Could not quite get on with the style of this and some of the attitude to the female characters, but will perhaps return to it at a later date!

Whale is a fast-paced multi-generational story that presents well-rounded memorable characters. it is the story of a mother a dqughter whose lives are mainly steered by fate.
What I like the most about this novel is how strong female characters are but neverat the expense of their male counter parts. I find that the lack of a precise temporel frame for the events along with the fantastical nature of some of them add more of an epic dimension to the storyline which is, in fact, highlighted by the "cinematographic" descriptions.

Whale is an exciting and funny novel set in South Korea. It tells the story of Geumbok, a determined woman, her daughter Chunhui, who can't speak, and a woman with one eye who controls honeybees. The novel is filled with surprises and humour and gives a fresh perspective on Korea's transition from the past to the present. The story starts in a small village, where Geumbok grows up in poverty but manages to succeed through her wit and determination. Her daughter Chunhui, who can only communicate with elephants, faces loneliness and works in a brickmaking factory. The bond between these two women and their struggles reflect the challenges faced by women in Korean society.

The story combines elements of adventure and satire, with a touch of magic, to explore Korean history and culture. It's like a larger-than-life fairy tale that takes readers on a journey through time. The whale is a symbol that appears throughout the book, representing Geumbok's desire for something greater and the unfulfilled dreams of the characters. The magical realism style is also reminiscent of acclaimed authors such as Gabriel García Márquez or Eka Kurniawan, with their witty mix of fantasy and historical events, creating a unique reading experience. It's like watching an amazing film, which is not surprising considering the author's background in filmmaking (as happens, film is also a leitmotif that fills in the story other than whale).

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.

I frequently got lost in the middle of reading it. Not getting lost in the sense of missing the plots or scenes, but more like absorbed in the story. The absurdities of the plots often left me uncertain about which stage of the book I was in, yet it didn’t really matter. Throughout the book, there are many memorable moments and images that tug at the heartstrings. One touching scene is when Chunhui imagines talking to Jumbo the Elephant, her only friend. It's a mix of sadness and sweetness that brings tears to my eyes. Whale is a captivating and moving novel that explores Korean history, mother-daughter bonds, and the human spirit.

this was an interesting one. the tragedy and humour mixed together when narrating the lives of 2 generations (and many people that come in and out of their lives) really took me by surprise. and so did the magical realism, which i don’t read much of in general. there was a talking elephant, there were arsonist ghosts, with the author always remaining matter-of-fact in a very amusing way. from the very first page of reading this one i kept telling myself i’d never read anything like whale before and now, having finished it, i can confirm that remains true.

'What's going to happen to us? Chunhui asked, scared.
We're disappearing for good. But don't be scared. Just like you remembered me, you exist if someone remembers you.'

Longlisted for the 2023 International Booker Prize, this is a stunning work of fiction that reads more like a fable or fairy tale. But don't be mistaken, this is a dark book, with disturbing scenes and content that is seriously troubling. An inter-generational tale of the struggle to survive, with some serious observations on Korean society, some may find this a bit too much, but I found myself utterly immersed in the characters and the setting. A rewarding and important work of fiction.

(With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this title.)

This is such a bizarre book I encountered this year. It doesn't have macabre theme & probably has sort of folklore stylish. It also has a storytelling written style with such beautiful language. Nothing is happy here, just full of sombre and disturbing tone here.

There are a lot of trigger warnings in this book and a lot of female characters were treated unjustly. The time & place settings here are pretty appealing. It spans from 3 generations while living through Korea's political situations. I love how dramatic the story goes and can't stop thinking about it.

I have really struggled to finish this one. It's written like a tale with many short chapters focusing on different generations of women in a family - the "old crone", the daughter with the magical scent, the daughter who is a giant... I found it well written, the translation is very smooth, but the content was incredibly disturbing and seemed gratuitous at times. There is a rape at every page or almost, murders, sexual assault of vulnerable people, and I am still not sure wbere the book was going. I found the writing interesting and the format original but it wasn't for me.

