I Have the Right to Destroy Myself

In the fast-paced, high-urban landscape of Seoul, C and K are brothers who have fallen in love with the same womanSe-yeonwho tears at both of them as they all try desperately to find real connection in an atomized world. A spectral, nameless narrator haunts the edges of their lives as he tells of his work helping the lost and hurting find escape through suicide. Dreamlike and beautiful, the South Korea brought forth in this novel is cinematic in its urgency and its reflection of contemporary life everywherefar beyond the boundaries of the Korean peninsula. Recalling the emotional tension of Milan Kundera and the existential anguish of Bret Easton Ellis, I Have the Right to Destroy Myself achieves its authors greatest wishto show Korean literature as part of an international tradition. Young-ha Kim is a young master, the leading literary voice of his generation.

YOUNG-HA KIM has published three novels and numerous short stories and has a daily radio show. He teaches drama at the Korean National University of Arts and has received all of Korea’s top literary awards. He lives in Seoul.