The Korea Herald

Reading ‘Gone with the Wind’ in Pyongyang

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) ― The former black marketeer has read it. So has the beautiful young librarian, and the aging philosophy professor who has spent his life teaching the ruling doctrine of this isolated outpost of totalitarian socialism. At times it seems as if everyone in Pyongyang, a city full of monuments to its own mythology, has read the book. In it they found a tortured love story, or a parable of bourgeois decline. Many found heroes. They lost themselves in the story of a nation

Oct. 25, 2012

Reading ‘Gone with the Wind’ in Pyongyang

Rock star tries to explain himself

‘Who I Am’By Pete Townshend (Harper)Pete Townshend has always been rock ‘n’ roll’s reluctant warrior.The driving force behind the legendary band the Who, Townshend revolutionized rock with his guitar and pen. He wrote numerous anthems, including “My Generation,” “See Me, Feel Me,” “Baba O’ Reilly” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” and, when he wasn’t smashing guitars, embraced his role as the thinking man’s rock star.At the same time, Townshend spent much of his life offstage trying to avoid all tha

Oct. 25, 2012

A look at a killer ― and his mother

“Lost Girls”By Caitlin Rother (Pinnacle)On the day in 2010 when a San Diego judge sentenced John Albert Gardner to life in prison for the rape and murder of two teenage girls, the fathers of his victims referred to him in court as a monster and a predator.“Lost Girls” by veteran journalist and true-crime writer Caitlin Rother is a deeply reported, dispassionately written attempt to determine what created that monster and predator. It is a cautionary tale and a horror story, done superbly by a wr

Oct. 25, 2012

Readers snap up ‘Olje Classics’

The fourth installment of a book series consisting of four local and Western classics, published at a low-price to make the books accessible to the less fortunate, sold out less than a week after going on sale online last week.Published by non-profit corporation Olje, the “Olje Classics” series’ newly released books are comprised of “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” by Friedrich Nietzsche; John Bunyan’s “The Pilgrim’s Progress”; “Joseon Gyeonggukjeon” by 14th-century scholar Jung Do-jun; and “The Caigent

Oct. 25, 2012

All about K-films

Latest volume in a series on Korean culture explores the country’s rich filmmaking historyKorea’s Culture Ministry published an English-language book about Korean cinema and its industry, as the newest addition to its “K-series,” a book series featuring Korean culture.The book, titled “K-Movie: The World’s Spotlight on Korean Film,” features Korea’s film industry today, relationship between hallyu and Korean films, prominent directors and actors, as well as notable film festivals held in the cou

Oct. 18, 2012

Author Karen Quinones Miller makes no apologies for title of new book

Earlier this year, author Karen E. Quinones Miller found out that Walmart wouldn’t be carrying her semiautobiographical book on its shelves. The reason? There were concerns that the book’s title, “An Angry-Ass Black Woman,” might offend some of the retail giant’s customers.Given Walmart’s reach, a lot of authors would have picked a new title and maybe rejiggered things for the sake of book sales.Not Miller.Her decision wouldn’t surprise anybody who knows Miller ― or anybody who’s actually read h

Oct. 18, 2012

Author Karen Quinones Miller makes no apologies for title of new book

Crises of faith in one devout family

We SinnersBy Hanna Pylvainen (Henry Holt)Hanna Pylvainen’s debut novel, “We Sinners,” is remarkably funny for a book about a deeply religious family grappling with loss of faith.Pylvainen tells the story _ in alternating chapters from the point of view of the parents and several of the nine children ― of the Midwestern Rovaniemi family, members of a Finnish sect of Lutheranism called Laestadianism.They live in a house too small to fit them all and get around in a vehicle so “mortifying to drive”

Oct. 18, 2012

Scholars’ view of East Asian capitalism

East Asian Capitalism: Diversity, Continuity, and ChangeEdited by Andrew Walter and Xiaoke Zhang(Oxford)Two scholars recently compiled a collection of academic papers about East Asian capitalism and its evolving patterns against the backdrop of regional and global market integration and periodic economic crises since the 1980s.The volume consists of a total of 12 writings on a variety of issues regarding capitalism in the region, focusing on China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines,

Oct. 18, 2012

Journal explores public diplomacy in Asia

Global AsiaFall 2012(East Asia Foundation)The latest edition of “Global Asia,” a quarterly journal published by the East Asia Foundation, features seven articles on soft power, smart power and public diplomacy in Asia.“While economic and military power continue to dominate perceptions of geopolitical influence and shape the contours of traditional diplomacy, the idea that nations must also resort to soft power and public diplomacy in order to advance their interest has taken hold in much of the

Oct. 18, 2012

Journal explores public diplomacy in Asia

Asia’s top literary award looking for new sponsor

HONG KONG (AFP) ― The organisers of Asia’s most prestigious prize for literature said Thursday they were looking for a new sponsor after the Man Group announced it was ending its funding for the prize after six years.The Man Asian Literary Prize began in 2007 and is given to the best novel by an Asian writer, either written in English or translated into English.The prize ― which aims to raise appreciation of Asian literature ― said the Man Group, a London-based investment firm, would end its six