Whale is the first novel by Cheon Myeong-Kwan translated into English by Kim Chi-Young. It follows the story of multiple generations of women moving the ladder progressively throughout the year. It focuses mainly on Geumbok, a young woman whose mother passed away and whose father is a drunkard that becomes more and more aggressive. To avoid a terrible accident, Geumbok decides to flee and make her own life. During her journey, she encounters several men who will reveal her true self and the woman she wants to be. Among them is an old fishmonger with whom she puts her ambitious instincts into action; an extremely strong man whose quiet nature she is attracted to; a man in a cinema who will spark her deep love for American movies...etc. Every person who crosses her path is blessed with incredible luck and terrible events. Meanwhile, we also dive into Chunhui's life. Chunhui is Geumbok's and the strong man's daughter, and her silent life and strong physical abilities will make her the most interesting woman South Korea has ever encountered.

This story turned out to be super interesting! It lays out a vision of South Korea over the twentieth century that is very rare in the translated literature of today. The special insight into women's conditions was riveting, as well as the fact that the narration was that of Geumbok; I liked her ambitious nature and her tenacity when it came to taking her life between her hands and creating new opportunities. She knows what she wants and doesn't hesitate to get her hands dirty or face awful rumours propagated by the inhabitants of Pyeongdae. In a way, though, I thought it incredibly unsettling that she lived through many hardships (mostly inflicted by men, physically and mentally), and she is very critical of other young women.

I think readers who wish to give a chance to this novel should really take seriously what the summary says: "brimming with surprises and wicked humour, Whale is an adventure-satire of epic proportions". It sure reveals incongruous plot twists, touching various points like, surprisingly, queerness. I was shocked by one particular plot twist about this near the end of the second part, but it was very imaginative and thoughtful in some sense.
I'd like to invite publishers to put trigger warnings to this novel, however, for it is very graphic in terms of violence, sexual abuse, tragic events, etc. Some themes I know could disturb more than one reader.

Overall though, I really encourage readers to read this novel, especially those who have an interest in knowing more about the conditions of women who faced poverty in rural cities in Korea. I believe some people will find this book dragging in length near the end; I admit that was my case. The story is so dense and spanning over several years that it came to a point I was wanting it to end, to see the final point. But still, it was a very agreeable read, with a wonderful translation.

Thank you Netgalley and Europa editions for the opportunity of reading an advanced copy of this book and for allowing me to review it.

Thanks ever so much to @europaeditionsuk for sharing this title with me on @netgalley! Spotted in @waterstonesreading this morning.

Whale (고레) by Cheon Myeong-Kwan and translated into English by Chi-Young Kim is an epic romp through several generations of a Korean family that is beset by misfortune. I’d seen someone liken it to One Hundred Years of Solitude and, now that I’ve finished it, I think it’s a very valid comparison. The narrative is infused with elements of magic realism, there’s a wacky array of characters, and the final section had me hooked, much like Garcia Márquez’s masterpiece. It was almost post-apocalyptic in its scope - and thus, right up my street. Pyeongdae felt like the second coming of Macondo, condemned to disappear off the face of the Earth.

I would say the one downside is the vile treatment of women throughout the novel. They are repeatedly assaulted, beaten, discarded… men seem to only be able to act on primal instincts and it’s very disheartening. Nothing ever gets better for them even when the rest of society seems to be moving forward (perhaps there’s an element of social commentary there?) Nevertheless, I’m sure the author could’ve found something else to link these women together other than intergenerational violence and trauma.

All in all, this was a rich, imaginative, and plot-driven novel (a must!) that has kept me good company for days. More Korean fiction in translation, please! Keep it coming.

4/5

I really tried to love this book, but it was just too odd. It felt like a chore to get through it. The start was very promising, but it went bonkers really quickly. Talking about penis length and things like that doesn't interest me one bit.

