Mater 2 - 10
Hwang Sok-yong, Sora Kim-Russell (translation), Youngjae Josephine Bae (translation)Seven Stories Press author Hwang Sok-Yong is one of 6 finalists for the Man Booker International Prize! Translated from Korean by Sora Kim-Russell & Youngjae Josephine Bae.
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Virtuoso Hwang Sok-yong is back with another powerful story — an epic, multi-generational tale that threads together a century of Korean history.
Mater 2-10 moves like a locomotive, demonstrating both Hwang Sok-yong’s powers as a writer & the beauty of the long novel. The plot centres on three generations of rail workers & Yi Jino, a laid-off factory worker staging a high-altitude sit-in. Perched on the catwalk of a sixteen-storey-high factory chimney during long & bitterly cold nights, Jino talks to his ancestors & friends, chewing on the meaning of life, on wisdom passed down through generations.
Mater 2-10 is a stunning achievement. It is at once a powerful account that captures a nation’s longing for a rail line that would connect North & South, a magical-realist novel that manages to reflect the lives of modern industrial workers, & a culmination of Hwang’s career — a masterpiece 30 years in the making.
A contemporary master of Korean literature, Hwamg's work grapples with the troubled history of his divided country, resulting in his imprisonment, his exile, & the rare achievement of a wide international readership. Recent work: Baridegi (Princess Bari) & Gaebapbaragibyeol (The Evening Star), a coming of age novel that Hwang wrote as a blog.