Novels in English

Krys Lee interviewed for Asia House

Post image for Krys Lee interviewed for Asia House

by Philip Gowman on 17 April, 2013

in Asides | Literature | Novels in English

There’s a nice interview with Krys Lee, author of Drifting House, on the Asia House website. Drifting House was LKL’s book of the year last year, and so we’re looking forward to seeing Ms Lee at the Asia House Festival of Asian Literature next month. Authors: Krys Lee

{ 0 comments }

Orphan Master wins Pulitzer

by Philip Gowman 16 April 2013
Thumbnail image for Orphan Master wins Pulitzer

At LKL we were lukewarm, but we don’t mind being in the minority. So congratulations to Adam Johnson for winning the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, “for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life,” with The Orphan Master’s Son. Source: www.pulitzer.org Authors: Adam Johnson

Read the full article →

Book review: So Far from the Bamboo Grove

by Philip Gowman 30 November 2012
Thumbnail image for Book review: So Far from the Bamboo Grove

Yoko Kawashima Watkins: So Far from the Bamboo Grove Harper Collins, 1986 Reprinted with letter from the author, 2008 183pp This time last year, Wikileaks revealed that when Mitt Romney, then Governor of Massachussetts, visited Korea in December 2006, one of the topics raised by the Korean Acting Foreign Minister Cho Jung-pyo was this short [...]

Read the full article →

Book Review: Martin Limón — Mr Kill

by Philip Gowman 23 November 2012
Thumbnail image for Book Review: Martin Limón — Mr Kill

Martin Limón: Mr Kill Soho Crime, 2011, 375pp Damn. He’s never done this before. This is Martin Limón’s 7th novel in his exciting, action-packed series featuring George Sueño and Ernie Bascom, investigators in the military police attached to the US 8th Army in 1970s Seoul Although the novels have been written over the course of [...]

Read the full article →

Am I alone among Korea-followers in being a huge fan of Martin Limón?

by Philip Gowman 30 October 2012
Thumbnail image for Am I alone among Korea-followers in being a huge fan of Martin Limón?

Having read all seven of his previous novels, I’m delighted to have discovered that the 8th was published a few weeks ago. He might have thrown historical credibility to the winds this time round, but who cares? It sounds an absolute blast: Seoul, early 1970s: US Army Sergeant George Sueño is on a mission of [...]

Read the full article →

The Orphan Master’s Son: best left in the orphanage

by Philip Gowman 23 March 2012
Thumbnail image for The Orphan Master’s Son: best left in the orphanage

Adam Johnson: The Orphan Master’s Son Doubleday, 2012 The publication of The Orphan Master’s Son, the second novel by Adam Johnson, had lucky timing, surfing the wave of interest in the North caused by the death of Kim Jong-il. The newspapers duly lined up to review it to general acclaim, but an early battleground formed: [...]

Read the full article →

FT interviews with author Krys Lee

by Philip Gowman 21 January 2012
Thumbnail image for FT interviews with author Krys Lee

Small talk: interview with Korean American writer Krys Lee in the FT http://t.co/VN4wRXzT (via @rjkoehler). Her first book, Drifting House, a collection of short stories set in North Korea, South Korea and the US, is now available on Amazon.

Read the full article →

Book review: The Martyred (Richard E Kim)

by Philip Gowman 29 November 2011
Thumbnail image for Book review: The Martyred (Richard E Kim)

Richard E. Kim: The Martyred First published by George Braziller, 1964 Published in Penguin Classics 2011, with introduction by Heinz Insu Fenzl and Preface by Susan Choi. 199 pp Fourteen North Korean priests are rounded up by the communists just before North Korea invades the South in June 1950. Twelve of the priests are shot, [...]

Read the full article →

Book Review: Martin Limón: G.I. Bones

by Philip Gowman 18 November 2011
Thumbnail image for Book Review: Martin Limón: G.I. Bones

Martin Limón: G.I. Bones Soho Crime 2009 G.I. Bones is the sixth in Martin Limón’s excellent series featuring George Sueño and Ernie Bascom, detectives from the US military based in 1970s Seoul. The first in the series, Jade Lady Burning, was published nearly 20 years ago in 1992, but our investigators are still in their [...]

