Mimi is a performance artist. Kim Young-Ha’s ‘I have the right to destroy myself’ was a twisted new diversion in my reading. Wow! This undernourished story is intriguing, though only a germ of a novel. can anyone tell me what's the main topic of this book? I disagree that humans have the right to commit suicide. His head is wrapped in a towel, like a … Or is that just me reading too much into it. 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)? I Have the Right to Destroy Myself Young-Ha Kim, Author, Chi-Young Kim, Translator , trans. The author, painfully self-aware yet vacuous (like a high-school goth reading Rilke) almost screams in your ear, "I'm sophisticated, see? * Information Collected 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 * Retention Period 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” seeks out people who are lonely and depressed over the emptiness of life, and recommends suicide. Whether it be your grades or your relationships or maybe your past, there's always something. Or is that just me reading too much into it. All the characters did was have sex and kill themselves. Kim lives in Busan, South Korea. Until cancellation of subscription I said long ago, you get a signature and sign everything you do and keep a copy of it. And I'll never look at Chupa Chups the same way again. Overall, this was an ok read. Refresh and try again. "— Delivering KLN to the subscriber Optional information: postal address, phone number (in case your query or request is related to postal delivery) I'm willing to make the four star leap on this one, although I might change my mind after a re-read. 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. You have the right to disagree to the collection and use of your personal information. [The narrator is a person who looks for people who may want to kill themselves and then he helps them do it. She kills herself in a planned gas explosion with the help of the narrator. 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. You could accuse me of comparing him to other East Asian artists because he's also East Asian, but then some parts of this reminded me of the 2011 film. 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 picked this book on the basis of its title. I Have the Right to Destroy Myself. Kim triggers a progressive imagination that breaks “normalcy” apart by smuggling death back into the territory of contemporary society. The suicide assistant would be a perfect role for Lee Byung-hun: shit, he's played variations on the role a number of times. It aggravates them. However, in that case you cannot have the magazine delivered to you. Looking over other people's reviews, I'm kind of annoyed. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for I Have the Right to Destroy Myself by Young-ha Kim (2007, Trade Paperback) at the best online prices … Required information: name, email Not everything is about puppies, guys. Or whatever. by Young-Ha Kim ; translated by Chi-Young Kim ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2007. Reality is often pathetic.”, “Novels are food for the leftover hours of life, the in-between times, the moments of waiting.”. (required for contacting the subscriber in case the post is returned without delivery) Harcourt/Harvest $12 (119p) ISBN 978-0-15-603080-9 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)? He's a somewhat twisted angel of mercy, seeking out candidates and nudging them towards the deed, convincing them that suicide is the way to go. 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. His novel shakes the dichotomous perception of reality vs. illusion and life vs. death to the core. That’s why I sign myself now. Subscriber’s name, postal address, email, and phone number You have the right to disagree to the collection and use of your personal information. The contemplation of art, life and death was interesting, yet not so deep as to drag the book down into a more philosophical tone. Terms of Service Agreement social isolation in the big city, the usual sort of thing. This was just breathtakingly awful. Your not gonna change any of them by talkin' right, they've got to want to learn themselves, and when they don't want to learn there's nothing you can do but keep your mouth shut or talk their language. reminded me a little of a wong kar wai film but much darker, the writing reminded me of banana yoshimoto without her (relative) cheerfulness. Perhaps. A bit weird but it's a short, quick read. She has car sex with C during a snowstorm one day and disappears without a trace. Whenever I go paperback-hunting, I’m always on a furious lookout for intriguing, bizarre titles whereas I could easily dispose generic-sounding ones for latter consideration. 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. An interesting premise, with a subpar execution. 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. But as many scholars point out, contemporary civilization built on the “death of death” is in reality ruled over by the culture of death. (Read: I can be such a book-snob sometimes.). If someone want to kill themselves, then they have the right to go and seek help. It's one of those artsy-fartsy novels with no plot. * Purpose I saw this on RA's to-read list so I decided to copy him. Two women succeed in killing themselves. While watching her performance on video in her bathtub, Mimi slits her wrists. Published in South Korea in 1996. “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. We’d love your help. * Purpose 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. But, you know, it had some finer moments. 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. 