Un-su Kim – författare

Winner of the Munhakdongne Novel Award, South Korea’s most prestigious literary prizeCabinet 13 looks exactly like any normal filing cabinet. Except this cabinet is filled with files on the ‘symptomers’, people whose weird abilities and bizarre experiences might just mark the emergence of a new species.But to Mr Kong, the harried office worker who spends his days looking after the cabinet, the symptomers are just a headache; from the woman whose doppelganger broke up with her boyfriend, to the man with a ginkgo tree growing from his fingertip. And then there’s that guy who won’t stop calling, asking to be turned into a cat…A richly funny and fantastical novel about the strangeness at the heart of even the most ordinary lives, from one of South Korea’s most acclaimed novelists.Translated by Sean Lin HalbertFile Under: Fiction [ 12,000 Cans of Beer | Memory Mosaicers | Will Execution Inc. | Monkey of All Bombs ]

A dark, funny, deliciously different literary thriller about a jaded hitman, set in the criminal underworld of Seoul‘Kill Bill meets Murakami’ D. B. John, author of Star of the North‘A work of literary genius’ Karen Dionne, internationally bestselling author of Home‘I loved it!’ M. W. Craven, author of The Puppet Show‘You’ll be laughing out loud every five minutes’ You-jeong Jeong, author of The Good Son‘A mash-up of Tarantino and Camus set in contemporary Seoul’ Louisa Luna, author of Two Girls Down‘An incredible cast of characters’ Le monde‘Smart but lightning fast’ Brian Evenson, author of Last Days Plotters are just pawns like us. A request comes in and they draw up the plans. There’s someone above them who tells them what to do. And above that person is another plotter telling them what to do. You think that if you go up there with a knife and stab the person at the very top, that’ll fix everything. But no-one’s there. It’s just an empty chair. Reseng was raised by cantankerous Old Raccoon in the Library of Dogs. To anyone asking, it’s just an ordinary library. To anyone in the know, it’s a hub for Seoul’s organised crime, and a place where contract killings are plotted and planned. So it’s no surprise that Reseng has grown up to become one of the best hitmen in Seoul. He takes orders from the plotters, carries out his grim duties, and comforts himself afterwards with copious quantities of beer and his two cats, Desk and Lampshade.But after he takes pity on a target and lets her die how she chooses, he finds his every move is being watched. Is he finally about to fall victim to his own game? And why does that new female librarian at the library act so strangely? Is he looking for his enemies in all the wrong places? Could he be at the centre of a plot bigger than anything he’s ever known?

A thriller like you’ve never read one before, from the hottest new voice in Korean fiction‘Kill Bill meets Murakami’ D. B. John, author of Star of the North‘A work of literary genius’ Karen Dionne, internationally bestselling author of Home‘I loved it!’ M. W. Craven, author of The Puppet Show‘You’ll be laughing out loud every five minutes’ You-jeong Jeong, author of The Good Son‘A mash-up of Tarantino and Camus set in contemporary Seoul’ Louisa Luna, author of Two Girls Down‘An incredible cast of characters’ Le monde‘Smart but lightning fast’ Brian Evenson, author of Last Days Plotters are just pawns like us. A request comes in and they draw up the plans. There’s someone above them who tells them what to do. And above that person is another plotter telling them what to do. You think that if you go up there with a knife and stab the person at the very top, that’ll fix everything. But no-one’s there. It’s just an empty chair. Reseng was raised by cantankerous Old Raccoon in the Library of Dogs. To anyone asking, it’s just an ordinary library. To anyone in the know, it’s a hub for Seoul’s organised crime, and a place where contract killings are plotted and planned. So it’s no surprise that Reseng has grown up to become one of the best hitmen in Seoul. He takes orders from the plotters, carries out his grim duties, and comforts himself afterwards with copious quantities of beer and his two cats, Desk and Lampshade.But after he takes pity on a target and lets her die how she chooses, he finds his every move is being watched. Is he finally about to fall victim to his own game? And why does that new female librarian at the library act so strangely? Is he looking for his enemies in all the wrong places? Could he be at the centre of a plot bigger than anything he’s ever known?

