"Out of Stock"... Sales Surge 184-Fold in 12 Hours

Following the announcement of Anne Carson, a representative writer of 20th-century contemporary Canadian literature, as the winner of this year's Nobel Prize in Literature, sales of her books have surged in domestic bookstores.

According to Kyobo Book Centre, sales of Anne Carson's books increased 138-fold from 8:00 p.m. yesterday (the 8th), when the Nobel Prize laureate was announced, to 9:00 a.m. today (the 9th), compared to before the announcement.

Carson is a poet, classicist, translator, and essayist who has built a unique literary world by freely crossing the boundaries between ancient and modern literature, poetry and prose, creation and criticism, and translation.

Currently, a total of nine types of Carson's books have been translated and published in South Korea, including "Eros the Bittersweet," "Short Talks," "Glass, Irony and God," and "Plain Water" (published by Nanda); "Autobiography of Red," "The Beauty of the Husband," and "Red Doc" (published by Hankyoreh Publishing); and "Float" and "Nox" (published by Bomnalui Chaek).

Based on Kyobo Book Centre data following the Nobel Prize announcement, Carson's best-selling book is "Autobiography of Red."

"Autobiography of Red" is one of Carson's representative works, which rewrites the episode of the tenth labor of Hercules from Greek mythology not from the perspective of the hero, but from the viewpoint of Geryon, the red monster shot and killed by his arrows.

"Nox," an experimental book written in memory of her brother who passed away suddenly, took second place, followed by "The Beauty of the Husband" in third, "Eros the Bittersweet" in fourth, and "Short Talks" in fifth.

"Autobiography of Red" also claimed the top spot on Kyobo Book Centre's online daily bestseller list as of yesterday.

Yes24 likewise stated that sales of Anne Carson's books jumped by approximately 184-fold over the 12-hour period from the winner's announcement yesterday (the 8th) to 8:00 a.m. today (the 9th), compared to before the announcement.

In particular, sales of "Autobiography of Red" skyrocketed by 367-fold, and the book secured the number one spot on Yes24's daily bestseller list as of yesterday.

On the "Best Top 10" compiled by Aladin as of yesterday, "Autobiography of Red" and "Nox" ranked first and second, respectively.

Yoo Sung-won, a deputy general manager at Nanda, the publishing house that has released the largest number of Carson's books, explained, "Orders for Carson's books have surged exponentially since the winner's announcement, leaving our company out of stock," adding, "We are in a situation where we need to print new books and distribute them after the Hangeul Day holiday."

Kyobo Book Centre set up a display table for Anne Carson at its Gwanghwamun branch this morning, but is reportedly facing difficulties organizing the display due to the limited stock currently held by the bookstore.

Online bookstores such as Yes24 and Aladin have also prepared special Anne Carson web pages on their websites and are holding events such as prize-winning congratulatory comment promotions.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.