Looking for a poignant and rich novel that reads like a poem? Then you will love The Magical Language of Others: A Memoir, a Korean novel that explores language, family, and culture.
About the South of Seoul Virtual Book Club
Looking for book recommendations? Welcome to the South of Seoul book club. We recommend a book every month. Such recommended books explore topics like 1) South Korean history or culture, 2) the complexity of cross-cultural life, 4) the exploration of life within the diaspora experience, and 5) lenses on Korean culture around the world.
Commitment to Accessibility
South of Seoul volunteers take book accessibility into consideration when recommending titles. We consider:
- Purchasable in English In Korea: Many translated titles can’t actually be purchased in English in Korea,
- Audio Version Available: Many people find audiobooks easier to consume.
- Online Versions.: International residents can’t afford to travel with many books. Also, many books may not be available in digital form from within Korea.
Commitment to Diverse Lived Experiences
South of Seoul volunteers seek to put lived experiences at the forefront of their recommendation choices. When considering authors we look for such things as:
- Korean authors writing about their lived experiences in Korea.
- International residents writing about their lived experiences in South Korea.
- Ethnic Koreans writing about their lived experience in other countries.
Reading about Korean culture from a variety of perspectives may provide readers with a greater understanding of the country and culture.
Commitment to Supporting Mental Health
South of Seoul also includes book recommendations that support the lives and mental health of our community. This means that books may tackle the issues related to living between cultures. This may include topics such as culture shock, language, relationships, and more.
Book Recommendation by Lanae Rivers-Woods
June’s South of Seoul Book Club recommendation, The Magical Language of Others: A Memoir, is brought to you by South of Seoul founder, Lanae Rivers-Woods. Rivers-Woods founded South of Seoul in 2015 and has lived in South Korea since 2011. She launched the South of Seoul book club in 2022 when volunteers suggested creating a reading list for those who just moved to Korea.
About The Author
Korean-American author E.J. Koh wrote The Magical Language of Others: A Memoir as an homage to her family and history. She was born in Seoul, South Korea, and then moved to the United States as a child. Koh’s writing reflects her experiences of migration, identity, and language.
Ms. Koh’s work spans several genres. Poetry, memoir, and translation are her main areas. “The Magical Language of Others” is one of her acclaimed memoirs. It won the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award. However, Koh isn’t just an author, she is also a translator. Through her translation work, she brings modern Korean poetry to English-speaking audiences. Her translations are praised for their nuance and sensitivity.
Author Koh earned her MFA from Columbia University. She completed her PhD at the University of Washington. Koh is a recipient of multiple fellowships which include ones from the American Literary Translators Association and MacDowell.
My Experience Reading The Magical Language of Others: A Memoir
As always, I read nothing about the author before starting this book. However, within the first chapter of The Magical Language of Others: A Memoir it felt obvious that the author was a poet. The book reads like an epic poem woven between countries, cultures, languages, and relationships. Instead of following time, it follows emotional rhythms and memories.
Although I am not Korean, the book felt personal to me. Maybe because my life exists almost like the bizarro world version of the author’s life. I think living between languages, cultures, and continents brings a complexity to life that’s hard to explain, and yet Koh does it perfectly. While reading about such things, The Magical Language of Others: A Memoir felt like walking through a warm rain, both uncomfortable and comforting at the same time.
Even if you don’t care about reading phrases that taste like vanilla buttercream, you should read The Magical Language of Others: A Memoir for the history and the awareness of what it means to be an immigrant and how such choices echo through history.
Also, The Magical Language of Others: A Memoir is one of the best books I’ve read in decades. Her words are lullabies for the displaced. Go read it immediately.
Online Purchasing Link
You can purchase The Magical Language of Others: A Memoir in English on Amazon.
Find More Book Club Recommendations
Did you like this recommendation? Be sure to explore our other volunteer-recommended books.
South of Seoul Book Club List for 2023
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Follow the lives of a mistress and servant during the Japanese occupation of Korea in “Can’t I Go Instead.” Lee Geum-yi explores the complex relationship between the women, examining the extent to which loyalty and deception can be used to survive. About the South of Seoul Book Club If you are familiar with the series,…
Founded in 2015, the South of Seoul team consists of volunteers on three continents working together to support English-speaking people traveling or living in South Korea. South of Seoul volunteers work with organizations and individuals across South Korea to improve equitable access to information across South Korea. Much of South of Seoul’s information focuses on Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea.
Blogs published under the authorship of “South of Seoul” include blogs compiled by multiple volunteers to improve access to standardized information unrelated to individualized personal experiences.
