Korean Book Club - ‘Greek Lessons’, Han Kang

Discover Korean literature and explore its various themes in KCC's monthly Korean Book Club

For the book club of October, we are going to discuss the novel ‘Greek Lessons’ by Han Kang.

▪ Language: English(Korean Book Club gatherings are alternatively held in French, Dutch and English.)  

▪ Date: Thursday, October 19,  7PM- 9PM 

▪ Venue: Korean Cultural Center Brussels  

▪ Entrance Free - Application is necessary* 

*To apply, please send an application e-mail to info@kccbrussels.be with your First name, Last Name, and telephone number.

Participants can easily purchase a copy of ‘Greek Lessons’ at Waterstones Brussels (Boulevard Adolphe Max 71-75, 1000 Brussels). For more info: https://www.waterstones.com/bookshops/brussels

About the book - ‘Greek Lessons’

Translated from Korean by Deborah Smith and Emily Yae Won

Published in English by Penguin Random House

In a classroom in Seoul, a young woman watches her Greek language teacher at the blackboard. She tries to speak but has lost her voice. Her teacher finds himself drawn to the silent woman, for day by day he is losing his sight.

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.

Greek Lessons tells the story of two ordinary people brought together at a moment of private anguish—the fading light of a man losing his vision meeting the silence of a woman who has lost her language. Yet these are the very things that draw them to each other. Slowly the two discover a profound sense of unity—their voices intersecting with startling beauty, as they move from darkness to light, from silence to breath and expression.

About the author – Han Kang

Han Kang was born in 1970 in Gwangju, Korea. A recipient of the Yi Sang Literary Award, the Today’s Young Artist Award, and the Manhae Prize for Literature, she is the author of The Vegetarian, winner of the International Booker Prize; Human Acts; and The White Book.

About the translators – Deborah Smith and Emily Yae Won

Deborah Smith is a British translator of Korean fiction. She translated Han Kang’s The Vegetarian for which she and the author were co-winners of the Man Booker International Prize for fiction in 2016.

Emily Yae Won is an art and literary translator who works in Korean and in English. She has translated over thirty titles of fiction, essays, illustrated books, and graphic novels, including works by Djuna Barnes, Samuel Beckett, Hwang Jungeun, and Yi SangWoo.

When registering for a book club meeting, please respectfully consider the following:

- Due to organizational and practical limitations of our events, the number of participants for each event is strictly limited.

- Your registration will be confirmed by e-mail. In case the number of registrations exceeds the number of available seats, a waiting list will be created.

- Online registration for this event is mandatory and is done on a first come, first serve basis. Please understand that it is very unfair to refuse registrations on the one hand and observe that registered persons simply do not show up at events at the other hand.

- After having registered, please notify us formally (through e-mail) and in due time (at least before the start of the meeting) in case that you want to cancel your registration.

- Those who fail to do so, will be restricted from attending other KCC events.