The White Book
(Author) Han KangFrom the winner of the Man Booker International Prize for The Vegetarian comes a stunning meditation on the colour white; about light, about death and about ritualFrom the winner of the Man Booker International Prize for The VegetarianBoth the most autobiographical and the most experimental book to date from South Korean master Han Kang. Written while on a writer's residency in Warsaw, a city palpably scarred by the violence of the past, the narrator finds herself haunted by the story of her older sister, who died a mere two hours after birth. A fragmented exploration of white things - the swaddling bands that were also her shroud, the breast milk she did not live to drink, the blank page on which the narrator herself attempts to reconstruct the story - unfold in a powerfully poetic distillation. As she walks the unfamiliar, snow-streaked streets, lined by buildings formerly obliterated in the Second World War, their identities blur and overlap as the narrator wonders, 'Can I give this life to you?'. The White Book is a book like no other. It is a meditation on a colour, on the tenacity and fragility of the human spirit, and our attempts to graft new life from the ashes of destruction.(photographs in print edition only)
Han Kang
Han Kang (born November 27, 1970) is a celebrated South Korean author known for her evocative and thought-provoking novels. She grew up in Gwangju before moving to Seoul, where she studied Korean literature at Yonsei University. Han debuted as a writer in the 1990s and gained international recognition for her novel The Vegetarian, which won the 2016 Man Booker International Prize. Her works often explore themes of human suffering, identity, and the impact of historical trauma, as seen in Human Acts and other acclaimed novels. In addition to her literary achievements, Han is also a poet and teacher, sharing her craft with aspiring writers. Her works have been translated into multiple languages, resonating with readers around the globe.
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