The White Book
Living, Grief, Death
Fiction
Published by Granta - Portobello Books
A stunning meditation on the colour white – about light, about death and about ritual.
From the author of ‘The Vegetarian’ and ‘Human Acts’ comes a book like no other. ‘The White Book’ is a meditation on colour, beginning with a list of white things. It is a book about mourning, rebirth and the tenacity of the human spirit. It is a stunning investigation of the fragility, beauty and strangeness of life.
Buy this book
Reviews
"‘The White Book’ is a mysterious text, perhaps in part a secular prayer book … Translated seamlessly by Smith, ‘The White Book’ succeeds in reflecting Han’s urgent desire to transcend pain with language."
“‘The White Book’ is a profound and precious thing, its language achingly intimate, each image haunting and true. It is a remarkable achievement. Han Kang is a genius.”
“[Han Kang] in her new work transgresses literary convention and … examines the constellation of pain at the heart of her mother's first pregnancy … Shot through with pain and paradox … Kang transforms obliteration into promise. Loss and living are counterpointed, neither meaning revoked.”
