{"product_id":"the-melancholy-of-untold-history-a-novel-isbn-9780063337558","title":"The Melancholy of Untold History: A Novel","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA beautifully crafted, enriching saga inspired by East Asian mythology, \u003cem\u003eThe Melancholy of Untold History\u003c\/em\u003e is Minsoo Kang’s debut novel, steeped in history like R.F. Kuang’s \u003cem\u003eBabel\u003c\/em\u003e, epic in scope like Anthony Doerr’s \u003cem\u003eCloud Cuckoo Land\u003c\/em\u003e, and lyrically exciting like David Mitchell’s \u003cem\u003eCloud Atlas\u003c\/em\u003e, interweaving four complex yet entertaining stories as they shape and create a nation’s literary narrative through the themes of love and grief.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA history professor mourning his wife. His young protégé’s search for a path forward. Four witty mountain gods with much to say and not enough time to listen. A gifted storyteller bringing a world into being out of thin air...\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFamous for his dispelling of the national myth, the Historian understands the power of narrative. He has inspired another young professor to search for her own truths, while trying to understand the way fiction creates fact and how sometimes the past can only be understood by filling in holes with a new narrative. Which is exactly what he needs when his wife passes away to parse meaning out of a world that no longer makes sense. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTogether the protégé and the Historian find comfort in each other. Yet they know their time together is fleeting, as time usually is. Only the gods have an abundance of time, and yet—the two discover—even that might not be so clear cut. Part of their homeland’s myth tells of four gods who squabbled and argued and destroyed and rebuilt time and again. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOr did they?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBecause, of course, even the gods need mouthpieces on earth. And the one the Historian knows of—the elusive Storyteller—may have just been spinning tales for his own amusement and, ultimately, revenge. By fabricating the exploits of the gods, he could have set a course for certain events to unfold and a particular story to survive today. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSpanning 3,000 years and multiple voices—with tales within tales woven expertly together—\u003cem\u003eThe Melancholy of Untold History\u003c\/em\u003e reveals a people and its individuals who seek to confront the hardships of life through storytelling. Mixing the East Asian mythos with a postmodern approach to standard sci-fi\/fantasy narrative tropes, Minsoo Kang has created a challenging, beautiful, sad, humorous, and ultimately unforgettable novel of love, grief, and myth-making.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e | \u003cp\u003e“In these strange, difficult times when fiction writers (and readers!) must be wondering how invented stories can possibly compete with the twists and turns of contemporary reality, Minsoo Kang has written a novel that amply rises to the challenge. \u003cem\u003eThe Melancholy of Untold History\u003c\/em\u003e is a fabulist narrative told by a modern-day historian, a two-thousand-year-old storyteller awaiting execution by a merciless emperor, and a panoply of potty-mouthed deities. Think \u003cem\u003eGame of Thrones\u003c\/em\u003e crossed with \u003cem\u003eMoana\u003c\/em\u003e crossed with office hours at an Ivory Tower university. If this sounds like nothing you’ve ever read before, then you’re on the right track because this novel is like nothing you’ve ever read before. It is an exhilarating carnival ride that whirls between myth and love story, intellectual asides (the author is a historian) and the most colorful fart jokes ever written in English. The reader is meant to hold on tight and keep her wits about her. If she can do this, then she will be rewarded with golden dumplings from the diaper of a Sky Baby. And also a really good story.”  - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eYoojin Grace Wuertz, author of Everything Belongs to Us\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Minsoo Kang’s lucid prose and steadfast dedication to climbing the peaks of truth will easily enchant the readers of \u003cem\u003eThe Melancholy of Untold \u003c\/em\u003eHistory, lulling them into a waking dream of stolen peaches, academic infighting, treacherous cavalry, and dragon farts. Surprise, joy, resignation, fear, laughter, kisses, cats—all play their part in a tale as natural and complex as the course of a river, and as satisfyingly whole as requited love. Given Kang’s Korean literary heritage, his training as a historian, and his globetrotting early life as a diplomat’s son, the inclusion of the bright star of Kang’s fiction in the constellation of important genre works delivers a powerful, timely message: our imagination’s many diverse viewpoints will inevitably be heard.”  - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNisi Shawl, author of Everfair\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eThe Melancholy of Untold History \u003c\/em\u003eis a delight. A historian teaches himself to reach into the world of fable and myth to complete a story he cannot otherwise tell, and a new genre is born. That's the novel's main character, but it is also Kang, giving us a profound exploration of the possibilities of narrative, of how we tell stories and why, and how they can change not only a person but a culture. Kang's scholarly background has born extraordinary fruit: a debut novel only he could write about the ways we know ourselves and others, which is to say, story. And with, it should be said, an 'extraordinary fruit' plot as well.