
Beasts of a Little Land
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Sue Jean Kim
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Raymond Lee
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By:
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Juhea Kim
About this listen
"A spectacular debut filled with great characters and heart.” (Lisa See, author of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan)
A Recommended Read from: USA Today * The Washington Post * Entertainment Weekly * The Today Show * Real Simple * Good Morning America * Harper's Bazaar * Buzzfeed * Fortune * Vulture * Goodreads * Lit Hub * Book Riot * PopSugar * E! Online * Ms. Magazine * Chicago Review of Books * Bustle * The Oregonian * The Millions
An epic story of love, war, and redemption set against the backdrop of the Korean independence movement, following the intertwined fates of a young girl sold to a courtesan school and the penniless son of a hunter
In 1917, deep in the snowy mountains of occupied Korea, an impoverished local hunter on the brink of starvation saves a young Japanese officer from an attacking tiger. In an instant, their fates are connected — and from this encounter unfolds a saga that spans half a century.
In the aftermath, a young girl named Jade is sold by her family to Miss Silver’s courtesan school, an act of desperation that will cement her place in the lowest social status. When she befriends an orphan boy named JungHo, who scrapes together a living begging on the streets of Seoul, they form a deep friendship. As they come of age, JungHo is swept up in the revolutionary fight for independence, and Jade becomes a sought-after performer with a new romantic prospect of noble birth. Soon Jade must decide whether she will risk everything for the one who would do the same for her.
From the perfumed chambers of a courtesan school in Pyongyang to the glamorous cafes of a modernizing Seoul and the boreal forests of Manchuria, where battles rage, Juhea Kim’s unforgettable characters forge their own destinies as they wager their nation’s. Immersive and elegant, Beasts of a Little Land unveils a world where friends become enemies, enemies become saviors, heroes are persecuted, and beasts take many shapes.
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In 1948, Najin and Calvin Cho, with their young daughter Miran, travel from South Korea to the United States in search of new opportunities. Wary of the challenges they know will face them, Najin and Calvin make the difficult decision to leave their other daughter, Inja, behind with their extended family; soon, they hope, they will return to her. But then war breaks out in Korea, and there is no end in sight to the separation. Miran grows up in prosperous American suburbia as Inja grapples in her war-torn land with ties to a family she doesn't remember.
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Amazing story
- By Farrah Brown on 06-28-19
By: Eugenia Kim
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The Forest of Stolen Girls
- By: June Hur
- Narrated by: Sue Jean Kim
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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1426, Joseon (Korea). Hwani's family has never been the same since she and her younger sister went missing and were later found unconscious in the forest near a gruesome crime scene. Years later, Detective Min - Hwani's father - learns that 13 girls have recently disappeared from the same forest that nearly stole his daughters. He travels to their hometown on the island of Jeju to investigate...only to vanish as well.
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Great story and plot!
- By saltybadgeradii on 04-21-21
By: June Hur
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Three Tigers, One Mountain
- A Journey Through the Bitter History and Current Conflicts of China, Korea, and Japan
- By: Michael Booth
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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There is an ancient Chinese proverb that states, "Two tigers cannot share the same mountain." However, in East Asia, there are three tigers on that mountain: China, Japan, and Korea, and they have a long history of turmoil and tension with each other. In his latest entertaining and thought-provoking narrative travelogue, Michael Booth sets out to discover how deep, really, the enmity is between these three "tiger" nations and what prevents them from making peace.
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Not much new here if you are already familiar
- By Neil Richert on 07-13-20
By: Michael Booth
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Brother's Keeper
- By: Julie Lee
- Narrated by: Cindy Kay
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Twelve-year-old Sora and her family live under an iron set of rules: No travel without a permit. No criticism of the government. No absences from Communist meetings. Wear red. Hang pictures of the Great Leader. Don't trust your neighbors. Don't speak your mind. You are being watched. But war is coming, war between North and South Korea, between the Soviets and the Americans. War causes chaos - so war is the perfect time to escape. The plan is simple: Sora and her family will walk for weeks from their tiny northern village to the South Korean city of Busan.
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Captivating Read!
- By Actual Customer on 12-11-20
By: Julie Lee
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Please Look After Mom
- By: Kyung-Sook Shin, Chi-Young Kim - translator
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall, Samantha Quan, Janet Song, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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A million-plus-copy best seller in Korea - a magnificent English-language debut poised to become an international sensation - this is the stunning, deeply moving story of a family’s search for their mother, who goes missing one afternoon amid the crowds of the Seoul Station subway. Told through the piercing voices and urgent perspectives of a daughter, son, husband, and mother, Please Look After Mom is at once an authentic picture of contemporary life in Korea and a universal story of family love.
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A Life, Deconstructed.
- By Amanda on 12-10-11
By: Kyung-Sook Shin, and others
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Human Acts
- A Novel
- By: Han Kang, Deborah Smith
- Narrated by: Sandra Oh, Deborah Smith - introduction, Greta Jung, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Amid a violent student uprising in South Korea, a young boy named Dong-ho is shockingly killed. The story of this tragic episode unfolds in a sequence of interconnected chapters as the victims and the bereaved encounter suppression, denial, and the echoing agony of the massacre. From Dong-ho’s best friend; to an editor struggling against censorship; to a prisoner and a factory worker, each suffering from traumatic memories; and to Dong-ho's own grief-stricken mother; and through their collective heartbreak and acts of hope is the tale of a brutalized people in search of a voice.
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Watchout for female reading the boy's part ch. 1!!
