The CamelliasBy Kim Yu-jeong(Jimoondang, 5,000 won) Revealing author Kim Yu-jeong’s mastery of colloquial dialect and his commanding insight into the charms of peasants, “The Camellias” tells a humorous tale of two young souls living in the countryside in the 1930s.The protagonist, a naïve young boy from a peasant family, does not like it when his rooster gets into fights with Jeom-soon’s rooster.

Books March 10, 2011

Cheap prices, personal service and the smell of musty pages draw in lovers of literatureThough not fresh and new, used books have their own charm. It could be their faded pages, old fashioned covers, or maybe it’s their price.While it’s now easy to spot English-language books ― both used and new ― in Seoul’s big chain bookstores, some smaller stores like to keep doing things the old way. The Korea

Books March 4, 2011

Hanji (Korea)Opening March 17Drama. Directed by Im Kwon-taek. Documentary producer Ji-won (Kang Soo-yeon) is making a non-fiction film about hanji, Korea’s traditional handmade paper. While traveling across the country to film the paper of many different kinds, she runs into Pil-yong, (Park Joong-hoon) a low-grade public officer. Pil-yong is married to Hyo-gyeong (Ye Ji-won), who has been sufferin

Film March 4, 2011

“Animation isn’t a genre” like Westerns, film noir, romance or horror, Gore Verbinski was saying. “It’s just a technique for telling a story.”So when the man behind the hugely popular “Pirates of the Caribbean” series decided to make his first animated feature, his biggest concern wasn’t about the process of animation but about the process of storytelling.Verbinski, 46, could have stuck with the “

Film March 4, 2011

Philip K. Dick had a flair for spinning science fiction scenarios that were well within the orbit of paranoia. In his novels and short stories, he addressed the tricks of memory and the quirks of reality.Once dismissed as a mere purveyor of pulp fiction, Dick ― who died in 1982 ― is now recognized as a major American writer. But arguably, he’s still best known for inspiring some of the most imagin

Film March 4, 2011

Swiftly paced satirePymBy Mat Johnson(Spiegal & Grau, $24)A swiftly paced satire, Mat Johnson's “Pym” skewers Edgar Allan Poe, race in America, the snack-food industry, academia, landscape painting and abominable snowmen while following a band of black adventurers seeking their fortune in Antarctica.Recently fired American literature professor Chris Jaynes is obsessed with Poe’s only novel,“The Na

Books March 4, 2011

“Labyrinth walker” and award-winning author of “The Memory Keeper’s Daughter,” Kim Edwards talks about allowing oneself to head out into uncertain territory ― be it in the middle of a lake or the middle of a story ― and see where the journey takes you.Her latest novel, “The Lake of Dreams,” was published in January.1. The latest book or movie that made you cry?“Middlesex” by Jeffrey Eugenides left

Books March 4, 2011

What does it take to inform kids about a wide range of non-fiction topics?Understanding kids’ sensibility to language and their use of language, children’s book writer Kim Hee-kyung answers.Children’s writer Kim Hee-kyung has been selected as the winner of the BolognaRagazzi Award at this year’s Bologna Children’s Book Fair.Kim, who also works as a program coordinator for the visually impaired at

Books Feb. 25, 2011

Some of Hollywood’s most fabled directors, Elia Kazan and Robert Altman among them, have said that casting accounts for roughly 90 percent of a movie’s ultimate success or failure.Yet at Sunday’s Academy Awards, there’ll be trophies for categories from best director to makeup ― but none for casting directors. While the Television Academy gives Emmy Awards for casting, and the Film Independent Spir

Film Feb. 25, 2011

Will James Franco pull a poem out of his tux, or read an excerpt from one of his short stories?Will Anne Hathaway break into song?Will the two of them, virgin co-hosts of the 83rd Academy Awards, dazzle the Kodak Theatre crowd Sunday night ― and more important, dazzle the millions of viewers around the globe?Or will the untested duo drown in a pool of commingled flop sweat?Franco, 32, and Hathaway

Film Feb. 25, 2011

Shotgun Love (Korea)Opening March 10Comedy. Directed by Jeong Woo-cheol. Home shopping model Sang-yeol (Im Chang-jeong) has a huge crush on his colleague So-yeon (Kim Gyu-ri). Unlike Sang-yeol, who mostly just tastes food items being advertised, beautiful and refined So-yeon is highly successful in the field. She hosts the TV shopping show and is well-known to the public. In spite of Sang-yeol’s p

Film Feb. 25, 2011

Seven authors and rainRain in Seven ColorsBy Kim Mi-wol et al.(Yolimwon Publishing Group, 12,000 won)Seven female writers, all in their 30s, together have published an anthology of short stories under one theme: rain.The book, “Rain in Seven Colors,” contains seven short stories written by the seven writers: Jang Eun-jin, Kim Soom, Kim Mi-wol, Yoon Yi-hyeong, Kim Yi-seol, Hwang Jeong-eun, and Han

Books Feb. 25, 2011

Living in the post war periodA Toy CityBy Lee Dong-ha(Jimoondang, 5,000 won)Written from the perspective of a young boy in elementary school, “A Toy City” shows what it was like to live in the post war period of the 1950s.An obvious version of author Lee Dong-ha’s younger self, the protagonist, a young boy from Daegu, is overwhelmed when his family moves to Seoul only a few years after the Korean

Books Feb. 25, 2011