“The Death of Marat” symbolizes the end of the revolution through the death of a radical politician of the French Revolution, Marat. His books have appeared in more than twelve languages. They have an obligation to their family, friends, and society. Mateo Askaripour is a Brooklyn-based writer whose debut novel, Black Buck—which Colson Whitehead calls a “mesmerizing novel, executing a high... To see what your friends thought of this book. I Have the Right to Destroy Myself. I Have the Right To Destroy Myself by Young-Ha Kim Translated by Chi-Young Kim A Harvest Original/Harcourt 2007 (1996) Trade Paperback 119 pages Fiction. His head is wrapped in a towel, like a … The ice cold, passionless sex scenes were a joy to read. from the Korean by Chi-Young Kim. For the protagonist, suicide is a way of artistically condensing a boring, messy life, a ritual for the aesthetic perfection of life. 1 of 1 2 of 1. Short, Sexy and Suicidal--Like Peoples’ names, Book Titles matter a lot to me because they’re the easiest preludes in getting to know stories and how potentially good or bad they are. Whether it be your grades or your relationships or maybe your past, there's always something. Perhaps. In I Have the Right to Destroy Myself, life, illusion, death, and desire travel across each other’s boundaries. There was a lot of sexual overtones which probably didn't help. Harcourt/Harvest $12 (119p) ISBN 978-0-15-603080-9 I like dark and rough, but (unfortunately) I also like well-written plots and characters to have shards of realism. I am trying to write a small, elegant, and cruel book myself (hey there, publishers!). Young-Ha Kim's I Have the Right to Destroy Myself. However, if you disagree, we won’t be able your query through email. By Young-Ha Kim, translated by Chi-Young Kim. Answering your query And if someone asks me the kind of question I myself might pose, I can tell he's lonely.” ― Young-Ha Kim, I Have the Right to Destroy Myself The narrator confused me a little bit, but I'm pretty sure that was intentional characterization of him as a spectre of death or whatever. Until you ask to have your personal information removed I Have the Right to Destroy Myself is a novella set in mid-90s Seoul, a story in which a shadowy narrator talks about a group of young people going about their lives in the Korean capital. However, in that case you cannot have the magazine delivered to you. A good story, cleverly told, and one that will prove very entertaining to a casual reader as well as a critical one. It aggravates them. I was kind of confused by a lot of the characters (not that there were that many characters to begin with)...and their motivations and whatnot, but I think it's probably a sign of good literature when the characters are believeable enough for you to wonder about their motivations and to ponder their honesty. It feels like the author was trying too hard, but nor the narrative nor the characters ever really get any depth, rendering an unsatisfying reading experience. That somehow, we are urged by this desire to destroy ourselves in order to uncover something that seems unreachable, far, far away...and that in itself is beautiful. Kim Young-ha’s critique of society has in its undercurrent a critique of contemporary civilization. “I” seeks out people who are lonely and depressed over the emptiness of life, and recommends suicide. * Retention Period A strange, disturbing but interesting read. After I put it down, there was a strange feeling in the back of my jaw. That’s why I sign myself now. It's not ladylike -- in the second place, folks don't like to have someone around knowin' more than they do. He coaches them and runs errands for them in order to make it happen. The novel poses the question: If humans desire life, couldn’t they also desire death, which is a part of life? This was just breathtakingly awful. We’d love your help. He has earned a reputation as the most talented and prolific Korean writer of his generation, publishing seven novels and five collections of stories. I saw this on RA's to-read list so I decided to copy him. Kim Young-ha’s “I Have The Right To Destroy Myself” is a short novel that attempts quite a lot and achieves almost everything it attempts. This kind of thinking is shallow and stupid. Given my effusive lust for Korean cinema, I was excited to find Young-Ha Kim's debut on a remainder table for two dollars. I said long ago, you get a signature and sign everything you do and keep a copy of it. The protagonist gave advice on her suicide as well. Death Reborn: I Have the Right to Destroy Myself by Kim Young-ha. I don't know if this fulfilled all my goals, but it has a beauty to it, its sense of Korean melancholy (hey kids, let's learn about, I Have the Right to Destroy Myself [1996] – ★★★★. 