J Scott Burgeson: Korea Bug Eunhaeng Namu, Seoul, 2005 A recent article in the JoongAng daily about a foreigner in Seoul who hasn’t made himself popular with hypersensitive and volatile Korean netizens introduced me to a gem. Burgeson, a foreigner who has been in Seoul since 1996 is one of the more unusual expats out … [Read More]
Books and literature (page 43)
The Korean peasants’ revolt
Anyone who has read Yi Mun-yol’s popular book The Poet may be interested in a new book which sets out the historical background. In Yi’s fictional biography, the poet Kim Sakkat is ostracised from society, condemned to life as a vagabond, because of his grandfather’s actions during the peasants’ revolt in Northest Korea in 1812. … [Read More]
Book review: Ha-Joon Chang — Bad Samaritans
Random House, 2007 Read a typical book which espouses liberal free-trade globalisation and a typical reaction is “Yes, but…” Books such as “Lexus and the Olive Tree” are well written, and carry you along in the sweep of the argument. But you have a niggling sense of unease that something must be wrong with what’s … [Read More]
Tom Coyner and Song-Hyon Jang: Mastering Business in Korea
(Seoul Selection, 2007) With a title like “Mastering Business in Korea” the current book might well turn off the casual reader. But as well as having, as its title suggests, a business angle, it can also be used as a more general cultural guide. And because this is a practical book written by people who … [Read More]
New report presents evidence of crimes against humanity
Christian Solidarity Worldwide yesterday launched a new report, seven years in the making, which concluded that there is a prima facie case that the DPRK regime is guilty of crimes against humanity. The report has had input from lawyers familiar with the international human rights regime and is based, inter alia, on interviews with 80 … [Read More]
Book review: Kim Hong-joon: Kim Ki-young
Kim Ki-young, Ed Kim Hong-joon KOFIC Korean Film Directors Series Seoul Selection, 2007 KOFIC’s enterprise in bringing out this series is greatly to be welcomed. This current instalment is particularly welcome as English-language materials on Kim Ki-young are few and far between. (Chris Berry’s web project, House of Kim Ki-young, seems to be out of … [Read More]
Chung Sung-ill: Im Kwon-taek
(Seoul Selection, 2007) Together with its sister publication, the work on Kim Ki-young, this book is the fourth and fifth in KOFIC’s series of monographs on individual Korean directors. It’s also the first time that KOFIC has charged for them. The first three were available for free download from the KOFIC website: these are only … [Read More]
Kim Hunggyu: Understanding Korean Literature
ME Sharpe, 1997 Written in 1986 and expertly translated by Robert Fouser ten years later, this is a highly readable basic introduction to the wide variety of Korean literary forms. The scope of the work includes oral literature, literature written in Korean but using Chinese characters, and, perhaps controversially, literature written in classical Chinese, as … [Read More]
Book review: James Church — A Corpse in the Koryo
James Church: A Corpse in the Koryo Thomas Dunne Books, 2006 Inspector O is a maverick. No respecter of authority, he answers back to his boss, he drives the departmental car without permission, and even, horror of horrors, refuses to wear his Kim Il-sung badge. Not another cliché cop, you might groan. Well, he doesn’t … [Read More]
Charlie Crane: Welcome to Pyongyang
Chris Boot, 2007 The new photo book on Pyongyang can be appreciated on a number of levels. Firstly, there’s the literal level: it’s a collection of well-taken photos, with captions provided by the North Korean Tourist Board. But like it or not, whenever you see anything in which the North Koreans have had a hand, … [Read More]
Oh Jung-hee: The Bird
Telegram Books, 2007 Originally published as 새, 2003 Translated by Jenny Wang Medina Another of those enigmatic, slightly depressing modern Korean novels which causes you to have sympathy with the large number of Koreans who are turning to Japanese novels for their entertainment. Set during the mid 90s economic slump, the story chronicles the lives … [Read More]
Lee Young-il and Choe Young-chol: The History of Korean Cinema
Jimdoondang Publishing Co, Seoul, 1988 I’m sure this book has a readership, but I’m not sure what it is. It is so badly written that it encourages skim-reading and thus is not particularly attractive for the general reader, while the index is so poor that its use as an academic reference tool is limited. As … [Read More]
Bae Doo-na’s London Photo Journal
Thanks to Mark Russell over at Korea Pop Wars for news of a photo journal of Bae Doo-na’s visit to London. Can any Korean speakers out there have a read of what appears to be Ms Bae’s official blog at Naver, and tell me how to get hold of the book? Update 11 April: It’s … [Read More]
James Salter: The Hunters
Penguin 2007 (originally published 1956) A ripping yarn set among the US fighter pilots in the Korean war. Apart from the passing references to Korean houseboys, and the fact that the dogfights take place over the river Yalu, there’s nothing to distinguish this novel plot-wise from your average Commando war mag. There’s the experienced and … [Read More]
Martin Limón: The Door to Bitterness
Martin Limón’s fourth book in the series featuring George Sueño and Ernie Bascom continues some familiar themes. Our drink-sodden heroes, officers in the CID of the US 8th Army in Seoul in the 1970s, as usual demonstrate their physical strength in tackling villains and their iron constitutions as their bodies are pummelled by alcohol and … [Read More]
New and upcoming books
Tom Coyner and Jang Song-hyon have just brought out Mastering Business in Korea – A Practical Guide. The ad in Seoul Magazine reads as follows: In an engaging and easy-to-read format, two experienced business consultants explain the ins and outs of contemporary Korean business culture, etiquette, work rules, and marketing to the Korean consumer. Pick … [Read More]