AS IT IS 2016-05-18 South Korean Han Kang Wins Important Writing Prize

AS IT IS 2016-05-18 South Korean Han Kang Wins Important Writing Prize

South Korean writer Han Kang’s book, "The Vegetarian¹," came out in her home country many years ago. But the book was published in English only recently.

Han was named the winner of the Man Booker International Prize for Fiction on Monday.

The prize is one of the most important awards given for books translated into English and available in Britain. This is the first year is was awarded based on a single book. In the past, it was given to authors based on the full scope² of their work.

"The Vegetarian" is the first of Han’s books to be published in English. She has another book, "Human Acts," now available in English.

"The Vegetarian" was put on the short list of contenders for the award in April. Han learned⁴ she won the prize earlier this week.

The other contenders were "A General Theory of Oblivion," by Angolan writer Jose Eduardo Agualusa, and "The Story of the Lost Child," by Italy’s Elena Ferrante.

Han will split⁵ her $72,000 in prize money with her translator, Deborah Smith of England. Smith began studying Korean in 2010.

"The Vegetarian" tells the story of a South Korean woman named Yeong-hye.

Yeong-hye has a dream one night. The next morning, she opens the door to her family’s freezer, and throws away all of their meat.

The book documents the reactions of family members to her new way of eating. Eventually Yeong-hye decides she no longer needs food at all, just water and sunlight, like a plant.

The prize’s judges said the book showed “extraordinary poise⁶ and tact⁷ and control.”

The Washington Post published a critique of the book earlier this year. It called the story “surreal” and similar to something written by Franz Kafka, the famous Czech writer whose books came out over 100 years ago.

Han speaks English well, but only writes in Korean. In 1998, she attended a three-month class at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, part of the University of Iowa.

Han says she likes Deborah Smith’s way of writing because it “corresponds with the sentences I write in Korean,” according to BookPage.com.

Han’s next novel comes out next week in Korea.

Words in This Story

novel – n. a long written story usually about imaginary⁸ characters and events

surreal – adj. very strange or unusual : having the quality of a dream

poise – adj. having or showing a calm, confident manner

tact – n. the ability to do or say things without offending⁹ or upsetting other people

oblivion – n. the state of being destroyed

fiction – n. literature that tells stories which are imagined by the writer

contender³ – n. someone who tries to win something in a competition; a person with a good chance of winning

1 vegetarian   

n.素食者；adj.素食的

参考例句：

• She got used gradually to the vegetarian diet.她逐渐习惯吃素食。
• I didn't realize you were a vegetarian.我不知道你是个素食者。

2 scope   

n.（处理、研究事物的）范围，余地，机会

参考例句：

• There is limited scope for creativity in my job.我的工作中发挥创造力的空间有限。
• There is little scope for initiative in this job.这工作几乎没有发挥主动性的余地。

3 contender   

n.参赛者

参考例句：

• a contender for a gold medal in the Olympics 奥运金牌的争夺者
• She has recently become a strong contender for the gold medal . 她最近已经成为一个金牌的强有力争夺者。

4 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

5 split   

n.劈开，裂片，裂口；adj.分散的；v.分离，分开，劈开

参考例句：

• Who told you that Mary and I had split up?谁告诉你玛丽和我已经离婚了？
• The teacher split the class up into six groups.老师把班级分成6个小组。

6 poise   

vt./vi. 平衡，保持平衡；n.泰然自若，自信

参考例句：

• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise.她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。
• Ballet classes are important for poise and grace.芭蕾课对培养优雅的姿仪非常重要。

7 tact   

n.机敏，圆滑，得体

参考例句：

• She showed great tact in dealing with a tricky situation.她处理棘手的局面表现得十分老练。
• Tact is a valuable commodity.圆滑老练是很有用处的。

8 imaginary   

adj.想象中的，假想的，虚构的，幻想的；虚数的

参考例句：

• All the characters in this book are imaginary.此书中的所有人物都是虚构的。
• The boy's fears were only imaginary.这小孩的恐惧只是一种想象。

9 offending   

adj.不愉快的；厌恶的v.冒犯(offend的ing形式)

参考例句：

• The offending paragraph was deleted. 令某些人不悦的那段话已经删除。
• The petty clerk was afraid of offending his boss. 这个小职员不敢得罪他的老板。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》