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAlexander Chee, author of How to Write an Autobiographical Novel\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"This colorful debut novel from historian Kang parallels a tale of modern love with a chronicle of a Scheherazade-like storyteller from the distant past... Kang delivers an impressive reimagining of Asian folk traditions, combined with a deeply touching modern love story... Much to admire.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"With his quietly magical debut, Kang delivers a book that only a history professor such as himself could write. The novel switches between a profoundly personal story of loss and a grand, mythic epic, poking at the varied ethics and aims of historicism as it goes.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBustle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A stupendous feat of erudite imagination and a convincing treatise on the timeless cultural value of storytelling... Kang presents a tri-fold puzzle with intriguing pieces that could stand alone, but bound together make a radiant whole...Remarkable are the promises of new starts, new endings, and new adventures.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist (starred review)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"The author’s tone is both humorous and poignant, the stories-within-the-story are rich with adventure and detail, and the guiding philosophy will resonate with any reader who thinks about the difficulty of reconciling one’s past memories with one’s present reality. This is a unique and moving reading experience that I found enchanting.\" (Editor's Pick) - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eHistorical Novel Society\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Delightful and spellbinding...he thoughtful aloofness of Kang’s narration allows him to punctuate quiet, heartfelt meditations on the nature of grief with fart jokes...I can’t remember the last time a book made me laugh so immediately after making me cry.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eThe Melancholy of Untold History \u003c\/em\u003eis a delight. Kang's scholarly background has born extraordinary fruit: a debut novel only he could write about the ways we know ourselves and others, which is to say, story. And with, it should be said, an 'extraordinary fruit' plot as well.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAlexander Chee, author of How to Write an Autobiographical Novel\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Minsoo Kang’s first novel, \u003cem\u003eThe Melancholy of Untold History\u003c\/em\u003e, is an enchanting and ingenious tale about storytellers and the nature of stories, awhirl with gods and myths and the lives of everyday people. Its clear prose and feast of narrative invention make it hard to put down. Highly recommended.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJeffrey Ford, author of Ahab's Return and Big Dark Hole and Other Stories\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"The Melancholy of Untold History\u003c\/em\u003e reveals the mortal stakes of the stories we tell about who we are as a people: how our notions of history profoundly shape who we become. It performs this high-wire act by interspersing narratives of “the storyteller” and “the historian,” alternately luring us in with myths and challenging us with truths. Lofty in its ambition yet grounded in its clear-sightedness, Kang’s debut novel is deft, sly, and compulsively readable.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePhong Nguyen, author of Bronze Drum\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Bold, witty, and provocative, \u003cem\u003eThe Melancholy of Untold History\u003c\/em\u003e is a prismatic imaginative feat, taking us on a journey through three thousand years of love and deceit, victory and revenge. I laughed out loud when I wasn’t crying, carried by Minsoo Kang’s sharp and inventive prose that asks: What’s the cost of silence?” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJimin Han, author of The Apology\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eThe Melancholy of Untold History\u003c\/em\u003e mixes genres, traverses space and time, and ultimately limns the human soul as it asks us to consider what is a story, and does story make us human? An epic feat of storytelling in itself, this book is a triumph.\"  - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMarie Myung-Ok Lee, author of The Evening Hero\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A potent and epic blend of the mythic and the personal, \u003cem\u003eThe Melancholy of Untold History\u003c\/em\u003e has the scope and yet intimacy of all great storytelling. A favorite read of the year.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJeff VanderMeer, the New York Times best-selling author of Annihilation\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"William Morrow Paperbacks","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48588062884069,"sku":"NP9780063337558","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780063337558.jpg?v=1773961536","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-melancholy-of-untold-history-a-novel-isbn-9780063337558","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}