Recent Books
Copenhagen's Bicycle
Choi Yearn-hong; PublishAmerica: 110 pp., $19.95
This is the third book of poetry in English written by Korean-American poet Choi Yearn-hong after “Autumn Vocabularies (1990)” and “Moon of New York (2008).”
The new book is in line with his previous books that reflect his nostalgic view of his mother country and his love of the U.S. and solitude in an immigrant’s life.
Such poems as “My Country,” “Mountains,” ”Immigrant Dream,” “Yosemite National Party,” and “American Tragedy” well depict his feelings and emotions as a Korean-American poet.
This book also features his poems on travels to Scandinavian countries, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, China, Peru, and Alaska.
“Copenhagen's Bicycle,” the title poem, portrays his admiration of Danish politicians who commute to their workplaces by bicycle and observations of the wind power turbines along the seashore that show their care for the environment. From his Scandinavian trip, he produced environmental poems for nature conservation as Choi is an environmentalist himself.
The prolific writer has won awards in Korea and the U.S. with six books of poetry and one collection of short stories. His essays and short stories have been carried in prestigious journals such as Short Story International and World Literature Today.
-Chung Ah-young
The Elements of Style
William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White, translated from English to Korean by Lee Ju-myung; Philmac: 168 pp., 8,500 won
``The Elements of Style’’ is one of those rare informational books that can incite respect, admiration, fervent anger and frustration. The thin Holy Grail of writing guidelines was first published in 1918 by Cornell University professor William Strunk, then revised by former student E.B. White (``Charlotte’s Web’’) in the 1950s. When re-published in 1959, the book ingratiated itself to the masses with eight basic rules of usage, 10 principles of composition and a list of misused expressions and misspellings.
Fifty years, several editions and 10 million sold copies later, the definitive writing rulebook has stirred up grammarians left and right. While some contemporaries find its simplicity a progressive standard (classic example: ``Be clear’’ ), others find fault in grammatical inconsistencies and beg the question of its relevancy.
Though the Korean publication of Strunk and White offers local writers of English stylistically helpful tips, its ambiguities are not to be taken lightly. ``Elements’’ causes enough strife among native English-speakers ― its helpfulness in Korean uncertain.
― Ines Min
Joseon Films Seen Through Japanese Magazines I
Korean Film Archive: 367 pp., 25,000 won
The Korean Film Archive has previously published books on media coverage of local cinema during the Japanese colonial period (1910-45). The institute offers another collection of invaluable historical documents chronicling Korean cinema from the era _ but this time it introduces Japanese, rather than local, sources.
Until now, Korean movies made at that time were analyzed based on whether the piece was pro- or anti-Japanese, and how it was accepted by the public. This new book offers information on technical developments and box office results, as well as new perspectives and insights through six Japanese publications such as Kinema Jubo and Proletaria Cinema.
The book will serve as a useful source for historians and film specialists, as it allows them to chart different directions of historiography. It covers more than just creative cinema-related stories, but also how, in 1929, small cameras that became popular on film sets were used as CCTVs to detect illicit cargo ships.
The book is a collection of translated documents that were found in various universities, research institutes, film archives and museums across Japan, and will be introduced in a series of upcoming volumes.
― Lee Hyo-won
Last Evening
Baek Hee-na; Storybowl: 14pp., 12,000 won
Baek Hee-na, one of the nation’s top picture book artists, has released a new book, this time a story of a neighborhood in winter time.
“Last Evening” portrays an evening of a zebra, dog, sheep, fox, rabbit, duck and other animals, all living next door to each other. At 6 p.m., the zebra prepares to go skating and the dog’s socks go missing. The duck nanny tries to put the baby rabbits to sleep, while the fox is delighted at a phone call from the goat.
Baek made the picture book by making animal dolls, model of the houses and other tiny props and taking photos of each scene.
The book does not simply turn page by page. Instead, each one is folded several times and shows what each animal does at the same time when unfolded.
The author said she wanted to portray how neighbors affect each others’ life, though modern people do not care much about those next door.
- Kwon Mee-yoo