Whale by Cheon Myeong-Kwan, translated by Chi-Young Kim (Europa Editions, £14.99)
This eccentric debut novel, now shortlisted for the International Booker prize, has oodles of character, as well as oodles of characters. It largely concerns the antics of 6ft-tall Chunhui and her mother Geumbok. Everyone is described with cartoonish physicality: Geumbok has an “exceptionally wide rump” and a scent that “made men’s groins bulge despite themselves”, and the groins are pretty detailed, too: “If you have a ruler handy, take a look at how long that is.” When Geumbok discovers movies from the “Beautiful Country America”, she resolves to build a cinema – shaped like a whale. The chaotic story succeeds by black wit, even the worst things delivered with brio. Later on, Geumbok becomes a man. Her life is “filled with inexplicable complexity and irony” – just like this extraordinary book.
