Name: I Have the Right to Destroy Myself
ISBN: 9780544310605

Young-Ha Kim

In the fast-paced, high-urban landscape of Seoul, C and K are brothers who have fallen in love with the same woman--Se-yeon--who tears at both of them as they all try desperately to find real connection in an atomized world. A spectral, nameless narrator haunts the edges of their lives as he tells of his work helping the lost and hurting find escape through suicide. Dreamlike and beautiful, the South Korea brought forth in this novel is cinematic in its urgency and its reflection of contemporary life everywhere--far beyond the boundaries of the Korean peninsula. Recalling the emotional tension of Milan Kundera and the existential anguish of Bret Easton Ellis, "I Have the Right to Destroy Myself "achieves its author's greatest wish--to show Korean literature as part of an international tradition. Young-ha Kim is a young master, the leading literary voice of his generation.

I Have the Right to Destroy Myself

Young-ha Kim

Amid the emotional desolation and stark despair of Seoul, Korea, the unnamed narrator assists the lost and hurting find an escape through peaceful suicide, and two brothers are torn by their mutual love for the same woman, in a collection of interwoven stories set against the backdrop of contemporary Korea. Original.

Toni Turner

I don’t know how to feel!! 
This was really interesting but super weird. There were bits that I thought I would hate that I loved and other part so thought I’d like that I hated? It was a super weird experience but also super short so I still don’t know how to feel!!

Meniah

A “mesmerizing” novel of a love triangle and a mysterious disappearance in South Korea (Booklist). In the fast-paced, high-urban landscape of Seoul, C and K are brothers who have fallen in love with the same beguiling drifter, Se-yeon, who gives herself freely to both of them. Then, just as they are trying desperately to forge a connection in an alienated world, Se-yeon suddenly disappears. All the while, a spectral, calculating narrator haunts the edges of their lives, working to help the lost and hurting find escape through suicide. When Se-yeon reemerges, it is as the narrator’s new client. Recalling the emotional tension of Milan Kundera and the existential anguish of Bret Easton Ellis, I Have the Right to Destroy Myself is a dreamlike “literary exploration of truth, death, desire and identity” (Publishers Weekly). Cinematic in its urgency, the novel offers “an atmosphere of menacing ennui [set] to a soundtrack of Leonard Cohen tunes” (Newark Star-Ledger). “Kim’s novel is art built upon art. His style is reminiscent of Kafka’s and also relies on images of paintings (Jacques-Louis David’s ‘The Death of Marat,’ Gustav Klimt’s ‘Judith’) and film (Jim Jarmusch’s ‘Stranger Than Paradise’). The philosophy—life is worthless and small—reminds us of Camus and Sartre, risky territory for a young writer. . . . But Kim has the advantage of the urban South Korean landscape. Fast cars, sex with lollipops and weather fronts from Siberia lend a unique flavor to good old-fashioned nihilism. Think of it as Korean noir.” —Los Angeles Times “Like Georges Simenon, [Kim’s] keen engagement with human perversity yields an abundance of thrills as well as chills (and, for good measure, a couple of memorable laughs). This is a real find.” —Han Ong, author of Fixer Chao

I Have the Right to Destroy Myself

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