From books about disintegrating relationships and countries to a worker’s-eye view of Korea and a story of farmers in Brazil, the selected titles engage with current realities, say the judging panel
Korean writer Hwang Sok-yong and German author Jenny Erpenbeck appear on this year’s International Booker shortlist, which features books exploring “divided families and divided societies”, according to prize administrator Fiammetta Rocco.
Hwang is shortlisted for his ninth novel translated into English, Mater 2-10, translated by Sora Kim-Russell and Youngjae Josephine Bae. The nearly 500-page novel traces a century of Korean history through the story of three generations of a family of rail workers and a laid-off factory worker. In her Guardian review, Maya Jaggi said it provides “a worker’s-eye view of the 20th-century history surrounding Korea’s partition”. It is the third year running that a South Korean author has been shortlisted for the prize.
