Shattered dreams, mundane life

RustBy Yang Gui-ja(Jimoondang, 5,000 won)What happens to your dreams when you know you can never reach them?In answer, author Yang Gui-ja’s novella “Rust” presents a portrait of a middle class man who no longer wants to be what he wanted to be, and is deeply disillusioned by his old ideals and aspirations.Yi, who used to dream of becoming a journalist, was rejected for his dream job as someone els

July 8, 2011

‘The Kid’: Gritty sequel to ‘Push’ focuses on Precious’ son

She had to kill off Precious.That was what Sapphire, the 60-year-old author of the 1996 underground classic “Push,” the novel that was the basis for the unflinching movie “Precious,” concluded.The California-born literacy teacher, poet, and author had no choice, given her commitment to social realism: An HIV-infected black woman in the 1980s would not have lived long enough to make it past the fir

July 8, 2011

Learning not to dislike Hemingway on the 50th anniversary of literary giant’s death

Photographer Yousef Karsh took this famous portrait of Ernest Hemingway in 1957. (MCT)For much of the 1980s, beginning when I was in college, I used to read a Hemingway book a year. The point was not self-improvement but rather a kind of exploration: What was it, exactly, about his writing that I’d missed? I had read “The Sun Also Rises” in high school and had admired its spare portrayal of 1920s

July 8, 2011

ABC Seoul bureau chief publishes memoir

Cho Joo-hee, Seoul bureau chief of ABC News, poses at a press conference promoting her book, “Aspire with Grace,” in southern Seoul, Tuesday. (Yonhap News.)Cho Joo-hee, Seoul bureau chief of ABC News, has published her first memoir “Aspire with Grace“ in Seoul this month.Having worked for both ABC News and the Washington Post as a foreign correspondent in Seoul since 1999, Cho seemed more than con

July 7, 2011

Ancestors’ relics displayed at Joseon archive

Researcher Song Soon-ok at the Academy of Korean Studies shows a copy of the Royal Genealogy of Joseon Dynasty to the members of Korea’s jongga, the prestigious households descended from distinguished ancestors through the eldest son of each generation, at the newly opened Jangseogak Archives of the Academy of Korean Studies in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday. (Claire Lee/The Korea Herald) Ne

July 6, 2011

‘Translators hold great responsibility in today’s world’

Prof. Choi Mi-kyung wins Grand Prix at 10th Korean Literature Translation AwardsEwha Womans University professor Choi Mi-kyung and former French diplomat-turned-translator Jean Noel Juttet together received the Grand Prix Prize at the 10th Korean Literature Translation Awards, a biennial competition organized by the Korea Literature Translation Institute, for their co-translation work at Korea Pre

July 3, 2011

Eye Read

Korean allegory on democracy Our Twisted HeroBy Yi Mun-yol(Hyperion)Among many Korean novels published in the 1980s, author Yi Mun-yol’s “Our Twisted Hero” has been considered the modern classic that dealt with the complex transition between fighting dictatorship and establishing democracy.Telling a story of Han Byeong-tae, a 12-year-old boy who moves to a rural town from Seoul, the novel shows wh

July 1, 2011

New Books

Complex, alluring thrillerKiller MoveBy Michael Marshall(William Morrow)Author Michael Marshall takes a common man and throws him a curveball in this paranoid thriller, “Killer Move.”Bill Moore craves something more than his job selling condos near the Florida Keys. Although happily married, his ambition to start his own business begins to make him a bit selfish and greedy. One morning he arrives

July 1, 2011

For the French, putting on charm is a way of life

Strategy is everything for the French. That’s what Elaine Sciolino discovers in her book “La Seduction: How the French Play the Game of Life,” a look at why the food is so delicious, the perfumes so beguiling, the languid conversation of Paris cafes so intoxicating, the French so, well, French. It’s all part of a grand game of seduction, a word with a much more expansive definition in French. Rath

July 1, 2011

How and why urban centers are good for us: Glaeser

American urban economist visits Seoul for Korean publication of his bookThough convenient and efficient, city life isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Yet for American urban economist Edward Glaeser, cities are “the forges of human capital” and even “what make us more human.”“From Seoul to San Francisco to St. Petersburg, cities are more vibrant and productive than ever,” Glaeser told reporters during a

