Book Of The Month June 2023

Greek Lessons by Han Kang

Quizlit’s Book of the Month June 2023 is Greek Lessons by Han Kang. Originally published in Korean in 2011 it has finally been released in early 2023 in English with a beautiful translation from Deborah Smith.

Greek Lessons is a remarkably deep work that reveals new levels with each reading. It’s a small book, I have a real like for short books – their intensity, their ability to convey something urgently. Greek Lessons achieves what all brilliant novels do: it pulls the reader into a realm that extends well beyond the pages.

In Greek Lessons, the nameless narrator finds the echo of words in her mind so overwhelming, that she loses her capacity to speak. She signs up for a for ancient Greek course to see what she can do in a language other than her native Korean.

The young lady observes her Greek language instructor at the chalkboard in a Seoul lecture room. She attempts to speak, but her voice has gone silent. Her teacher is captivated by the silent woman since he is slowly going blind.

Soon the two discover a deeper pain binds them together. For her, in the space of just a few months, she has lost both her mother and the custody battle for her nine-year-old son. For him, it’s the pain of growing up between Korea and Germany, being torn between two cultures and languages, and the fear of losing his independence when his sight finally fails him completely .

Greek Lessons is the narrative of an improbable friendship between these two people, as well as a beautiful love letter to human closeness and connection. It’s a novel that arouses the senses, one that vividly portrays the core of what it is to be alive.

greek lessons by hang kang, best korean novels, book of the month june — Get a Copy

About Han Kang

Han Kang was born in Gwangju, South Korea in 1970. At the age of ten, her family moved to Suyuri, Seoul and after finishing school, she studied Korean literature at Yonsei University. Her literary debut was the publishing of five poems, including Winter in Seoul, in the winter issue of Korean Literature and Society in 1993. Her career as a novelist started the next year when she won the 1994 Seoul Shinmun Spring Literary Contest with Red Anchor. She published her first short story collection Yeosu in 1995.

Her publications include short story collections, Fruits of My Woman (2000) and Fire Salamander (2012); novels Black Deer (1998), Your Cold Hands (2002), The Vegetarian (2007), Breath Fighting (2010), and Greek Lessons (2011), Human Acts (2014), The White Book (2016), I Do Not Bid Farewell (2021).