9780547540535, Toronto Public Library As critic Nam Jin-woo so aptly puts it, the death aesthetic of Kim Young-ha is a resistance against a world that has castrated death. After overseeing their suicides, the protagonist goes on a trip and fictionalizes their short lives. I knew this novel was going to uncover the themes of death and suicide, but I was quite surprised by the author's flair in capturing the sense of death for the characters as something both romantic and mysteriously desirous. A bit weird but it's a short, quick read. by Young-Ha Kim ; translated by Chi-Young Kim ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2007. Get this from a library! “Judith,” which depicts Judith smiling with Holofernes’ severed head in her hands, is a reference to Georges Bataille’s concept of eroticism, namely the ecstasy felt in close approximation of death. And I love the title. Kim lives in Busan, South Korea. She has car sex with C during a snowstorm one day and disappears without a trace. Perplexing. The protagonist/narrator of I Have the Right to Destroy Myself is a suicide designer. I think this book needs more than one reading to really make sense. From his debut book, I Have the Right to Destroy Myself. I love the almost banal quality Kim gives to his sex scenes, even if I don't always believe the women he depicts exist in real life. She’s dating K, a superspeed cab driver, but seduces his older brother C, who’s a video artist. I was a little confused by the characters, and the fact that this was translated kind of made me wonder what their original names were...like were C and K given those names because they can sound the same but look different (with K being more...harsh in comparison to the curved, simple C)? But, you know, it had some finer moments. Human beings have an obligation to more than just themselves. That said, this clumsy collision of art, death and ennui didn't move me. Start by marking “I Have the Right to Destroy Myself” as Want to Read: Error rating book. Wow! It has an air of universality about it, perhaps because its theme is of a concept irrefragable as sunlight to us all. I really enjoyed this book and its irreverent style. What resulted is actually more akin to a screenplay than any plumbing of the darkened corridors of the mind. The book is set in Seoul and deals with rather dark and uncomfortable issues. His novel shakes the dichotomous perception of reality vs. illusion and life vs. death to the core. Delivering KLN to the subscriber Someone who lives for nothing is capable of anything, while someone dedicated to an ideal is vulnerable because they have something to lose. I disagree that humans have the right to commit suicide. The English editions of Kim Young-ha’s I Have the Right to Destroy Myself, Your Republic Is Calling You, and Black Flower were published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, who will also publish his latest book in 2017. Then you’ll know what you done and you can hold up the crime to the punishment and see do they match and in the end you’ll have something to prove you ain’t been treated right. Mimi is a performance artist. Optional information: postal address, phone number (in case your query or request is related to postal delivery) We collect the minimum personal information required to deliver Korean Literature Now (KLN) to our subscribers. The contemplation of art, life and death was interesting, yet not so deep as to drag the book down into a more philosophical tone. The story features multiple narrators. Terms of Service Agreement Kim Young-ha’s I Have the Right to Destroy Myself (1996) connects reality and illusion and life and death in the way a Mobius strip creates a curved surface with an indistinguishable inside and outside. Three times now. Until cancellation of subscription Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published I own this, an autographed copy (Mr. Kim crossed out his name on the title page, then rewrote it again... in English haha whaa?~), and read it about a year ago. This novel is an act of summary about human lives, as all novels are. And cite that as a reason for it being bad. Because there seemed to be an awareness of English in the book, since people were referenced as swearing in English and it was alluded to that only book. hooray for south korean fiction! Yes, it's not about puppies. Young-ha Kim is a young master, the leading literary voice of his generation. People point out that it is quite disturbing, graphic, and often unpleasant. Over-all, I have the right to destroy myself has been an exhilaratingly existential read. Two women succeed in killing themselves. 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. It moved me in ways that made me feel sorry for the characters. I'm glad it was short. That said, this clumsy collision of art, death and enn. “Death of Sardanapalus,” which depicts Sardanapalus killing his courtesans before the fall of Babylon, is a metaphor for the bio-political situation in contemporary society where the matter of an individual’s death is subject to government rule. Judith (Seyeon) works at a bar and has a habit of having sex with Chupa Chups in her mouth. I had no idea what I was getting into when I started reading. The first half read like Asian fetish porn, the second half like a nausea-inducing conversation between two undergrads about The Meaning of Art. A sixteen-year-old Métis boy and the protagonist of the novel. Kim was a resident writer at the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program in 2003, and a contributing op-ed writer for The New York Times from 2013 to 2014. Young-ha … What resulted is actually more akin to a screenplay than any plumbing of the darkened corridors