Read the full article →

Sergeants Sueño & Bascom return with Mr Kill

by Philip Gowman 13 November 2011
Thumbnail image for Sergeants Sueño & Bascom return with Mr Kill

Sergeants Sueño & Bascom return in December with Mr. Kill – the 7th in Martin Limón’s excellent detective series set in 70s Seoul. So far, on Kindle only. http://t.co/WvNAx8eT Authors: Martin Limón

Read the full article →

So far from the Bamboo Grove discussed by Governor Romney

by Philip Gowman 1 October 2011
Thumbnail image for So far from the Bamboo Grove discussed by Governor Romney

WikiLeaks: Massachusetts governor Romney discussed So Far From the Bamboo Grove with acting foreign minister Cho Jung-pyo in 2006. The book, on state school reading lists, contributes to a negative perception of Koreans. Authors: Yoko Kawashima Watkins

Read the full article →

Debut novel from Samuel Park

by Philip Gowman 17 July 2011
Thumbnail image for Debut novel from Samuel Park

Korean American author Samuel Park debuts with This Burns My Heart – a love story set in post-war Korea. Out now. http://bit.ly/mPROF6 #. Feature in Good Reads.

Read the full article →

Is this the only modern Korea-related novel published by Penguin Classics?

by Philip Gowman 22 June 2011
Thumbnail image for Is this the only modern Korea-related novel published by Penguin Classics?

The number of Korea-related publications in the Penguin Classics list can probably be counted on the fingers of one hand, and most are by ancient Confucian sages. The publisher’s blurb below says that if you like Lee Changrae’s The Surrendered you’ll like this: Richard E Kim’s The Martyred. Lee didn’t do a good sales job [...]

Read the full article →

DPRK-related books reviewed in Economist

by Philip Gowman 17 May 2011
Thumbnail image for DPRK-related books reviewed in Economist

Three DPRK-related books get a brief review in the Economist. Guy Delisle’s Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea, the latest James Church, and the thriller Maximum Target by Martin Gower: http://econ.st/mqErGC #

Read the full article →

Book Review: Lark and Termite. (Densely poetic and powerful, apparently)

by Philip Gowman 18 March 2011
Thumbnail image for Book Review: Lark and Termite. (Densely poetic and powerful, apparently)

Jayne Anne Phillips: Lark and Termite Vintage Books, 2009 Surely the most carefully crafted sentence in a novel is the opening one. So when a reader is faced with an opening sentence that would not only have the Microsoft grammar checker going crazy with those irritating green wiggly lines but which would fox a literate [...]

Read the full article →

Two recent low-lights in Korea-related publishing

by Philip Gowman 13 March 2011
Thumbnail image for Two recent low-lights in Korea-related publishing

Two recent books to avoid: Kimchi-flavored erotica? "In Deep Kimchi" on Amazon: http://amzn.to/fB5KfN. Looks totally dreadful, particularly as it seems to be about sex with a J-pop band #. Via KTLit.com. Charles Montgomery says a new book on Dokdo Thirty Three Shouts is “A Complete Waste of Time http://bit.ly/i6RIUT #

Read the full article →

Book review: Pearl Buck’s Living Reed

by Philip Gowman 25 February 2011
Thumbnail image for Book review: Pearl Buck’s Living Reed

Pearl S Buck: Living Reed – A Novel of Korea Moyer Bell, 1963 Pearl Buck spent most of her childhood and early adulthood in China in an American missionary family and, mixing with local children, grew up with an unrivaled understanding of the country. Her experiences were distilled into an unexpectedly bestselling trilogy of novels [...]

Read the full article →

Book review: The Calligrapher’s Daughter

by Philip Gowman 21 January 2011
Thumbnail image for Book review: The Calligrapher’s Daughter

Eugenia Kim: The Calligrapher’s Daughter Bloomsbury, 2010 Eugenia Sun-hee Kim’s first novel is based in part on the life of her mother, who was born in Japanese-occupied Korea and later emigrated to America after having lived to see liberation. The key characters in the novel are Najin – born on the day that Japan formally [...]

Read the full article →

Book Review: Yin Yang Tattoo

by Philip Gowman 5 November 2010
Thumbnail image for Book Review: Yin Yang Tattoo

Ron McMillan: Yin Yang Tattoo Sandstone Press, 2010 “If you’ll excuse us, we have stereotypes to explore,” says our hero, Alec Brodie, to a visiting investment banker as he heads off to a private room arm-in-arm with a Korean girl. Yes, there’s irony in the quip, but the stereotypes don’t stop with the expense-account prostitute. [...]

Read the full article →

Stylish trailer for Yin Yang Tattoo

by Philip Gowman 4 November 2010
Thumbnail image for Stylish trailer for Yin Yang Tattoo

Here’s a stylish artwork on this promotional Video for Ron McMillan’s Yin Yang Tattoo. Via ROK Drop. http://bit.ly/cghkDx # LKL’s review of the book can be found here. Authors: Ron McMillan

Read the full article →

James Church interviewed on Korean Kontext

by Philip Gowman 23 September 2010
Thumbnail image for James Church interviewed on Korean Kontext

An interview with the elusive James Church, author of Corpse in the Koryo and the other fun novels in the Inspector O series. Podcast on Korean Kontext. http://bit.ly/cc3GbE # Authors: James Church

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries