Hunger

When hunger consumes you, what can be left of morality?

I could go to the police and confess. I could visit the priest and confess.
I ate a person. Is that a sin?

On an ordinary afternoon, a woman finds her soulmate dead in the street. She cradles the body to her chest and carries it home, where she disinfects every inch before beginning her macabre task.

As the man witnesses his own interment from beyond, their two voices - living and dead - tell of a country where the rich feast and the poor starve. But this woman is no longer willing to bow before law, money, or God.

A decade in the making, Hunger is a psychologically and philosophically thrilling cult phenomenon about love, capitalism, and the things they do to us.

Review

An instant cult classic. You have to read it to believe it ― Harper's Bazaar

A feast for the literary senses -- Anton Hur, translator of Cursed Bunny

Ambitious... A compelling read that will leave you wondering ― Esquire

If Parasite takes a wide angle, Hunger uses a tight shot in the vein of Han Kang's The Vegetarian ― ArtReview

Hunger cuts to the heart. Read at your peril -- Frances Cha, author of If I Had Your Face

Mesmerising. Inject it into my veins again -- Irenosen Okojie, author of Nudibranch

A novella as slender as it is profound -- Ling Ling Huang, author of Natural Beauty

A gutting, unforgettable ode to doomed love. Which is to say, all love -- Henry Hoke, author of Open Throat

Hunger glistens with raw and primal romance. I could not put it down -- Jade Song, author of Chlorine

I savoured every word. A novel of remarkable depth -- Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi, author of The Centre

About the Author

CHOI JIN-YOUNG began writing twenty years ago. She is now one of Korea's foremost novelists, having amassed several prestigious prizes, including the Yi Sang Literary Award, Hankyoreh Literary Award and Shin Dong-yup Literary Prize.

Her record-breaking novella, Hunger, has sold 400,000 copies and been translated into 10 languages.