Congrats to Han Kang, Whose Books Have a Little Bit Ruined My Life

Of all the books I've read in my life up until now, I would say there are about 15 that have left such an impression that I'm likely to think about them at any given moment at least once a week. They include: Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, Jerry Spinelli's Stargirl, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tail, Robin Wasserman's Girls on Fire, Agustina Bazterrica's Tender Is the Flesh, Lois Duncan's Stranger With My Face, as well as The Vegetarian and Human Acts, both by Han Kang—the only author to appear twice on my official and definitive list.

On Thursday, Han won the Nobel Prize in Literature for both titles, becoming the first Asian woman and South Korean writer to do so. The Vegetarian, especially, has haunted me ever since I first read it in 2018. So what I mean by saying her work has "a little bit ruined my life" is that her writing is so effective and so visceral, while also being deeply compassionate and empathetic, that even now, every time I cook a piece of meat, I think back to this novel and wonder if I should be cooking this piece of meat...let alone eating it.

Meanwhile, Human Acts is a historical fiction novel based on the democracy uprisings in Gwangju, Korea, in 1980. I devoured the book in two days in 2017, then went down a month-long rabbit hole—the mark of any good work of historical fiction—about the violent and devastating events of the nearly two-week-long student-led protests. Jeong-dae—the best friend of the central character, both of whom are in middle school at the start of the violence, and I won't reveal anything else—is a completely made-up person who I think about way too often.

Beyond being a huge fan of her work, Hang's novels also led me to discover other South Korean authors, like Bora Chung (Cursed Bunny, Your Utopia,) Baek Se-hee (I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokbokki), and Young-ha Kim (I Have the Right to Destroy Myself). I could honestly spend an entire weekend talking about Hang and her impact. If you're also a devotee, leave a comment and we'll start a fan club.

Han, now 53, debuted her first short story collection in 1995, after writing poems for a South Korean magazine. The Swedish Academy said they selected Han for her “unique awareness of the connections between body and soul, the living and the dead,” and that her “poetic and experimental style" has "become an innovator in contemporary prose.”

When a representative from the Nobel Prize reached Han to discuss the award, she said she had a chill day off in which she read some books and went for a walk, and was going to celebrate at home with her son. "After this phone call I’d like to have tea—I don’t drink—I’m going to have tea with my son and I’ll celebrate it quietly tonight." What a legend.