What a weirdly wonderful book.
I didn't really know what to expect with this one but having read and enjoyed several books by Korean authors of late, I was drawn to this one and multi generational family saga's are one of my favourite type of genre.
It took me a couple of attempts to get going with this one and there was almost a dreamlike ( nightmarish at times) quality to the writing. I didn't always fully understand where the story was going and yet was intrigued and compelled to keep reading. Guembok was fantastic character , her ambition and determination were a joy to read. I want to visit Korea even more now after reading this and had a strong desire to cook fish when reading!
I need to buy a paperback and revisit this one, I think I would get more from a second reading..
An unusual captivating read, unliike anything I have read before.

In Whale, we follow the eventful lives of Geumbok and, later, her daughter Chunhui. Their lives are guided by fate, and their futures are entwined with those of an ugly old crone and her one-eyed daughter. Geumbok is a beautiful, strong-willed and intelligent woman who escapes from a traumatic childhood of loss, and is hurled into the big wide world. The Whale, which she spots breaching the surface of the wide ocean as she begins this new life, is used symbolically throughout the story to represent her inner strength and constant desire for more, bigger, better. This combined with her intelligence makes her a fantastic entrepreneur and throughout her life she builds various majorly successful businesses from the ground up.

Chunhui, her daughter, is vastly different from her mother and resembles more her father, built like a house and seemingly of sub-par intelligence. Mute, but with the ability to converse with Jumbo the elephant, Chunhui lives a simple life, following the paths she is guided down by those raising her.

I loved this book. This is absolutely one of my all-time favorite reads. The characters are so well formed that they feel real and I found myself genuinely feeling for them, and wanting good things to happen to them. A beautiful picture of life in Korea and how their society, and circumstances, changed so drastically over the course of their lives. It borders on fantastical at times but reads less like fantasy and more like a fairy tale, a truly epic novel and so wonderful well translated!

There's a huge emphasis on female strength and power throughout and, while there are some memorable and loveable male characters, many of the men featuring throughout the novel lack even the basic dignity of a name, and instead are referred to as the fishmonger, the lumberjack, the truck driver, and so on. Men are not demonized, it is simply that a name is not necessary or important to the furthering of the story. I also got the feeling that being named is the narrators way of showing the most significant and beloved men in their lives.

Later in the novel, surprising events occur which entirely change the tone, in such a way that feels like a commentary on society's expectations of men and women, which is a theme i always love reading about. Its hard to say much more without giving away spoilers!

This is a stunning translation and a story that will remain with me for a long time. Unique and absorbing, I would recommend this book to everyone.

To start with the positives, I liked this author writing style, it had a fairytale quality to it which I liked but with this being quite a large book even that had a slight repetitive note. Especially the "and that was the law of (insert random stereotype here)".

I liked the depths the characters had but unfortunately this was often hidden by some rather disgusting descriptions. For example one female was continually described by her smell which made every man instantly "bulge", and this came up every time she walked past or interacted with a man.

Overall I didn't make it very far into this book and I don't think I would even know who to recommend it too

I didn't know what to expect from this book but I was very pleasantly suprised and it has made me excited to read more literature from around the world. It was a bizarre read that had me confused for most of it but that is what I loved most

She can’t breathe. Her eyes sting. The flames are surging. Toxic smoke fills her nose. She hears horrible screams. Black smoke covers her field of sight. Pillars collapse. Sparks fly. She can’t see. A pillar of fire scorches the sky. The ceiling collapses. Flames overcome her. She opens her eyes. She’s cold. The shadows of iron bars are drawn along the wall, like a net. Someone is crying quietly in the darkness. A guard’s footsteps ring from far away. Someone is threatening the crying person. She curls up. The crying dies down. She closes her eyes. The footsteps go away. A tomb-like quiet comes. A moment later, Chunhui falls back asleep.

What was left behind after the fire raged was truly gruesome. Eight hundred people died in the theatre. The market next door caught fire, and the losses were astronomical. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say half of Pyeongdae burned down. It was the worst catastrophe since the war.

Whale is a disturbing and unusual read set in a remote village in South Korea. It follows the lives of three characters who are all linked and intertwined with each other.

I’m learning to adapt to translation reads and this was a great example of how well it can be done. Thank you to the author - Cheon Myeong-kwan and europaeditionsuk for the advance reader copy.

Such a unusual read, it makes me want to read more Korean literature.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my review.

