I Have the Right to Destroy Myself

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.

Author: Young-Ha Kim
Publisher: Mariner Books
Published: 07/01/2007
Pages: 132
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.33lbs
Size: 7.94h x 6.62w x 0.39d
ISBN: 9780156030809


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 04/23/2007 pg. 28
Kirkus Reviews 06/01/2007 pg. 531
Booklist 06/01/2007 pg. 37
Entertainment Weekly 07/13/2007 pg. 75

About the Author
Kim, Young-Ha: -

YOUNG-HA KIM is the author of seven novels--four published in the United States, including the acclaimed I Have the Right to Destroy Myself and the award-winning Black Flower--and five short-story collections. He has won every major Korean literature award, and his works have been translated into more than a dozen languages. He lives in Seoul, South Korea.