Recent books

Ask a Korean Dude

Kim Hyung-geun; Seoul Selection: 344 pp., $30

This book is a collection of articles from the “Ask a Korean Dude” column from Seoul Selection’s monthly travel and culture magazine, SEOUL, designed to answer questions posed by readers regarding aspects of Korean society and culture.

The book is filled with questions from real-life experiences to questions that make us look back on the modernization process of Korea. By covering the overall cultural aspects of Korea, including lifestyle, culture, history and language, the reader is able to view Korean society from a wider perspective.

Through this book, the reader will be able to understand what foreigners really want to know about Korea and which parts are misunderstood. Also, more than 20 columns are by expatriates who relate their own experiences of Korean life, offering a unique perspective on different topics and aspects of expat life in Korea.

The author is a former Yonhap News Agency reporter. A journalist for 14 years, he established a publishing house, Seoul Selection, in 2002. It publishes a monthly culture and travel magazine SEOUL, and online newsletter SEOUL WEEKLY.

— DO JE-HAE

The Four Agreements

Don Miguel Ruiz; Translated from English in Korean by Yoo Hyang-ran; Gimmyoung Publishing: 174 pp., 11,000 won

This book is about how to live peacefully and freely in a turbulent and fast-moving world, a popular topic that has recently swept the domestic publishing industry.

Shamanic teacher Don Miguel Ruiz, the international bestselling author of a series of books on healing, shares with readers the wisdom he learnt from his Toltec ancestors.

The four agreements he preaches are: Be impeccable with what you say; Don't take anything personally; Don't make assumptions; Do your best.

Some parts of the book are mistranslated so that it’s a bit difficult to understand if you read the translated version. For example, “Don’t take anything personally” is translated in Korean as “don’t take anything as your own problem,” which is hard to understand.

Born into a Mexican family of traditional healers, Ruiz came to reexamine his life after he underwent a near-death experience.

He advises readers to love themselves exactly as they are. He wants people to respect themselves and not to be influenced by what others say about them, which he says is a conduit to happiness and peacefulness.

CHO JAE-HYON

Living as Queen of Joseon

Sim Jae-woo, et al.; Dolbegae: 339 pp., 25,000 won

How were queens selected and what were their lives like during the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910)? This new book provides answers to these questions.

It is the fifth in a series exploring life and culture at the Korean court published by Dolbegae. The queen, right next to the peak of power, is the main focus this time.

The author provides comprehensive insight into the queens, from their legal and political status involving their relatives to vivid descriptions of the royal wedding ceremony. Having a child and being the mother of the future king was an important aspect of their lives and the book recounts how the queens gave prenatal education and taught their children.

It also includes a family tree of the queens and information on when and where the queens delivered babies destined to become kings.

—KWON MEE-YOO

The Stone Angel

Margaret Laurence; translated from English into Korean by Kang Soo-eun; Samhwa books: 384pp., 13,500 won

This novel shows how a person grows and changes through the story of 90-year-old Hagar Shiplet looking back on her life. Shiplet is the only daughter of a stern Scotsman in the fictional town of Manawaka, Manitoba. Her mother died in childbirth and her father spoiled her and taught her to be proud.

Shiplet is a repressed woman nearing the end of a long life. Realizing she hasn't many years left, and aware her body and mind are falling apart, she comes to understand the chances she missed and the mistakes she made. She still sees the eyes of the young girl she once was when looking in the mirror, and through her memories works through the issues left unresolved from her life. By the end of the book readers will thoroughly understand this woman and come to empathize more with the elderly. This is a beautiful work, written in lovely, flowing prose.

It is recommended for all that seek answers or comfort in the journey of life.

—RACHEL LEE