Fantastic and bizarre and tragic multi generational saga with memorable characters. Maybe too grotesque for some, but I loved it!

Whale is a disturbing and unsettling book, however, it is well told and a page turner. I genuinely wanted to find out more about the strange characters and tales that make up the book. It could be described as a series of intertwined modern folk tales. It’s episodic, but definitely a novel and not a series of short stories. It never drags or gets boring and is told very cinematically. (Cheon Myeong-kwan started as a film writer and changed to novels when he couldn’t get films made.) Finding books like this is why I read books in translation – they open up other worlds for me. I would not recommend this book to everyone – the subject matter is disturbing, but I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the strange unsettling world of Korean cinema.

"From that day on, the terror of death ruled the girl. Her goal in life became fleeing death. Her mother’s death was the main reason why she left her small mountain village, why she left the harbor city and roamed the country, and why she built an enormous theater that resembled a whale. 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. She would try to use big things to beat out small things, overcome shabbiness through shiny things, and forget her suffocating hometown by jumping into the vast ocean. And finally, she became a man to hurdle over the limitations of being a woman."

Whale is Chi-Young Kim's translation of 고래 by 천명관 (Cheon Myeong-Gwan), a debut novel which won the 10th 문학동네소설상 (Munhakdongne Novel Award) on its first publication in 2004.

An earlier translation of the novel, Jae Won Chung, also titled Whale, was published in 2016 by Dalkey Archive Press in their (rather poorly promoted) Library of Korean Literature

I'm not convinced a new translation was needed from a literary perspective. A comparison of the two translations of one passage is below, and while I haven't sourced the original to check fidelity, if anything I prefer the more vivid atmosphere of the previous version. However, the new release of the novel in a better publicised format (which may for copyright reasons have required a re-translation), and with a more alluring cover, is certainly a positive, as this is a distinctive and fascinating novel.

It opens in what I think is around 1980, with one of the two main characters, Chunhui (춘희) returning from a decade or so in prison, now all alone in the world, to the brickworks founded by her mother Geumbok (금복). Geumbok was, with 800 others, killed in a fire, which Chunhui was convicted of starting, that burnt down firstly the Whale-inspired movie theater, which Geumbok had built using her own bricks, and then much of the surrounding town:

"Chunhui—or Girl of Spring—was the name of the female brickmaker later celebrated as the Red Brick Queen upon being discovered by the architect of the grand theater. She was born one winter in a stable to a beggarwoman, as the war was winding down. She was already seven kilos when she emerged and plumped up to more than a hundred kilos by the time she turned fourteen. Unable to speak, she grew up isolated in her own world. She learned everything about brickmaking from Mun, her stepfather. When the inferno killed eight hundred souls, Chunhui was charged with arson, imprisoned, and tortured. After many long years in prison, she returned to the brickyard. She was twenty-seven.
...
For the first time in a long while, she felt refreshed. Her senses felt sharper and she was alert to what was mixed into the wind—the damp darkness of the valley, the smell of racoons sleeping among the rocks below, the scent of various grasses growing in the fields. She was gradually relaxing from the years she’d spent on edge, and she was glad to have returned to where she belonged.

실로 오랜만에 느껴보는 산뜻한 기분이었다. 이제 그녀의 예민한 감각은 목욕을 통해 새롭게 되살아나 바람 속에 섞여 있는 계곡의 음습한 기운과, 그 계곡 아래 바위틈에 숨어 잠들어 있는 너구리의 누린내와, 벌판을 지나오는 동안 묻혀온 온갖 풀들의 향기를 감지할 수 있었다. 비로소 자신이 의당 돌아올 곳으로 돌아왔다는 안도감에..."

The novel then tells us the story of Geumbok and, later Chunhui, that led to that point, one many diversions (This is neither here nor there, but there is a hard-to-believe backstory about the white suit worn by the man with the scar). The following is an example about part of the 'man with the scar''s history, one of a rich cast of characters, all with their own backstories, that Geumbok encountered in her complex life (although typically the narrator will then expand on these stories):

"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."

