It’s taking a while to go through the LKFF 2014 programme to prioritise those films which I simply *have* to go to see. So thanks to Frances Yoo from Studio Meditation with a Pencil for alerting me to the title that instantly has gone from “when I get round to it, I’ll look to see … [Read More]
Tag: Books on Screen (page 3)
Selected publications
- Kim Aeran: My Brilliant Life tr Kim Chi-young, Forge 2021
- Jeong You-jeong: Seven Years of Darkness tr Kim Chi-young, Little Brown 2020
- Cho Nam-joo: Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 tr Jamie Chang, Scribner 2020
- Kim Young-ha: Diary of a Murderer, and other stories tr Krys Lee, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2019
- Han Kang: The Vegetarian tr Deborah Smith, Portobello Books 2015
- Cheon Myeong-kwan: Modern Family tr Park Kyoung-lee, White Pine Press 2015
- Yi Cheong-jun: Seopyeonje, the Southerners’ Songs tr Ok Young Kim Chang, Peter Owen 2011
- Choe Yun: There a Petal Silently Falls: 3 stories tr Bruce Fulton, Ju-chan Fulton, Columbia University Press 2008
- Cho Son-jak: The Preview and Other Stories tr David R Carter, Kim Chan-young, Jain Publishing 2003
- Kajiyama Toshiyuki: The Clan Records tr Yoshiko Dykstra, University of Hawai'i Press 1995
- Kim Seong-dong: Mandala tr Ahn Jung-hyo, Dongsuh Munhaksa 1990
- Richard E Kim: The Martyred, Penguin 1964
Im Kwon Taek’s Hwajang selected to close 2014 LKFF
It’s tremendously good news that the closing gala screening of the London Korean Film festival 2014 is Im Kwon Taek’s 102nd film, Hwajang (western title: Revivre). It synchronises nicely with the KCCUK’s focus on literature this year, as it is based on a short story by Kim Hoon. More importantly, it’s a film that has … [Read More]
LBF event, 8 Apr 7pm: Toon Talk with Yoon Tae-ho
The third of six evening events during London Book Fair week, which unfortunately overlaps with a session with Yi Mun-yol at the British Library. Toon Talk: Webtoons, A New Trend in Korean Digital Comics 8 April, 19.00-20.00 A special talk with Korean webtoon writer, Yoon Tae-ho, famous for his unique works such as Moss, later … [Read More]
LBF event 1 Apr: Books on Screen — Moss
The fourth of the KCC’s Korean Literature on Screen events. LKL’s review of the film can be found here. As usual, pre-registration is required via the KCC website. Moss 이끼, Kang Woo-suk, 2010 Tuesday 1 April 7pm, KCCUK Running time 163 mins Adapted from a popular internet cartoon, Ryu Hae-guk investigates the mysterious death of … [Read More]
LBF event 25 Mar: Books on Screen — Leafie, a Hen into the Wild
The fourth of the KCC’s Korean Literature on Screen events. The Hwang Sun-mi story on which it is based has been recently published in translation. Follow the links to LKL’s review of the novel and the film. As usual, pre-registration is required via the KCC website. Leafie, a Hen into the Wild 마당을 나온 암탉, … [Read More]
LBF event 18 Mar: Books on Screen — the Scarlet Letter
The third of the KCC’s Korean Literature on Screen events. The film is based on two Kim Young-ha’s novellas: The Photo Shop Murder (available in translation from Jimoondang) and Meditation on Mirror, which to my knowledge (and the author’s knowledge as of two years ago when I last spoke to him on the subject) has … [Read More]
LBF event 11 Mar: Books on Screen — Portrait of the Days of Youth
The second of the KCC’s Korean Literature on Screen events. The Yi Mun-yol story on which it is based is not yet available in translation. As usual, pre-registration is required via the KCC website. Portrait of the Days of Youth 젊은날의 초상, Kwak Ji-kyoon, 1990 11 March 7pm, KCCUK Running time 148 minutes A university … [Read More]
LBF event 4 Mar: Books on Screen — The Road to Sampo
The first of the KCC’s Korean Literature on Screen events. The Hwang Sok-yong short story on which it is based is pretty hard to find in translation. It’s part of a collection published by Heinemann Asia in the 1980s, logged on Brother Anthony’s site here, and available on Amazon for the princely sum of £112.14. … [Read More]
Book Review: Hwang Sunmi — The Hen who Dreamed she could Fly
A brief fable that can delight children and adults alike, the story touches on themes of motherly love, discrimination, otherness, and belonging, while also touching on and accepting the harsh realities of life — and death. As the novel starts, we wonder if we are going to be force-fed a heavy political allegory. Sprout, the … [Read More]
Book Review: Gong Ji-young — Our Happy Time
Our Happy Time is not the obvious title for a novel in which a three-times attempted suicide goes reluctantly to visit a convicted murderer awaiting execution on death row. But strangely, as the relationship between the well-off former pop star and the prisoner from a poor and broken family gradually builds, the connection between them … [Read More]
The Korean Novels on Screen Programme at the KCC
The KCC, in conjunction with the British Council, has announced its programme of films inspired by Korean literature. Two and a half of the films have their original stories available in English translation. The ones available in English are The Road to Sampo and Leafie. The half-film is The Scarlet Letter, which is based both … [Read More]
Waterstones stocks up on Hwang Sunmi
Seen at the Waterstones in Canary Wharf today: a pile of Hwang Sunmi’s The Hen who Dreamed She Could Fly. Nice to see that they’re including it in the buy one, get one half price promotion. My neighbourhood bookstore at home rang me today to tell me my own copy had arrived, so I’ll be … [Read More]
You’ve seen the film, now read the book
The Korean Film Council recently publicised on its website the new “Book to Film” initiative aimed at bringing together the film and the publishing industries. Of course, the practice adapting a book for the big screen is almost as old as the movie industry itself, and some of South Korea’s most successful movies have been … [Read More]
Im Kwon-Taek’s Village in the Mist — affairs on an Anonymous Island
Han Su-ok, a young schoolteacher, arrives in an isolated mountain village to take up her first job in an elementary school. As she gets off the bus, the village initially seems deserted, like a ghost town, hemmed in by the high forbidding walls of the surrounding mountains like a prison. You wonder what sort of … [Read More]
Book review: Yi Mun-yol — Our Twisted Hero
Yi Mun-yol: Our Twisted Hero Originally published 1987 Translated by Kevin O’Rourke Available on Kindle (Minumsa, 2012) or hard copy (Hyperion Books, 2001) Moving to the provinces from a school in Seoul in which the social hierarchy was one he had lived with all his life, our twelve-year-old hero Han Pyongt’ae is faced with a … [Read More]
K-film at the BFI London Film Fest: Doomsday Book is really not worth the effort
Doomsday Book, the first of six Korean films to screen at the 56th BFI London Film Festival is a set of three short films based loosely on a science fiction theme. The two outer segments, gentle comedies directed by Im Pil-seong (임필성), sandwich a semi-serious but nevertheless meagre filling by Kim Ji-woon entitled Heavenly Creature … [Read More]