The White Book
2016 novel by the Korean novelist Han Kang
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The White Book (Korean: 흰, romanized: Huin, lit. 'White') is a 2016 novel by the Korean novelist Han Kang which was short-listed for the 2018 Man Booker International Prize.[1] The English translation by Deborah Smith was first published by Portobello Books in 2017.[2]
The book has been described as "a fragmented autobiographical meditation on the death of the unnamed narrator’s baby sister, who died two hours after her birth.".[3] The novel uses an unconventional narrative and short meditations on the color white to discuss grief, loss, and the fragile nature of the human spirit. Kang describes a total of 65 white objects in the book, including rice, sugar cubes, and breast milk.[4]
Main White Objects List
- Swaddling bands
- Newborn gown
- Salt
- Snow
- Ice
- Moon
- Rice
- Waves
- Yulan
- White bird
- "Laughing whitely"
- Blank paper
- White dog
- White hair
- Shroud
Translation
- Han Kang. The White Book. Translated by Smith, Deborah. Portobello Books. ISBN 978-0-525-57306-7
- Han Kang. Cartea Albă. Translated by Prodan, Iolanda. Editura ART. ISBN 978-6-067-10614-5
- Han Kang. Il libro bianco. Translated by Iovenitti, Lia. Adelphi Edizioni. ISBN 978-8-845-94054-5
- Han Kang. Blanc. Translated by Jeong, Eun-Jin and Batilliot, Jacques. Le Serpent à Plumes.ISBN 979-10-97390-75-4