The author in an interview described the stories as a revenge play ("이 모든 이야기가 한 편의 복수극") and it is, like the stories of 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 [he is introduced that way more than once] at times frightening and cruel. But it is also a story rich in bawdy anecdotes and exaggerated, even fantastical, characters - such as Chunhui herself, a supernaturally large baby and monstrously strong woman, unable to speak or even understand language, except when communicating telepathically with an elephant, even after the animal passed away. As the narrator warns us:

"By its very nature, a story contains adjustments and embellishments depending on the perspective of the person telling it, depending on the listener’s convenience, depending on the storyteller’s skills. Reader, you will believe what you want to believe."

But the shaggy-dog magic-realist nature of the story disguises a penetrating commentary on Korean story over the period (roughly from the end of the Japanese occupation to the late 1980s), with the impacts of the Korean war, the resulting persecution of anyone expected of being a communist, the military dictatorship (here personified by the General) and the capitalist-fuelled rapid economic growth, in which the entreprenurial Geumbok enthusiastically participates.

One of the narrator's favourite refrains after an instructive passage is "That was the law of ..." and the list of Laws quoted gives a good flavour of the novel:

"Nature
The world
Reflexes
Rumours
Inertia
Servants
Genetics
Love
Their world
Gravity
The world she has entered
Reproduction
Employment
Pleasure quarters
Acceleration
Stupidity
Paranoid delusion
The streets
Geumbok
The Man with the Scar
Westerns
Courtship
Obesity
Fate
The subconscious
Habit
Action and reaction
Ideology
Harpoons
Beggars
Show business
Exaggeration
Government agencies
Being overly confident
Wild rumours
Slogans
Recklessness
Capitalism
Tithing
Management
Alcohol
Plot, which catered to crass commercialism
Prison cells
Beliefs
Discussion
Ennui
Intellectuals
Dictatorship
Ratings and mass appeal"

And on the last of these, a 4.5 star Rating for me, and this certainly has mass appeal.


Translation comparison (a passage describing the pivotal fire)

Previous translation:

She can't breathe. Her eyes sting. Flames. Acrid smoke sears her nostrils. Spine-chilling screams. Black clouds blind her. Columns, the ceiling collapsing. Sparks flying, flames attacking her. A moment later, she opens her eyes. Her body is cool. The shadow cast against the wall by the grating is like a solid net. Someone sobs softly in the dark. She can hear the prison guard's boots echoing in the distance. She can hear someone shouting at the person crying. She curls up. The sobbing dies down. She closes her eyes. The footsteps recede. Tomb-like silence falls. Soon Chunhee is fast asleep again.

The conflagration was indeed horrific. Over eight hundred people perished in the fire, and even more in the market where it eventually spread. The damage was massive. It was no exaggeration to say that half of Pyungdae burned to the ground. It was the greatest tragedy since the war.

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.

New translation:

She can’t breathe. Her eyes sting. Flames are surging. Toxic smoke fills her nose. She hears horrible screams. Black smoke covers her field of sight. Pillars collapse. Sparks fly. She can’t see. A pillar of fire scorches the sky. The ceiling collapses. Flames overcome her. She opens her eyes. She’s cold. The shadows of iron bars are drawn along the wall, like a net. Someone is crying quietly in the darkness. A guard’s footsteps ring from far away. Someone is threatening the crying person. She curls up. The crying dies down. She closes her eyes. The footsteps go away. A tomb-like quiet comes. A moment later, Chunhui falls back asleep.

What was left behind after the fire raged was truly gruesome. Eight hundred people died in the theater. The market next door caught fire, and the losses were astronomical. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say half of Pyeongdae burned down. It was the worst catastrophe since the war.

A few days after the fire, a government investigation team arrived. So much of the city had burned down. Once booming, Pyeongdae was now a city of death. The smoldering ruins of the buildings and the blackened shell of the theater were proof of how terrible the fire was that day. Thick smoke covered the town, the smell of decomposing bodies hanging heavily in the streets. Wails came from every house and there were burned corpses everywhere, drawing masses of flies. The investigators had to cover their eyes and plug their ears at this terrible scene.