of the mind. There's a saying that "death is the survivor's affair". If the book had been longer, I might have stopped reading it or skimmed through til the end. Published in South Korea in 1996. Active Themes Later, when Scout gets up for water, she stops in the hallway and listens to Uncle Jack tell Atticus that he’ll never have children after Scout’s dressing down earlier. You have the right to disagree to the collection and use of your personal information. Always. The Giver is passing on insight to Jonas about being a Receiver. So far as I’m concerned the front-cover blurb from Han Ong bore no relation whatsoever to the book I read: Small, elegant, and cruel, this is the sort of book I treasure. * Information Collected And they know such introspection, though painful, is secretly exhilarating. As Michel Foucault pointed out, contemporary society is founded on the Lacanian foreclosure that has its roots in reason and power. His novel shakes the dichotomous perception of reality vs. illusion and life vs. death to the core. I have typed a couple of sentences and deleted. * Information Collected (required for contacting the subscriber in case the post is returned without delivery) I Have the Right to Destroy Myself (Harvest Original) Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Required information: name, email They are solitary souls, prone to introspection, who have really grappled with their existence. It's one of those artsy-fartsy novels with no plot. I Have the Right to Destroy Myself [1996] – ★★★★ Kim Young-Ha is a South Korean author and this is his debut novel, which was first translated into English in 2007. This undernourished story is intriguing, though only a germ of a novel. And I'll never look at Chupa Chups the same way again. The protagonist asks , borrowing Shakespeare’s words, “Then is it sin to rush to the secret house of death ere death dare come to us?”. What I enjoyed about this book is that the author did not do much to particularly underscore his culture, thus resulting into a kind of all-inclusive story bare of any measured identity. There were a couple of quotable beautiful passages. I was a little confused by the characters, and the fact that this was translated kind of made me wonder what their original names were...like were C and K given those names because they can sound the same but look different (with K being more...harsh in comparison to the curved, simple C)? * Purpose Or is that just me reading too much into it. by John Burns on August 29th, 2007 at 11:20 AM. I HAVE THE RIGHT TO DESTROY MYSELF. I have the right to destroy myself. Quick but weird read. The suicide assistant would be a perfect role for Lee Byung-hun: shit, he's played variations on the role a number of times. 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. I Have the Right to Destroy Myself makes significant allusions to three paintings: “The Death of Marat” by Jacques-Louis David, “Judith” by Gustav Klimt, and “Death of Sardanapalus” by Eugene Delacroix. I like nitty-gritty. The nameless narrator of I Have the Right to Destroy Myself has an unusual job. Afterwards, it was disappointing. Asking for Uncle Jack to be fair with her also shows that her sense of right and wrong is well-developed, even if she’s not fully aware of how her world functions. 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. I have never run across a book about someone who assists others commit suicide. Frenchie lost Dad, Mom, and his older brother, Mitch, by the time he was eleven.Though he loves the family he's found with Miig and the other children with whom he travels, Frenchie is deeply scarred by his parents' absences, in particular. I Have the Right to Destroy Myself is a multi-layered text, dominated by a nameless narrator who helps (or, more accurately, prods) people to commit suicide. July 2nd 2007 Dreamlike and cinematic, I Have the Right to Destroy Myself is a brilliant demonstration of why Young-ha Kim is Korea s leading young literary master. Not everything is about puppies, guys. I liked that it went into the relationship between death and art and the glorification of death in art but a lot of it unsettled me. You have the right to disagree to the collection and use of your personal information. I have read books about serial killers, mass murderers, sexual sadists, and freaks. Reality is often pathetic.”, “Novels are food for the leftover hours of life, the in-between times, the moments of waiting.”. by Mariner Books. Just as madmen were alienated and institutionalized in the process of establishing modern social order, contemporary society was established by systematically excluding death from the masses’ metaphorical circulation. Kim Young-ha’s I Have the Right to Destroy Myself (1996) connects reality and illusion and life and death in the way a Mobius strip creates a curved surface with an indistinguishable inside and outside. Mimi, who has never seen her own performance, asks video artist C to film her performance. 3 stars because part one was amazing. I have noticed with most of the suicidal people I have met (including myself at one point) that there is always something that drives suicide into their minds. 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