Whale: SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE 2023

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The detached tone, magical realism, and animals that communicate all give this novel a very fable/folklore-like feel. I loved that. As readers, we all love storytelling and I especially love the old-fashioned kind, the ones my mom would read to me at bedtime. And this felt exactly like that. And often times with fairytales, there are dark and sinister themes brewing underneath. This one was no different. Ranging from comedic satire to the downright offensive, this book has commentary on so much. The political landscape of a post-war Korea, the onset of capitalism and entrepreneurship, the stigma towards obesity, and the deeply patriarchal society that is Korea. This is a rich and surprising novel about desire, freedom and domesticity, which follows the merchant ship cook Boulder as she struggles to navigate the new terrain of a settled life with a partner intent on having a child.

Whale by Cheon Myeong-kwan, translated by Chi An extract from Whale by Cheon Myeong-kwan, translated by Chi

Cheon Myeonggwan (천명관)’s novel 『고래』 (2004) has had three translations so far, one into English (2016), one into French (2008), and one into Turkish (2022). She wasn’t obsessed with the whale just because of its size. When she saw the blue whale from the beach, she had glimpsed what eternal life looked like, life that had triumphed against death. That was the moment the fearful small-town girl became enraptured by enormous things.Cheon’s epic saga centres on a mother, Geumbok, and her daughter, Chunhui, and how their experiences map onto developments in South Korean society. Why do you think Cheon chooses to put his character’s lives in conversation with South Korean history? What were the specific moments in time he chose to focus on? The novel asks challenging questions about care for terminally ill children and substitute motherhood. Laura and Alina’s bond is a constant core. At one point the prospect of the death of a child is described as “so unacceptable that we have chosen not to name it”. did this book have a lot of objectionable stuff in it? yes. but did i lap up this book like it was freaking ice cream? also yes.

Cheon Myeong-kwan | The Booker Prizes Cheon Myeong-kwan | The Booker Prizes

Whale also captures the essence of "han," a Korean concept of deep-seated emotions like rage, grief, and sorrow. It adds depth to the story, reflecting the characters' internal struggles and the Korean cultural identity. Whale doesn't shy away from depicting violence and brutality. While these scenes may be disturbing, they serve a purpose in showing the challenges faced by the characters and their pursuit of justice. The novel has elements of revenge, as the characters seek retribution for the injustices they face. Whale by Cheon Myeong-kwan, who is also a film-maker, is translated from Korean by Chi-Young Kim. It is a collection of stories about the lives of linked characters in a remote village in South Korea. As I am unfamiliar with the author, I can only take his work at face value and how it felt to me. To me, the violence was a head-on critique of Korea’s misogyny and obesity stigma. And as this book spans generations, the violence against women stood out even more when set against the modernization of Korea’s society. The world was progressing, but why weren’t the people?

If you had to choose three works of fiction that have inspired your career the most, what would they be and why? When I start a translation I often read books that will get me in the right headspace and mood, which helps me land on the voice. For Whale, I referenced Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, translated by Gregory Rabassa, and She Would Be King by Wayétu Moore for their sweeping scope, mythical flavour, and generation-spanning storytelling.’

Whale: SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE 2023 Whale: SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE 2023

In one interview the author has described the novel as a revenge play. Do you agree, and if so how exactly?The first English translation, Whale, was by Jae Won Edward Chung. There is also a forthcoming second English translation, Whale, by Kim Chi-Young (김지영). While the man with the scar—the renowned con artist, notorious smuggler, superb butcher, rake, pimp of all the prostitutes on the wharf, and hot-tempered broker—was a taciturn man, he was gregarious with Geumbok, telling her everything about himself. The stories he told her were frightening and cruel, about murder and kidnapping, conspiracy and betrayal—how he was born to an old prostitute who worked along the wharf and was raised by other prostitutes when she died during childbirth, how he grew up without knowing his father, how a smuggler who claimed to be his father appeared in his life, how he stowed away to Japan with this man, how a typhoon came upon them during the journey, how the ship capsized, how the smuggler didn’t know how to swim and flailed in the waves before sinking into the water, how he, who thankfully knew how to swim, drifted onto a beach and lost consciousness, where he was discovered by the yakuza, how he lived with them and learned to use a knife, how he killed for the first time, how he met the geisha who was his first love, how he partedways with her, how he returned home and consolidated power in this city—but she remained enthralled, as though she were watching a movie. Change the plan you will roll onto at any time during your trial by visiting the “Settings & Account” section. What happens at the end of my trial?

Whale: Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2023

Actually, not a few of the characters who are offed (almost everybody) return to spout some wisdom, such as: "This world is better than the other, even if you find yourself rolling around in dog shit." Not a few of characters find themselves rolling around in dog shit. Through mother and daughter, Cheon constructs a portrait of an oppressive, ruthless society in which workers are brutally suppressed and torture becomes almost routine; a place of growing social inequality in which the many will suffer but the few will profit through corruption and opportunism. Even Geumbok, who seems to encapsulate what’s needed to thrive, with her tenacity and skill in exploiting emerging trends, from early café culture to post-war construction booms, is vulnerable to failure simply because she’s a woman. Geumbok and Chunhui are also individuals caught between clashing cultures, in an era where the erosion of rural life and growing influence of American culture mingle uneasily with traditional beliefs and superstitions. The shortlist of six books will be announced at London Book Fair on 18 April, with the winner announced at a London ceremony on 23 May.It’s a story of a woman making her way in a hostile world, and that is always relevant. This is a story full of magic and humour, but there is also profound darkness and struggle, terrible violence and prejudice. Patriarchal society eventually forces Geumbok to become a man (in more ways than one!), but you won’t have seen these problems explored in quite the same magical, brutal, bodily way as they are here. A few days after the fire, government investigators arrived. They were reminded of the horrendous scenes in the war's immediate aftermath, when entire cities vanished in flames. Pyungdae, once flourishing, was now a city of death. Smoke still rose from ruined heaps of former buildings, and though it had not completely collapsed, the ashen exterior of the theater showed just how horrifyingly intense the fire had been. Pungent smoke blanketed the town and the air quivered with the smell of burnt flesh and rotting corpses. Wails emanated from every house and scorched, unburied bodies were strewn in the streets, each attracting swarms of flies. The investigators covered their eyes and ears, confronted with the most hideous scene they had ever witnessed. The novel has just two characters, the unnamed narrator and their time travelling friend Gustine. This sparsity reflects the aridity of a demented mind. Together, they create rooms for Alzheimer’s patients. Rooms in which a chunk of their familiar time and memory is preserved to provide them with shelter in a rapidly erasing memory world.