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. It moved me in ways that made me feel sorry for the characters. As Michel Foucault pointed out, contemporary society is founded on the Lacanian foreclosure that has its roots in reason and power. Shit has been going for some years but now it's different now i literally lost myself my mind is fucking sick i hate everything and everyone and i keep pretending every day that i have a good normal life , guess i just don't fit in normal life. All three paintings have death motifs and function as the subconscious cause and object of the narrator, Mimi, and Judith’s fascination with death as an aesthetic. For the protagonist, suicide is a way of artistically condensing a boring, messy life, a ritual for the aesthetic perfection of life. His career as a professional writer started in 1995 right after discharge when his short-story A Meditation On Mirror (Geoure daehan myeongsang) appeared in Review, and the following year, won the 1st New Writer's Award given by Munhak Dongne with the novel, I Have a Right to Destroy Myself (Naneun nareul pagoehal gwolliga itda). His books have appeared in more than twelve languages. They also represent the themes of the novel, end of the revolution, eroticism, and bio-politics. hooray for south korean fiction! 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. But not in a feminist-y way. 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. 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. And cite that as a reason for it being bad. We collect the minimum personal information required to deliver Korean Literature Now (KLN) to our subscribers. "Othello does not kill Desdemona in jealousy, but in a conviction forced upon him by the almost superhuman art of Iago, such as any man must and would have entertained who had believed lago's honesty as Othello did. I like dark and rough, but (unfortunately) I also like well-written plots and characters to have shards of realism. I really enjoyed this book and its irreverent style. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published What resulted is actually more akin to a screenplay than any plumbing of the darkened corridors of the mind. It's not ladylike -- in the second place, folks don't like to have someone around knowin' more than they do. Nobody wants to have to clean up after you just because you decided you were bored with your life. Don't get me wrong, my delicate sensibilities were still offended. •Your parents pain , suffering,dreams and struggle they have gone through just for you,then kill yourself. Given my effusive lust for Korean cinema, I was excited to find Young-Ha Kim's debut on a remainder table for two dollars. That said, this clumsy collision of art, death and enn. 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. I think this book needs more than one reading to really make sense. If you think it is right to kill :- •Your precious life,you are getting once,then kill yourself. Not to mention the cover art. I am trying to write a small, elegant, and cruel book myself (hey there, publishers!). I'm writing about French art and suicide...that's what sophisticated authors write about...just ask everybody!". Until you ask to have your personal information removed 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. A sixteen-year-old Métis boy and the protagonist of the novel. I’m looking at Jacques-Louis David’s 1793 oil painting, “The Death of Marat,” printed in an art book. “The Death of Marat” symbolizes the end of the revolution through the death of a radical politician of the French Revolution, Marat. And I love the title. 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?”. The Jacobin revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat lies murdered in his bath. I have never run across a book about someone who assists others commit suicide. Start by marking “I Have the Right to Destroy Myself” as Want to Read: Error rating book. 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. Mimi, who has never seen her own performance, asks video artist C to film her performance. Such is a shame. everything was dark, man, dark. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. 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. They are solitary souls, prone to introspection, who have really grappled with their existence. There's a saying that "death is the survivor's affair". by Mariner Books. Where to begin with this book. Yes, it's not about puppies. Over-all, I have the right to destroy myself has been an exhilaratingly existential read. This kind of thinking is shallow and stupid. The first half read like Asian fetish porn, the second half like a nausea-inducing conversation between two undergrads about The Meaning of Art. 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] – ★★★★. He coaches them and runs errands for them in order to make it happen. Always. This undernourished story is intriguing, though only a germ of a novel. 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. This novel is an act of summary about human lives, as all novels are. A 2013 case in which an individual used a “self-defense” argument to justify shooting an officer who entered his home on a "no-knock warrant" was upheld by a jury. * Retention Period “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. 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. The nameless narrator of I Have the Right to Destroy Myself has an unusual job. 9780547540535, Toronto Public Library The suicide assistant would be a perfect role for Lee Byung-hun: shit, he's played variations on the role a number of times. 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. 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. After overseeing their suicides, the protagonist goes on a trip and fictionalizes their short lives. 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. Judith (Seyeon) works at a bar and has a habit of having sex with Chupa Chups in her mouth. 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. Perplexing. 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. A good story, cleverly told, and one that will prove very entertaining to a casual reader as well as a critical one. I have the right to destroy myself. 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. That said, this clumsy collision of art, death and ennui didn't move me. It looks intriguing, and I've not read much from Korea that's contemporary anyway. She’s dating K, a superspeed cab driver, but seduces his older brother C, who’s a video artist. People point out that it is quite disturbing, graphic, and often unpleasant. The protagonist/narrator of I Have the Right to Destroy Myself is a suicide designer. 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