Choi Jin-young's controversial novel "Hunger" has become an unexpected literary phenomenon, transforming from a poorly received debut in 2015 to a word-of-mouth sensation that has captivated readers worldwide. The novella, which tells the disturbing yet tender story of a woman who literally consumes her murdered lover's body, challenges conventional notions of love, grief, and the value society places on human life.
At its heart, "Hunger" presents a macabre love story that is simultaneously visceral, tender, and almost unbearably devoted. The narrative follows Gu and Dam, two lovers who grew up in the same neighborhood and remained obsessively inseparable into adulthood, until Gu is brutally murdered in the street by loan sharks. In a moment when time seems to stop, Dam cradles his lifeless body, carries it home, and cleanses him in a ritualistic act before slowly consuming him – literally entombing his body within her own so that her partner can live again.
Choi Jin-young, recognized as one of Korea's leading literary voices, explains that the disturbing premise emerged from an unexpectedly tender place. "While writing this story, I often looked back on the times I was with my lover. When I was in love, I sometimes imagined nibbling at and tearing off my lover's flesh, like cotton candy. That thought never felt grotesque," the 43-year-old author revealed in a recent interview with The Korea Herald. "In Korea, people say they want to bite someone they love dearly. In this story, eating wasn't monstrous – it was simply another way to express love."
Despite its gruesome premise, the novella unfolds with profound sadness and an almost poetic calm, as though grief itself demands the act. The book serves as less of a story about cannibalism than an exploration of why someone might feel compelled to cross such a line. With each bite, Dam revisits bittersweet memories of their life together, creating a meditation on love, the devastating pain of sudden loss, and a society that treats human lives as disposable.
The shadow of crushing debt hangs over both characters throughout the story, becoming a parasite that clings to Gu's life, eating away at his humanity and draining him completely. This financial burden ultimately leads to his death, making the act of cannibalism a powerful device to demonstrate that society's treatment of individuals can be even more barbaric than the most disturbing personal acts. Even in death, debt collectors continue to hound Gu for repayment, serving as sharp commentary on rampant capitalism and class inequality.
"I imagined eating as a way of mourning, but I also wanted to reflect my discomfort with how easily people put a price on human life," Choi explained. "When someone dies, compensation is the first thing discussed, translating a person's life into capital. I wanted to ask: If eating someone is barbaric, isn't buying and selling life also barbaric?"
The novel emerged from Choi's wrestling with fundamental questions about the nature of love itself. Before writing "Hunger," she grappled with whether we need love at all, given that it can bring not only happiness but also fights, misunderstandings, jealousy, obsession, fear of separation, and ultimately, inevitable parting. Rather than portraying an idyllic love story with a simple message of "let's love," she sought to show a love that is painful, unfortunate, and haunting, asking readers whether they would still choose to love under such circumstances.
"For that reason, I created the characters Dam and Gu. I wrote the novel deeply empathizing with Dam, who loves Gu," Choi said. Near the novel's end, she wrote, "I'm not saying let's be happy. I'm saying let's be together. I don't mind being unhappy with you." This sentence, Choi realized, was the reason she wrote the entire novel – to discover that love can mean staying together despite unhappiness.
The book's journey to success defied all expectations and explanations from publishers and bookstores. When first published in 2015, "Hunger" performed poorly in the market. However, around 2020, it quietly began gaining traction among readers in their twenties, and by 2021, its popularity among young adults exploded dramatically. According to Yes24, a major online book retailer, the book experienced a staggering 234.6 percent increase in sales that year alone, with teen purchases skyrocketing by an incredible 8,500 percent.
This remarkable resurgence occurred without any special promotion or triggering event – the book simply caught fire through pure word of mouth. Soon after, readers in their thirties and forties joined the phenomenon, cementing the book's status as a steady seller. By 2023, "Hunger" ranked ninth on Kyobo Book Center's overall bestseller list and nineteenth in 2024. As of August 2025, approximately 400,000 copies have been sold according to Korean publisher EunHaengNaMu Publishing.
Choi believes the novel resonates particularly strongly with young readers because of their openness to impossible storytelling elements. "This is a very personal opinion, but I thought back to the fairy tales we read as children. Fairy tales and myths contain far stranger and more grotesque elements than eating a corpse," she reflected. "In childhood, impossibility doesn't exist in storytelling. But as we grow and become socialized, we begin to question and set boundaries – 'this doesn't make sense.' Some adults cannot accept the fictional elements in a novel like this, while teenagers seem more willing to accept them."
The international recognition of "Hunger" continues to grow, with the cult classic recently published in the UK through a translation by Soje. The novella is scheduled for release in North America, Italy, the Netherlands, China, Indonesia, and across Spanish-speaking countries, bringing Choi's exploration of love's darker territories to a global audience.
Choi sees love as the emotional core of all her work, wanting to explore not only its warm and beautiful aspects but also its dark and fearful sides. "I like to write about things I want to understand rather than what I already know. Love is something we can never fully grasp, which is why I keep writing about it," she explained. For Choi, loving well requires many skills and tremendous effort – wisdom, patience, imagination, a spirit of sacrifice, tolerance, empathy, understanding, adaptability, and wise judgment must all be cultivated. Through "Hunger," she continues her mission to capture the wide, diverse, and ever-changing spectrum of what love truly means, even in its most challenging and unconventional forms.
