Greek Lessons

A young woman in Seoul watches her Greek language professor with interest. Yet, she has lost her voice and cannot speak at all. Meanwhile, her professor is slowly losing his sight—every day, he is surprised he can still see, and he waits for the day when he will lose connection with the world. The two connect through their shared pain. The woman lost her nine-year-old son in a custody battle and was further shaken when her mother died a few months later. The professor, who was born in Korea but grew up in Germany, struggles to reconcile his German and Korean selves. Man Booker International Prize–winning Kang’s (The Vegetarian) latest is a powerful story about the importance of memory, connection, and language. Narrators Greta Young and Earl T. Kim provide ethereal performances, giving voice to each character as they navigate their changing worlds. The characters’ disconnection from the world around them is evident in the narration, which has a hazy quality that speaks to the necessity of being open to new experiences, new people, and love.