white rice porridge vomited out,” and when a landmine explodes, he writes, “a neon paisley pattern fills my vision.” The author said, “I think it’s a good sign (in terms of diversity) that there are many unique writers who don’t fit into any category.”
There are many unfamiliar place names and terms to foreigners, such as ‘Panmunjom’ and ‘Demilitarized Zone’, but this did not pose a barrier to publication due to the growing interest in Korean literature overseas. Lee said, “Even Western editors who do not know much about Korean history were open to Korean writers because the Korean works they had previously worked on were popular.” In the US, the editor who was in charge of publishing Lee Min-jin’s ‘Pachinko’ and in the UK, Kim Eon-soo’s ‘The Designers’ took charge of Lee’s book.
He, who is currently reviewing the possibility of making a film with a famous American agency, said, “I saw ‘Han Gong-ju’ while writing the book,” and laughed, saying, “It’s still just my imagination, but I think actress Chun Woo-hee would be a good fit for the main character.” This work, which gained recognition as soon as it was released, is his debut work and first full-length novel after he turned 40. He said, “I want to let people know that there are artists who develop very slowly and quietly.”
Reporter Kim So-min [email protected]
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2024-08-11 20:23:13