July 1, 2011

Poetry magazine well-versed in criticism

Poetry makes nothing happen.So said W.H. Auden.Who never lived in Chicago.Or knew Don Share. Share is the senior editor of Poetry magazine, the venerable Chicago-based literary institution. It turns 100 next year and has seen far more than nothing happen, particularly in the past decade. Share arrived at the magazine four years ago, hired away from Harvard University, where he was poetry editor of

June 24, 2011

Betrayal, war and destiny

The Cry of the MagpiesBy Kim Dong-ni(Jimoondang, 5,000 won)“The Cry of Magpies” is one of the most well-known short stories written by Korea’s late author Kim Dong-ni. A dark and painful account of war and betrayal, the novella engages elements of Korean shamanism to reflect his view on human destiny that controls one’s life and innermost desires.The novel tells a story of Bong-su, who just return

June 24, 2011

New Books

Miracle told by late Park’s chiefFrom Despair to HopeBy Kim Chung-yum(KDI)The right-hand man of late President Park Chung-hee uncovered inside the brainstorming of Korea’s macroeconomic policies of the 1960s and 70s ― process widely believed to have brought the country’s remarkable development. The memoirs by former chief presidential secretary Kim Chung-yum is reorganized and translated by the Ko

June 24, 2011

Ann Patchett’s ‘State of Wonder’ evokes magic

Ever since a shipwrecked Robinson Crusoe scrambled ashore and found Friday, the novel has been exploring lost continents in search of what’s missing at home.Anybody who has read Ann Patchett’s masterfully constructed “Bel Canto” won’t be surprised to learn that in “State of Wonder,” her latest novel, she, too, has made an outbound voyage.“Bel Canto” revolved around a hostage crisis in an unnamed c

June 24, 2011

Seoul International Book Fair features books by pastor

About 60 books written by Korean pastor Lee Jae-rock of Manmin Central Church, translated into 25 foreign languages, were exhibited by Urim Books at the 17th Seoul International Book Fair from June 15 to 19 at COEX in Seoul. Urim Books exhibited Lee’s books on his Christian faith and spiritual experiences along with their translated copies. Having translated Lee’s books into 25 different languages

June 23, 2011

Park: I would rather be an artist than a writer

Veteran writer’s 39th novel coincides with 39-year-long careerFor the past 39 years, author Park Beom-shin has been a busy man. He has raised his three children with his wife, taught at a university, and published almost 40 books. “I’ve always gone for the second best options in my life,” Park told reporters at a press meeting held in central Seoul, Wednesday. “It was the only way to compromise. I

June 23, 2011

New Books

Secret, famous pseudonymsNom de Plume: A (Secret) History of PseudonymsBy Carmela Ciuraru(Harper/HarperCollins)In the annals of literature, pen names have long created as much intrigue about the authors as the pieces they write.Carmela Ciuraru‘s “Nom de Plume” deftly tells the stories of some of literature’s most famous pen names by weaving in details about these secretive, often eccentric writers

June 17, 2011

A teen’s quest could be the start of something bigger

Got a tweener child with a taste for creepy horror and time-travel stories?Send them “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.”This first novel by Ransom Riggs deals with young Jacob Portman and his quest to find out the truth behind his Grandpa’s wild stories.What he finds is the classic quest story and more. The story has elements of fantasy, adventure, adolescence and grief. (Note: The open

June 17, 2011

Ancient Korean royal books welcomed back home

Lee stresses efforts to recover Korean artifacts kept by foreign countriesKorea celebrated the return of nearly 300 copies of its ancient royal documents that were looted by French troops 145 years ago with welcome ceremonies and performances in Seoul and Ganghwa Island on Saturday. The ceremonies came after the final batch of 297 volumes of Uigwe arrived in Seoul from Paris late last month. The b

June 12, 2011

New Books

Dreaming of ideal unification The 21st Century’s Dream of Korea: Great Advancement and Peaceful UnificationBy Park Se-il(Hansun Foundation)Park Se-il, professor of law and economics in the Graduate School of International Studies at Seoul National University, has published a collection of newspaper columns that he wrote over the last 10 years.Park, who is the founder and chairman of the board of H

June 10, 2011