AS IT IS 2016-05-18 South Korean Han Kang Wins Important Writing Prize
时间：2018-12-18 作者：英语课 分类：2016年VOA慢速英语(五)月
AS IT IS 2016-05-18 South Korean Han Kang Wins Important Writing Prize
South Korean writer Han Kang’s book, "The Vegetarian 1," came out in her home country many years ago. But the book was published in English only recently.
Han was named the winner of the Man Booker International Prize for Fiction on Monday.
The prize is one of the most important awards given for books translated into English and available in Britain. This is the first year is was awarded based on a single book. In the past, it was given to authors based on the full scope 2 of their work.
"The Vegetarian" is the first of Han’s books to be published in English. She has another book, "Human Acts," now available in English.
"The Vegetarian" was put on the short list of contenders for the award in April. Han learned 4 she won the prize earlier this week.
The other contenders were "A General Theory of Oblivion," by Angolan writer Jose Eduardo Agualusa, and "The Story of the Lost Child," by Italy’s Elena Ferrante.
Han will split 5 her $72,000 in prize money with her translator, Deborah Smith of England. Smith began studying Korean in 2010.
"The Vegetarian" tells the story of a South Korean woman named Yeong-hye.
Yeong-hye has a dream one night. The next morning, she opens the door to her family’s freezer, and throws away all of their meat.
The book documents the reactions of family members to her new way of eating. Eventually Yeong-hye decides she no longer needs food at all, just water and sunlight, like a plant.
The prize’s judges said the book showed “extraordinary poise 6 and tact 7 and control.”
The Washington Post published a critique of the book earlier this year. It called the story “surreal” and similar to something written by Franz Kafka, the famous Czech writer whose books came out over 100 years ago.
Han speaks English well, but only writes in Korean. In 1998, she attended a three-month class at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, part of the University of Iowa.
Han says she likes Deborah Smith’s way of writing because it “corresponds with the sentences I write in Korean,” according to BookPage.com.
Han’s next novel comes out next week in Korea.
Words in This Story
novel – n. a long written story usually about imaginary 8 characters and events
surreal – adj. very strange or unusual : having the quality of a dream
poise – adj. having or showing a calm, confident manner
tact – n. the ability to do or say things without offending 9 or upsetting other people
oblivion – n. the state of being destroyed
fiction – n. literature that tells stories which are imagined by the writer
contender 3 – n. someone who tries to win something in a competition; a person with a good chance of winning
- She got used gradually to the vegetarian diet.她逐渐习惯吃素食。
- I didn't realize you were a vegetarian.我不知道你是个素食者。
- There is limited scope for creativity in my job.我的工作中发挥创造力的空间有限。
- There is little scope for initiative in this job.这工作几乎没有发挥主动性的余地。
- a contender for a gold medal in the Olympics 奥运金牌的争夺者
- She has recently become a strong contender for the gold medal . 她最近已经成为一个金牌的强有力争夺者。
- He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
- In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。
- Who told you that Mary and I had split up?谁告诉你玛丽和我已经离婚了？
- The teacher split the class up into six groups.老师把班级分成6个小组。
- She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise.她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。
- Ballet classes are important for poise and grace.芭蕾课对培养优雅的姿仪非常重要。
- She showed great tact in dealing with a tricky situation.她处理棘手的局面表现得十分老练。
- Tact is a valuable commodity.圆滑老练是很有用处的。