Oct. 18, 2012

Johnny Depp to launch publishing venture

NEW YORK (AFP) ― Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp has teamed up with HarperCollins to publish books that float his boat, some by famous and others by relatively unknown authors, the company said Tuesday.In the “Infinitum Nihil” collection “Depp will publish titles that reflect his diverse interests and passions,” HarperCollins said, in a statement released by its New York headquarters.“Infinitum Nihil will be a home for authentic, outspoken, and visionary ideas and voices, from authors

Oct. 17, 2012

Chinese author savages Beijing at German awards

BERLIN (AFP) ― Chinese dissident author Liao Yiwu on Sunday tore into the leadership in Beijing, describing his homeland as an “inhuman empire with bloody hands” as he scooped a prestigious German book prize.The author, also known as Lao Wei, added that the Chinese state was a “massive scrap heap that must break apart” and accused the West of “colluding with the executioners under the cover of free trade.”Liao was speaking as he collected the German Book Trade Peace Prize, the country’s second h

Oct. 15, 2012

Korea lifts ban on French erotic novel by de Sade

South Korea has lifted a ban on the erotic novel “The 120 Days of Sodom” by the 18th-century French nobleman and writer the Marquis de Sade, just weeks after barring it for “extreme obscenity.”The Korea Publication Ethics Commission, a state review board, accepted an appeal by publishing house Dongsuh Press that the book had significant literary value, senior board official Jang Tag-hwan told AFP on Monday.“The commission auditors, after reviewing related documents submitted by the publisher, co

Oct. 15, 2012

Court orders Kafka scripts moved to Israeli National Library

JERUSALEM (AP) ― After a long, tangled journey that Franz Kafka could have written about himself, an unseen treasure of writings by the surrealist author will be put on display and later online, an Israeli court ruled in documents released Sunday.Ownership of the papers had been in dispute after the Israeli National Library claimed them, over the wishes of two sisters who had inherited the vast collection of rare documents from their mother and insisted on keeping them.Friday’s ruling by the Tel

Oct. 15, 2012

Gong chronicles 25-year literary career

Popular author Gong Ji-young, who is also known for her social activism, has published an anthology chronicling her 25-year literary career. The book, titled “To love is to be hurt,” consists of a total of 365 excerpts from Gong’s previous novels and essays.“The book is my own celebration of my career,” Gong told reporters during a press conference in Seoul, Monday. “I chose a total of 365 entries, as one year consists of 365 days. I thought it’d be nice for my readers to read one entry a day.”G

Oct. 15, 2012

Nobel winner Mo Yan urges China dissident’s freedom

BEIJING (AP) ― China’s newly named Nobel laureate for literature expressed hope Friday that an imprisoned Chinese winner of the Nobel Peace Prize will be freed, putting a dent in the ruling Communist Party’s attempts to burnish its credentials with the latest prize.Mo Yan, the first Chinese writer to win the literature Nobel, made the comments about dissident Liu Xiaobo, who was awarded the Peace Prize while serving a prison sentence for opposing single-party rule, in response to a question at a

Oct. 14, 2012

Nobel winner Mo Yan urges China dissident’s freedom

K-lit forums to be held in Spain, France

Literary forums featuring modern Korean literature will be held in Spain and France, according to the Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea). The upcoming events in Europe follow LTI Korea’s two-day session forum held in the U.S. last week.The state-run organization kicked off its literary tour on Friday, holding its first sessions in Washington, D.C. Poet Oh Se-young and novelists Oh Jung-hee and Lee Hye-kyung attended the event, which was held at the Korean Cultural Center in Wa

Oct. 14, 2012

Mo Yan of China wins Nobel Literature Prize

STOCKHOLM (AFP) ― Chinese author Mo Yan on Thursday won the Nobel Literature Prize for writing that mixes folk tales, history and the contemporary, the Swedish Academy announced.“Through a mixture of fantasy and reality, historical and social perspectives, Mo Yan has created a world reminiscent in its complexity of those in the writings of William Faulkner and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, at the same time finding a departure point in old Chinese literature and in oral tradition,” the Swedish Academy

Oct. 11, 2012

Mo Yan of China wins Nobel Literature Prize

Mo Yan: Chronicler of chaotic Chinese century

BEIJING (AFP) ― Mo Yan has focused an unflinching eye on what he calls the darkness and ugliness of 20th-century Chinese society in a prolific writing career that on Thursday landed him the 2012 Nobel prize for literature.Mo Yan, one of China’s leading writers of the past half-century, became the first Chinese national and just the second Chinese-language writer to be awarded the coveted prize.The 57-year-old, whose real name is Guan Moye, is perhaps best-known abroad for his 1987 novella “Red S

Oct. 11, 2012

Mo Yan: Chronicler of chaotic Chinese century

Another disappointing year for Koreans

It is another disappointing year for Ko Un, one of the nation’s most acclaimed living poets.He has been regarded as a potential winner for the Nobel Prize in literature by local media since 2002.As of Thursday, Korea remains the only country in Northeast Asia without a Nobel laureate in literature. Japan’s Oe Kenzaburo won the award in 1994 and now China claims a laureate in literature with Wednesday’s win by Mo Yan.“Oe Kenzaburo and Haruki Murakami have been vocal about international issues and

Oct. 11, 2012