Love in the Big City - Sang Young Park

Love in the Big City is the first novel of Sang Young Park to be translated into English and was longlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2022. Following the protagonist from his college years into his 30s, the book explores how his loves have defined his life. The novel is composed of 4 linked stories and is loosely based on the author’s own experiences and internal struggles. It is a vibrant and addictive read that explores the questions of self-identity and gay experiences in a conservative South Korean society where the queer community exists in the shadows. During his recent visit to Border Kitchen in The Hague, Sang Young Park spoke about his works and how his literary success went unacknowledged by his rather strict Catholic family: his parents have not read his books and tell their acquaintances that their son runs a supermarket. However, the popularity of Sang Young Park’s novel in his home country may be a sign of change.

Love in the Big City is an energetic, joyful, and moving novel that depicts both the glittering nighttime world of Seoul and the bleary-eyed morning-after.

Young is a cynical yet fun-loving Korean student who pinballs from home to class to the beds of recent Tinder matches. He and Jaehee, his female best friend and roommate, frequent nearby bars where they suppress their anxieties about their love lives, families, and money with rounds of soju and freezer-chilled Marlboro Reds. Yet in time even Jaehee settles down, leaving Young alone to care for his ailing mother and find companionship in his relationships with a series of men, including one whose handsomeness is matched by his coldness, and another who might end up being the great love of his life.

Longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2022

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