Nobel Prize in Literature 2024 winner Han Kang's books fly off the shelves in South Korea
The Hindu
Kyobo Book Centre sells out of Han Kang's books after her Nobel Prize in Literature 2024 win, causing frenzy in South Korea.
South Koreans flocked to book stores on Friday ( October 11, 2024) and crashed websites in a frenzy to snap up copies of the work of novelist Han Kang in her home country, after her unexpected win of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature.
However, the author herself was keeping out of the limelight.
The country's largest bookstore chain, Kyobo Book Centre, said sales of her books had rocketed on Friday (October 11, 2024), with stocks almost immediately selling out and set to be in short supply for the near future.
"This is the first time a Korean has received a Nobel Prize in Literature, so I was amazed," said Yoon Ki-heon, a 32-year-old visitor at a bookstore in central Seoul.
"South Korea had a poor achievement in winning Nobel Prizes, so I was surprised by news that [a writer of] non-English books, which were written in Korean, won such a big prize."
Soon after Thursday's (October 10, 2024) announcement, some bookstore websites could not be accessed due to heavy traffic. Out of the current 10 best sellers at Kyobo, nine were Han's books on Friday (October 11, 2024) morning, according to its website.
Ms. Han's father, well-regarded author Han Seung-won, said the translation of her novel "The Vegetarian", her major international breakthrough, had led to her winning the Man Booker International Prize in 2016 and now the Nobel prize.