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| The covers of Kim Ho-yeon's "Uncanny Convenience Store" series / Courtesy of Namu Bench |
By Park Han-sol
The novel series, "Uncanny Convenience Store," penned by Kim Ho-yeon, has become the newest title to sell over a million copies in Korea this week.
According to the local publishing house, Namu Bench, as of Monday, the book's first volume had sold 800,000 copies, while the second sold more than 200,000.
The two-volume series became the third Korean work to earn the title of a million-seller in the 2020s, followed by another two-part series, "Dollargut Dream Department Store," by Lee Mi-ye and Sohn Won-pyung's "Almond."
After its release in April last year, the book gradually climbed to the top of the bestseller lists across multiple major local online and offline bookstores, as well as at Millie's Library, one of the country's largest e-book subscription platforms.
Kyobo Bookstore and YES24 subsequently reported that the book was the highest-selling title in the first half of 2022.
"Uncanny Convenience Store" is primarily set in a small convenience store tucked in a narrow alleyway of the old neighborhood of Cheongpa-dong in Seoul's Yongsan District.
The first volume revolves around the protagonist named Dokgo, a homeless man whose only "home" was in Seoul Station, and his accidental, newfound life as a night-shift worker at a store.
The realistic yet heartening encounters between Dokgo and his customers from the area, with their diverse life problems and aspirations revealing themselves as pages unfold, captured readers' hearts.
Such a human-interest story continues in the second volume, published in August following the immense success of the first, with a character, Hwang Geun-bae, taking Dokgo's place as a new night worker.
The publishing rights to the novel have been sold in eight countries, including Japan, China and Russia. Its translations have already been released in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Taiwan. In fact, the book has been topping the bestseller list for translated books in Taiwan since its publication in September.
"Uncanny Convenience Store" is also slated for a play and small-screen adaptation in Korea. The play is scheduled to be staged next spring, while the drama is currently in production to be aired on ENA next year.
Kim is a 48-year-old screenplay writer and editor-turned-novelist, who has other titles like Segye Literary Prize-winning "Mangwondong Brothers" (2013), "Ghost Writers" (2017) and "Fauster" (2019) under his belt.
