Ryunosuke Koike's 'Super-Translation: The Words of Buddha,' jumps in ranking after singer's recommendation

Jang Won-young of K-pop girl group IVE poses for photos during an event on Nov. 24, 2024 in Seoul. (Newsis)
Jang Won-young of K-pop girl group IVE poses for photos during an event on Nov. 24, 2024 in Seoul. (Newsis)

Did Jang Won-young propel a book of Buddha’s words to the top of the bestseller list? The timing certainly suggests so. The K-pop girl group IVE member mentioned the book as one of her recent favorite reads on a variety show on Jan. 15, and its sudden surge in sales followed soon after.

“Super-Translation: The Words of Buddha,” (translated) introduced by the 20-year-old singer, has overtaken Han Kang’s novels to claim the No. 1 spot, according to Yes24, an online bookstore, on Friday. Sales of the book skyrocketed nearly 29 times between Jan. 15 and 29 compared to the previous month, Yes24 reported.

The book, which modernizes Buddha’s teachings, topped the overall bestseller list for the fifth week of January.

In second place was Human Acts, a representative work by Han Kang, the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature winner.

"Buddha's words" (translated) by Ryunosuke Koike (Forest Books)

Kyobo Bookstore, the country’s largest bookseller, also reported a significant sales increase. According to its fourth-week bestseller rankings for January, released on Thursday, “Super-Translation: The Words of Buddha” saw a 56.3 percent jump in sales from the previous week, securing the No. 2 spot.

Although Human Acts maintained its stronghold at No. 1, “Super-Translation: The Words of Buddha” surpassed The Vegetarian, which had held second place for 12 consecutive weeks.

Another book previously recommended by Jang, "Schopenhauer to Read in Your Forties," also saw a boost from what is being called here the "Jang Wonyoung effect," climbing to No. 20 in the overall rankings.