04
Book · 2016
The Hole
홀Paralyzed, disfigured, and unable to speak following a devastating car accident that claimed his wife, a university professor is left entirely at the mercy of his grieving mother-in-law, who systematically cuts him off from the outside world while obsessively digging a deep hole in the garden.
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This is a novel of slowly creeping desperation, and it made me squirm in a number of places. It isn't gory, it's just the psychological themes were intense for me. That means it was well translated, and I highly recommend it.
Mindi on Goodreads Now THIS is my kind of horror. Dark, psychological, terrifying. I will definitely be reading this again if it ever stops haunting my mind.
ThatBookish_deviant on Goodreads Just the idea of Korean horror in translation was enough to get me on board with this book. Even better, it’s reminiscent of both Han Kang and Shirley Jackson, a sly and sharp book that only slowly lets you see what it really is.
Book Riot Community on Goodreads The novel’s greatest hole is the mystery of being human over the long cycle of life. As Oghi thinks to himself, “To be human is to be saddled with emptiness.” Through revealing the holes haunting the three characters’ lives, the novel builds toward its chilling climax. The Hole is for readers who are unafraid of knowing that our life, and our loved ones, are strangers to us.
Krys Lee on World Literature Today The work is very short, under 200 pages, and can be read in a single sitting. The narrative is hypnotic and astounding; the opening chapters in particular are magnificent and were what compelled me to see it through to the end. The translation is exceptionally smooth and wonderful.
Sarah ~ on Goodreads
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