The books by Han Kang, the first South Korean to be awarded a Nobel Prize in literature, were sold out on Friday in most bookstores in her country, the day after the prestigious award was awarded.
The first Asian woman to win this prize, the short story writer, poet and novelist broke through abroad with her novel “The Vegetarian”, which won the Man Booker Prize in 2016.
The 53-year-old author was awarded the Nobel “for her intense poetic prose which confronts historical trauma and exposes the fragility of human life”, wrote the Swedish Academy.
Shortly after the announcement, which took place late Thursday in Seoul, the websites of the country’s main bookstores were saturated.
Ms. Han’s works quickly occupied the top ten places on the bestseller list of the Kyobo bookstore chain, which told AFP that it had sold 60,000 copies of its books early Friday, 451 times more than the day before.
“We are obviously delighted, it’s incredible to see so many people wanting to read books in one go,” Kyobo spokesperson Kim Hyun-jung told AFP. “Since there has never been a Nobel Prize in the Korean language, I think readers are both enthusiastic and unfamiliar.”
Shares of online bookstores like YES24 and Millie Seojae soared on Friday, reaching the +30% limit, which results in the stock’s suspension.
A spokesperson for YES24 reported to AFP the sale of nearly 80,000 copies of three of Han Kang’s books on Friday morning.
At a Kyobo store in central Seoul, a sign announced Friday that all of Han Kang’s Korean-language books had been sold, leaving only a few English-language editions on the shelves.
The author’s father, Han Seung-won, who is also a novelist, said he couldn’t believe the news, but said he was very proud: “There is nothing to throw away Kang’s novels. Each of them is a masterpiece.
Han Kang is one of 18 women to have received the Nobel Prize for Literature out of 121 winners.
“A South Korean woman winning the Nobel Prize for Literature is simply crazy,” rejoiced Kim Min-ji, a 27-year-old fan, noting that she “told everyone that she was going to become a great author.”
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