Recent books

"Les Trente Ans Qui Ont Change La Chine"

By Caroline Puel; translated into Korean by Le Sei-jin; Pureunsoop Publishing: 624 pp., 20,500 won

A French journalist and specialist on China has published an in-depth analysis on the recent 30 years of China'S transition into a market economy. The French title translates to "Thirty Years that Changed China."

The author first traces the rule of Deng Xiaoping (1904-1997), the Chinese politician, statesman, and diplomat.

As leader of the Communist Party of China, Deng was a reformer who led China toward a market economy. While Deng never held office as head of state, head of government or General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (historically the highest position in Communist China), he nonetheless served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China from 1978 to 1992.

Puel has covered China since the 1980s for several news outlets and served at the French Embassy in China in the late 1980s. She writes from first-hand experience in having witnessed China'S immense social and economic transformations in the last 30 years.

The book is divided in to three parts.

The first part covers the 1980s, with a focus on Deng's policies. The second part is about the 1990s, when China adopted a market economy. And the third part is China's emergence on the global stage as the host of the Summer Olympic Games and the World Expo in the new millennium.

―DO JE-HAE

The Collapse of Politics

Park Sung-min; Mineumsa: 330pp., 14,000 won

Political consultant of 20-odd years, Park's latest volume is in an interview form, conversing with Kang Yang-gu, journalist at online newspaper Pressian.

This is a double-edged sword because it increases readability while simultaneously reducing its role as a reference volume. For a book that wants to catch the attention of the political world as much as the general public, "The Collapse" reads like a book of intrigue and anecdotes than an insightful manual during this pivotal election year.

There is much to savor here, especially his point about incumbent politicians "falling out of fashion with young voters." His wit shines even in the conversation transcript format.

But instead of suggesting a detailed roadmap for the politics of tomorrow, Park glosses over the details.

Perhaps that has been saved for another volume.

In summing up, it is a fun way to skim through the political history of Korea from a unique perspective, but the book also risks falling out of fashion after this year.

―KWAAK JE-YUP

CIKTMUPS: Everything about packaging design

Fumi Sasada; Chaeknamu, 148pp., 12,000 won

Bravis International, a leading brand consulting firm based in Japan, boasts a strong record of churning out eye catching designs for Hite, Coca-Cola, Nagono Olympics, and Japan Airlines. Fumi Sasada, CEO of Bravis International, published a book to break down the inner workings of branding and package design for his readers.

The title of the book "CIKTMUPS" is an acronym for what Sasad

a believes to be the eight key factors ― creativity, ideas, knowledge, technique, marketing mind, understanding, passion, and satisfaction.

The book includes great details accompanied by photos. For example, Sasama shares the entire process for devising the package design for Kirin's new drink Hyoketsu. The fruity beverage with 6 percent alcohol was able to dominate the market by 30-40 percent not only with its excellent taste but also from the innovative design of the can. The aluminum can had a diamond-pattern surface that emphasized the freshness of the drink

.

―NOH HYUN-GI

The Truth About Nuclear Energy

Hiroaki Koide; Translated by Kim Won-sik and Daisuke Kono; Greenview Publishing; 192 pp.; 10,000 won

A number of Koreans who believe that nuclear energy is environmentaly-friendly will be stunned when they read this book.

The author, a professor at Kyoto University in Kyoto, Japan, points out how the energy threatens the lives of human beings from the process of its production.

The anti-nuclear researcher explains how carbon dioxide, which the world is eager to reduce for the sake of the Earth, is emitted while producing uranium, the source of the supposedly clean energy for electricity.

Further details on the threats posed by nuclear power plants are also detailed in the book.

―YI WHAN-WOO