So Han Kang has won the Nobel Prize for Literature. I read her book, The Vegetarian, back in 2017 and gave it five stars. In 2019, I read The White Book by her. Also five stars! I very seldom have five-star reads so obviously I was impressed, just like the Nobel judges. I see she has a new book, We Do Not Part, that will be out in translation next January. I'm putting it on my read list now.
How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...
It seems that her writing is particularly personal from what I heard on the radio this evening.
ReplyDeleteIt is always a mystery to me how these prizes are awarded. Here is a Korean work, translated to English and adjudicated by Scandinavians. And how they are able to compare this work with others from around the world on any objective level is beyond my simple understanding.
ReplyDeleteI always meant to read her book Human Acts, but I just haven't yet. Knowing you gave those other two books of hers 5 stars makes me want to check them out, too.
ReplyDeleteI meant to write a post about Han Kang winning the Nobel Prize for Literature, but didn't get around to it due to having surgery on my right leg on September 30th and simply was in too much pain to do a post about it back then. I too loved The Vegetarian and hope to read more of Han Kang 's novels.
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