the end of august
By yu miri / Translated from japanese by morgan giles
Shortlisted, 2024 Republic of Consciousness Prize
Longlisted, 2024 Gregg Barrios Book in Translation Prize
Winner, 2021 English PEN Translates Award
A multi-generational, multilingual epic by the National Book Award Winner and bestselling author and translator of Tokyo Ueno Station
In 1930s Japanese-occupied Korea, Lee Woo-Cheol was a running prodigy and a contender for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. But he would have had to run under the Japanese flag.
Nearly a century later, his granddaughter is living in Japan and training to run a marathon herself. With the help of powerful Korean shamans, she summons the spirit of Lee Woo-Cheol only to be immersed in the memories of her grandfather, his brother, Lee Woo-Gun, and their neighbour, a young teen who was tricked into becoming a comfort woman for Japanese soldiers.
A meditative dance of generations, The End of August is a semi-autobiographical investigation into nationhood and family - what you are born into and what is imposed. Yu Miri’s distinct prose, rhythmically translated by Morgan Giles, explores the minutiae of generational trauma, shedding light on the postwar migration of Koreans to Japan.
*this title doesn’t ship to North America
praise
“One thing Yu can do is write. She is simultaneously a social outcast and a literary star, a dark, brooding presence on the bookshelves. A creative genius.” —New York Times
“Morgan Giles' translation of Yu Miri's The End of August reads at a breathlessly swift pace despite, or because of, the painstakingly meticulous care put into every word and line. Yu's rich storytelling never loses its pace as Giles relays her depiction of the resilience of the Korean nation through the tragic consequences of colonialism that reverberate to this day.” — Anton Hur
“A compelling account of Korean and Japanese history, masterfully translated by Morgan Giles.” — The Irish Times
“A historical period in The End of August is as much a continuum of sensual experiences as it is a series of interconnected events”— Asymptote
contributors’ DETAILS
A Japanese author of Korean descent, Yu Miri is the winner of Japan's most prestigious literary prize, the Akutagawa, and several of her novels have been bestsellers, including the National Book Award-winning Tokyo Ueno Station. After the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, she relocated to Fukushima, the site of the disaster, where she currently hosts a radio show interviewing survivors.
Morgan Giles is a translator of Japanese fiction, currently based in London. Her translation of Yu Miri's Tokyo Ueno Station won the 2020 National Book Award for Translated Literature.
More information
Publication date: 29 June 2023
Extent: 720 pp
Format: Demi-paperback (216mm x 135 mm)
Rights held: World English excl. N America (Riverhead)
ISBNs: 978-1-911284-69-7/ 978-1-911284-68-0 (ebook)