A thriller like you’ve never read one before, from the hottest new voice in Korean fiction‘Kill Bill meets Murakami’ D. B. John, author of Star of the North‘A work of literary genius’ Karen Dionne, internationally bestselling author of Home‘I loved it!’ M. W. Craven, author of The Puppet Show‘You’ll be laughing out loud every five minutes’ You-jeong Jeong, author of The Good Son‘A mash-up of Tarantino and Camus set in contemporary Seoul’ Louisa Luna, author of Two Girls Down‘An incredible cast of characters’ Le monde‘Smart but lightning fast’ Brian Evenson, author of Last DaysPlotters are just pawns like us. A request comes in and they draw up the plans. There’s someone above them who tells them what to do. And above that person is another plotter telling them what to do. You think that if you go up there with a knife and stab the person at the very top, that’ll fix everything. But no-one’s there. It’s just an empty chair.Reseng was raised by cantankerous Old Raccoon in the Library of Dogs. To anyone asking, it’s just an ordinary library. To anyone in the know, it’s a hub for Seoul’s organised crime, and a place where contract killings are plotted and planned. So it’s no surprise that Reseng has grown up to become one of the best hitmen in Seoul. He takes orders from the plotters, carries out his grim duties, and comforts himself afterwards with copious quantities of beer and his two cats, Desk and Lampshade.But after he takes pity on a target and lets her die how she chooses, he finds his every move is being watched. Is he finally about to fall victim to his own game? And why does that new female librarian at the library act so strangely? Is he looking for his enemies in all the wrong places? Could he be at the centre of a plot bigger than anything he’s ever known?

In der südkoreanischen Hafenstadt Guam herrscht das Verbrechen. Um zu überleben, ist den Menschen jedes Mittel recht. Auch Huisu ist mit allen Wassern gewaschen. Seit zwanzig Jahren erledigt er für Old Son, den Kopf von Guams Unterwelt, die Drecksarbeit. Von Bestechung über Schmuggelei bis hin zum Auftragsmord – Huisu schreckt vor nichts zurück. Doch seine Loyalität wird nicht belohnt, und Huisu fristet ein trostloses Leben im Schatten des übermächtigen Old Son. Bis er eines Tages ein verlockendes Angebot von einem aufstrebenden Ganoven aus Guam bekommt …Entschlossen sagt sich Huisu von Old Son los und zieht mit dem berüchtigten Yangdong ein eigenes Glücksspiel-Geschäft auf. Aber Geld fällt nicht vom Himmel, und konkurrierende Kasinobetreiber bedrohen die beiden. Als schließlich eine fremde Gang versucht, die Macht in Guam zu übernehmen, geraten die Dinge außer Kontrolle … Mit Heißes Blut legt der koreanische Bestsellerautor Un-Su Kim einen weiteren aufwühlenden Krimi noir vor, der den Leser mitten ins südkoreanische Gangstermilieu entführt.

Ein Mann betrachtet einen alten Boxsack, der in seinem Garten an einem Zweig des Kakibaums hängt. Dieses Überbleibsel aus seiner Jugend ist der Ausgangspunkt für die Geschichte seines Lebens, von der High School bis ins Erwachsenenalter. Als Teenager wurde er von seinem Ethiklehrer zu Unrecht bestraft, weil er die herumwirbelnden Blätter vor dem Klassenzimmerfenster beobachtet hatte. Im Boxen findet der wütende junge Mann ein Ventil und einen Weg, sich der Welt zu stellen. Jab, das ist eine abrupt geschlagene Gerade – hier ist es die Titelgeschichte von Un-su Kims erster Kurzgeschichtensammlung. Darin begegnet man faszinierenden Menschen, die auf ihre Art Helden sind, ob nur für einen Tan oder ihr ganzes Leben lang. Un-su Kims Geschichten zeigen die Auswirkungen der Zeit auf Menschen und auf Dinge. Frei von direkter Gesellschaftskritik und unterschwelligen Botschaften schildern sie, wie die Protagonisten ihr Schicksal meistern – oder daran scheitern.