Eugenia Kim's Blog, page 8
February 3, 2010
Women of Uneasy Virtue, by Paul Luchessa
[Publisher's description:] East meets West on intimate terms in this striking series of sketches and stories about modern Korean women, most of them involved with western men. Frankly sexual in nature, the stories reflect the oriental approach to the war between the sexes.The women are drawn from all levels of Korean society, beginning with the lowest--prostitutes. The first section deals mainly
The Tragedy of Korea, by F. A. McKenzie
Written in 1907, McKenzie's socio-political memoir covers the period in Korea during the Russo-Japanese War, when the seeds of Japan's interest and ultimate occupation of the peninsula were planted, with the assistance of the international community.
I Have the Right to Destroy Myself, by Young-ha Kim
[Publisher's synopsis:] In the fast-paced, high-urban landscape of Seoul, C and K are brothers who have fallen in love with the same woman—Se-yeon—who tears at both of them as they all try desperately to find real connection in an atomized world. A spectral, nameless narrator haunts the edges of their lives as he tells of his work helping the lost and hurting find escape through suicide. Dreamlike
War Trash, by Ha Jin
A novel by National Book Award winner Ha Jin (Waiting) follows a Chinese American soldier POW imprisoned in Korea during the Korean War. In Jin's typical cyclic plot structure, where the action escalates to increasing circles of violence and despair, and with vivid historical detail, Yu Yuan's prison ordeal includes the culture of power struggle between two ruthless factions of pro-Communists.
Magic Amber, by James M. Reasoner
In this Korean folk legend (for youth ages 7-10), a generous and kind elderly farming couple triumph over their cruel and greedy landlord with an enchanted stone that makes rice.
Korea: The Search for Sovereignty, by Geoff Simons
[Publisher's description:] This book gives a broad history of Korea, with a particular focus on key 20th century events. Particular attention is given to the dispute over North Korea's controversial nuclear development program. This issue is profiled in the context of the post-Soviet world and against such crucial modern events as the Japanese colonization of the Korean peninsula, the US partition
Korean Landscape Painting: Continuity and Innovation through the Ages, by Song-mi Yi
A dense narrative gives a solid overview of Korean painting. [Publisher's blurb:] Korean Culture Series #4. Part of the Korea Foundation's Korean Culture Series, a series aimed at disseminating ideas and knowledge of Korean art and culture throughout the world, Korean Landscape Painting discusses the art form beginning at its earliest roots two millennia ago, in the Three Kingdoms period, right up
The Poet, by Yi Munyol
Translation of a 1992 novel about a 19th century Korean poet. [Publishers Weekly review:] The first novel by leading South Korean writer Yi Mun-yol to be published in the West in English, this moving, luminous story is based on the life of Kim Pyong-yon (1807-1863), a bamboo-hatted vagabond poet. Though born to an upper-class Seoul family, Kim was forced to live as an outcast as punishment for a
The Wisdom of the Dragon, by Induk Pahk
A lovely illustrated collection of Korean proverbs, including such gems as "There is a flaw even in jade...". Illustrated by Gloria Kim. Pahk, the founder and president of a major technical university in South Korea, is the author of two memoirs about her early years in Japan-occupied Korea, her struggle for education, her faith and her immigrant experience.
Jungsoon, by Myosik Park
A fictional account of two women who fight through years of personal and national devastation, from the Japanese occupation through the Korean War, surviving with tenacity. Their strength influences the next generation.
