880. Land

Land
Kyung-Ni Pak
1969-94
Around 650 pages

Man, being able to speak Korean would sure be a leg up on this race. So far, only 53 chapters of this 20 volume story have been translated into English. So that's the version I read, courtesy of the Digital Korean Library. 

Well, there are over 600 characters in this thing, so giving a plot summary is difficult. The first part follows the fall of the Choi family in 1894. The translation seemed a little off. There seemed to be a lot of modern slang or phrases, such as the word "tits," used that didn't seem to fit how people would actually communicate in the late 19th century in South Korea, not that I am an expert in the etymology of "tits."

This is just one of those novels that has a lot going against it in terms of enjoyability. This novel is quite literally lost in translation, as it is incomplete. And it's such a massive and sprawling work that it feels much more like a homework assignment than anything else.

So not faulting this epic in any way, but obviously not one of the more fun entries.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Adapted into a movie, television series, and opera.

UP NEXT: Whatever by Michel Houellebecq