Recent books
Creator's Bookmarks
Editorial staff; g Colon Book: 447 pp., 19,000 won
In the Internet era, bookmarks saved on Web browsers double as the fingerprints of one’s personality. Peeping at the bookmarks of others therefore can be a revealing and delightful experience, especially if they belong to people with jobs that require them to be highly creative and experimental.
``Creator's Bookmarks’’ illustrates how a person’s Web browsing habits can reveal the owner's individuality and intelligence. The author looks at the Internet bookmarks of 23 notable people with creative jobs, and studies how their Web browsing habits relate and contribute to their creative process.
In the first chapter, titled ``Optimum Timing,” Graphic designer Lee Choong-ho, photographer Angeles Pena and design researcher Alia Farid describe what’s in their bookmarks and how they rely on the Internet for inspiration.
The second chapter features typographer Chris Ro, industrial designer Dean Brown and illustrator Shoboshobo. The last chapter, ``Beyond Boundary,’’ introduces a number of artists ― including installation artist Gregory Chapuisat, novelist Daniel Canty and graphic designer Kang Goo-ryong ― who successfully used the Internet to move beyond the traditional boundaries of their art and profession.
The book would serve as an easy and insightful read for journalists suffering from a writer’s block every Monday.
Kwon Mee-yoo
Park Chan-ho
Min Hoon-ki; The Korea Economics Daily: 351 pp., 16,000 won
Park Chan-ho is a legendary figure in Korean baseball history. As Korea’s first Major League Baseball (MLB) player, he drove the sport’s popularity here to unprecedented heights. His 124 career wins in the majors is an all-time high for Asia-born players.
This book provides a detailed record of how Park’s success in the world’s biggest league was achieved, including his tough time in the minor leagues. Former Sports Chosun reporter Min Hoon-ki added his journalistic analysis to enrich the story, highlighting some important games that Park played. Min, one of the very first Korean reporters dispatched to cover MLB on a daily basis, perhaps owes some of his success as a sports journalist to Park.
JUNG MIN-HO
Arete / Creativity from the power of liberal arts
Kim Sang-geun; Mentorpress; 203 pp.; 13,000 won
We live in a society where competition drives us to work like every day is Monday. This fast-moving, competition-driven environment makes people work hard but with little creativity.
The author of this book, who is a professor at Yonsei University and researcher at the Plato Academy, a liberal arts funding NGO, laments the fact that young people these days lack creativity although they’re equipped with high educational background and a fancy resume.
He criticizes Korea education that seems to exist for the sole purpose of putting young people in colleges and lamented the interest in liberal arts.
As a theologian and a professor, Kim introduces us into the world of liberal arts dating back to the ancient Greek times in the simplest, easy-to-understand wordings. From Cicero to Michelangelo, the author takes us on a journey to the minds of ancient philosophers and artists providing us with a rich liberal arts experience.
Yun Suh-young