Recent Books
Shut Up and Listen!
By Theo Theobald and Cary Cooper; translated from English by Ahn Jin-hwan; Sodam; 256 pp., 10,000 won.
Amid the overflow of ``how to" books in stores, this book stands out because of its catchy title. Despite the rather harsh name, which in fact is one of its communication strategies, the book kindly provides readers with a well-constructed guideline for efficient communication skills that are essential in gaining success at the workplace.
Starting off with a test to analyze one's communication type, the book is packed with information that makes it a true study guide. It even includes practical tests and assignments to assess oneself. Apart from the simple strategies, the book also contains comments from experts of leading businesses such as Microsoft, HSBC and Nokia, as well as tips for real business situations.
In addition, there are separate chapters that help build up writing, listening and speaking skills_ similar to language study books. Just as it isn't easy to instantly pick up a language, the same seems to apply for communication skills. Still, this book provides the guidelines to learn more proficient ways of voicing thoughts and ideas in the workplace.
-By Sa Eun-young
How Much Love
By Kazufumi Shiraishi; translated from Japanese by Noh Jae-myung; Dasan Chaekbang; 264 pp., 9,800 won.
Although it may appear to be a typical love story at first, the book holds much more than the soppy romance that many may expect. Not surprisingly, it was nominated for the 136th Naoki Prize, a literary award in Japan. It was also widely praised by readers for dealing with literature in an easily approachable way.
Shiraishi is known for closing in on heavy issues of life and self-existence through light subjects, and this time, he chose to write on love. The main character, Masahira breaks up with his girlfriend, Akira, thinking he had been brutally betrayed. Five years later, however, he finds himself frequently visiting her and rediscovers aspects of their past relationship _ and also about himself _ that he hadn't been aware of before. There's a twist that makes the development more intriguing, as things aren't quite as they appear on the outside.
Through the love story, underlying questions are conveyed to the readers, ones that many lovers would have pondered over one time or the other. The author questions what can be given the name love, and if you truly loved a person as much as you believed you did.