- By Kais on 03-23-25
By: Han Kang, and others
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Shoko's Smile
- Stories
- By: Eunyoung Choi, Sung Ryu - translator
- Narrated by: Jackie Chung, Janet Song, Greta Jung
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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In crisp, unembellished prose, Eunyoung Choi paints intimate portraits of the lives of young women in South Korea, balancing the personal with the political. In the title story, a fraught friendship between an exchange student and her host sister follows them from adolescence to adulthood. In "A Song from Afar", a young woman grapples with the death of her lover, traveling to Russia to search for information about the deceased. In "Secret", the parents of a teacher killed in the Sewol ferry sinking hide the news of her death from her grandmother.
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Beautiful
- By Ale on 07-29-24
By: Eunyoung Choi, and others
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If You Leave Me
- A Novel
- By: Crystal Hana Kim
- Narrated by: Greta Jung, Keong Sim
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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When the communist-backed army from the north invades her home, 16-year-old Haemi Lee, along with her widowed mother and ailing brother, is forced to flee to a refugee camp along the coast. For a few hours each night, she escapes her family’s makeshift home and tragic circumstances with her childhood friend, Kyunghwan. Focused on finishing school, Kyunghwan doesn’t realize his older and wealthier cousin, Jisoo, has his sights set on the beautiful and spirited Haemi - and is determined to marry her before joining the fight.
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Beautiful and compelling story!
- By Josh on 08-14-18
By: Crystal Hana Kim
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The White Book
- A Novel
- By: Han Kang, Deborah Smith
- Narrated by: Jennifer Kim
- Length: 1 hr and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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While on a writer’s residency, a nameless narrator focuses on the color white to creatively channel her inner pain. Through lyrical, interconnected stories, she grapples with the tragedy that has haunted her family, attempting to make sense of her older sister’s death using the color white. From trying to imagine her mother’s first time producing breast milk to watching the snow fall and meditating on the impermanence of life, she weaves a poignant, heartfelt story of the omnipresence of grief and the ways we perceive the world around us.
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Nobel deserved
- By tygerd on 05-23-25
By: Han Kang, and others
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The Court Dancer
- A Novel
- By: Kyung-Sook Shin
- Narrated by: Rosa Escoda
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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When a novice French diplomat arrives in Korea for an audience with the Emperor, he is enraptured by the Joseon Dynasty's magnificent culture. But all fades away when he sees Yi Jin perform the delicate traditional Dance of the Spring Oriole. Although well aware that women of the court belong to the palace, the young diplomat confesses his love to the Emperor and gains permission for Yi Jin to accompany him back to France. A world away in Belle Epoque Paris, Yi Jin lives a free, independent life away from the gilded cage of the court.
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Beautiful yet Tragic
- By Brittany Schmidt on 11-16-21
By: Kyung-Sook Shin
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A Brief History of Korea
- Isolation, War, Despotism and Revival: The Fascinating Story of a Resilient But Divided People
- By: Michael J. Seth
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Korea was one of the last countries in Asia to be visited by Westerners, and its borders have remained largely unchanged since it was unified in the seventh century. Though it is one of the world's oldest and most ethnically homogeneous states, Korea was not born in a vacuum. Geographically isolated, the country was heavily influenced by powerful China and was often used as a bridge to the mainland by Japan. Calling themselves as "a shrimp among whales", Koreans borrowed elements of government, culture, and religion, all the while fiercely fighting to maintain independence.
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Loved the historical context but ..
- By Kathy on 01-06-20
By: Michael J. Seth
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Korea
- A New History of South and North
- By: Victor Cha, Ramon Pacheco Pardo
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Korea has a long, riveting history—it is also a divided nation. South Korea is a vibrant democracy, the tenth largest economy, and is home to a world-renowned culture. North Korea is ruled by the most authoritarian regime in the world, a poor country in a rich region, and is best known for the cult of personality surrounding the ruling Kim family. But both Koreas share a unique common history. Victor Cha and Ramon Pacheco Pardo draw on decades of research to explore the history of modern Korea, from the late nineteenth century, Japanese occupation, and Cold War division to the present day.
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Good but Offers Little New Insight
- By Michael Allan Dawson on 10-19-24
By: Victor Cha, and others
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The Best Girls
- Disorder collection
- By: Min Jin Lee
- Narrated by: Greta Jung
- Length: 37 mins
- Unabridged
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An excellent student from a poor, traditional family in Seoul, the narrator has absorbed the same message her whole life: Only a boy can provide the family with dignity and wealth. Not her. Not her three sisters. Receiving approval only for uncomplaining sacrifice, she has resolved to take on her family’s troubles. She is a good girl. And she knows what good girls must do.
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Brings back sadness and hurt
- By Qats reads on 08-23-19
By: Min Jin Lee
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The Glass Palace
- By: Amitav Ghosh
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 17 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Set in Burma during the British invasion of 1885, this masterly novel by Amitav Ghosh tells the story of Rajkumar, a poor boy lifted on the tides of political and social chaos, who goes on to create an empire in the Burmese teak forest. When soldiers force the royal family out of the Glass Palace and into exile, Rajkumar befriends Dolly, a young woman in the court of the Burmese Queen, whose love will shape his life. He cannot forget her, and years later, as a rich man, he goes in search of her.
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I struggled to finish... enough said.
- By Ty on 05-02-10
By: Amitav Ghosh
Heartbreakingly beautiful
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Just what I needed
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Haunting story of lives in distant times in Korea
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Not bad
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Unarming Realisim
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Great history lesson
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This book showed me a new genre I love - following characters over many years to see their triumphs and losses - and introduced me to a beautiful and sordid history of parts of the world I knew nothing about. I will treasure these characters and life lessons forever!
Awakened me the love of a genre
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Brilliant characters from many parts of society.
Redemption and retribution are seen throughout.
A Korean epic
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Incredible
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Don’t understand the high ratings
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