Jeon Sungtae: Wolves Translated by Sora Kim-Russell White Pine Press, 2017, 196pp Originally published as 늑대, Changbi Publishers, 2009 Jeon Sungtae’s Wolves takes us to another world – the world of Mongolia in the early years of this century, a decade after the adoption of capitalism. The country is modernising rapidly, but out on the … [Read More]
Place: Goheung-gun
The Philharmonia Orchestra in Sorok-do
Video of London’s Philharmonia Orchestra in tour to Korea in May 2010, including concert in Sorok-do. Ashkenazy with Cho Yong-pil, sponsored by Lady Rothermere. http://bit.ly/d8LyYB. Also reported in the Korea Times. # [Read More]
Sorok Island joined to the mainland
Yi Chong-jun’s (이청준) novel on the subject is called Your Paradise. Looking at the beach above you see maybe one reason. But Sorok Island (소록도) is Korea’s best known leper colony. As Brother Anthony explains, in Yi’s book, the subject is the relation between the individual and the collective. The setting is the remote leper … [Read More]
Yi Chong-jun: Your paradise
(Green Integer, 2004) Translated by Jennifer Lee, Timothy R. Tangherlini Originally published as 당신들의 천국, Seoul, 1976 A puzzling story about the struggles of successive managers of a leper colony to improve the lot of the lepers. I think the Complete Review shares my puzzlement. One of the best-selling novels of 20th Century Korean literature, … [Read More]