The Hole

Written by Hye-young Pyun

Narrated by Tim Campbell

After waking from a coma, Oghi finds himself neglected by his caretaker, his grieving mother-in-law who is digging larger and larger holes in his now dead wife’s garden.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dreamscape Media
• Translator: Sora Kim-Russell
• Release date: Sep 10, 2020
• ISBN: 9781666541687

Hye-young Pyun

Hye-young Pyun was born in 1972 in Seoul and earned her undergraduate degree in creative writing and graduate degree in Korean literature from Hanyang University. Her published works include the short story collections Aoi Garden, To the Kennels, Evening Courtship, and Night Passes; and the novels City of Ash and Red, They Went to the Western Forest, The Law of Lines, The Hole, and Let the Dead. She has received many awards in Korea, including the Hankook Ilbo Literary Award, the Yi Hyo-Seok Literature Prize, the Today's Young Writer Award, the Dong-in Literary Award, the Yi Sang Literary Award, and the Contemporary Literature (Hyundai Munhak) Award. Her novel The Hole was the 2017 winner of the Shirley Jackson Award, and City of Ash and Red was an NPR Great Read. In 2019, she was awarded the Kim Yujeong Literary Award for her short story "Hotel Window." Her short stories have been published in The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, and Words Without Borders. She currently teaches creative writing at Myongji University and lives in Seoul, Korea.

Reviews for The Hole

[Eva Brugnettini · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Eerily dark, expect some twists in the unreliable narrator, quite compelling,

[cheryl rynjah · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The book was well written the only reason I'm rating it this low is because of the synopsis. It makes you feel like you're getting a thriller but this was more of a psychological horror. The open ended ending didn't bother me but because of the way it was set up I was led to believe that the book was going one way when in fact it was something else entirely

[Yong Farah · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

this book had that pulled the rug from right under you feel

[Sandra Zuks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Interesting character study that looks at power dynamics. The voicelessness of a woman in an unhappy marriage in a strong patriarchal society juxtaposed against the ableist presumptions towards a man who can't speak. A mother's grief that only wants revenge for her daughter.
Enjoyed this nuanced tale.

[Linda O'Brien · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is a very slow burn though well written and good story telling.

[Viraj · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's a small, dark book. Takes you in dramatically. Makes you wonder where is it going.

[Dimitri Wega · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A lot of buildup for a real let down of an ending. Characters are so cartoonishly oblivious that it makes the story feel too unrealistic. Would not recommend.