Lifestyle - The Korea Times

Emotion for the masses

Korean author Gong Ji-young’s “Our Happy Time” has been translated into English by U.K. publisher Short Books. / Courtesy of Short Books'Our Happy Time' is heart-wrenching, if predictable, journeyGong Ji-youngBy Kim Young-jin“Our Happy Time,” a bestselling book by celebrated and controversial author Gong Ji-young, has been smoothly translated into English by U.K. publisher Short Books. It’s a highly anticipated release, viewed as the next Korean book to potentially cross over into the international market, following Shin Kyung-sook’s “Please Look After Mom.”It’s easy to see why: the story, which involves a bright but mentally unstable woman who forging a friendship with a convicted murderer, strikes on universal themes of forgiveness and redemption. Taking place in the 1990s, it references Korea’s difficult history while hinting at its ultramodern future.The translation successfully renders the story nicely into English for the international audience. But while it meditates on capital punishment and the thin line

Feb 21, 2014

Book event to feature novelist Hwang Sun-mi

Hwang Sun-miHwang Sun-mi’s “The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly”By Kim Young-jinHwang Sun-mi, author of the popular book “The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly,” has been a household name here since it was published in 2000. But she’s poised for wider recognition because she will be featured in April as part of the London Book Fair’s “market focus” on Korea.Her entrance into the international literary scene began with the English-language publication of “Hen” by Penguin last year. The book is much loved here, and its film adaptation is the country’s highest-grossing animated film ever.Book-lovers can get to know the novelist on Saturday, when she is the guest of the 10 Magazine Book Club, an event organized by expat bookworm Barry Welsh. Welsh, host of the “The Bookend” on TBS eFM (101.3), will interview the author onstage. The event is accessible in English and Korean.“It’s a world-class piece of fiction,” Welsh says of “Hen.” “I think it’s poised to crossover

Feb 18, 2014

Book event to feature novelist Hwang Sun-mi

Korean literature meets digital world

By Charles MontgomeryIn an era in which it seems that everyone owns a computer, laptop, tablet, or smart phone, sometimes it seems like stodgy old literature might be left in the pre-electronic dust. The challenge for the Literature Translation Institute (LTI) of Korea is to ensure that even the most digital person in the world can have access to Korean modern literature. LTI Korea has placed 20 works of early-modern Korean fiction online, where they can be accessed as PDF files or through applications for smartphones, tablets and other mobile Internet devices. These twenty works are the equivalent of a free collection of modern colonial fiction of Korea that can give an overseas reader a snapshot of the first ``modern’’ Korean literature and its styles, themes and discontents.``The authors were chosen carefully to include all aspects of Korean life at the time, from the lives of peasants in villages, to the lives of stifled intellectuals in cities, the stories of the men and women who lived through the colonial era and in the industrialization era,’’ says LTI

Feb 14, 2014

Not easy being a teen

Cover of “Eleanor and Park” (St. Martin’s Griffin), Rainbow Rowell‘Eleanor and Park’ tackles domestic abuse, racial identityRainbow Rowell, author of “Eleanor and Park” / Courtesy of www.rainbowrowell.comBy Kim Young-jin“Eleanor and Park” by American writer Rainbow Rowell has many of the elements that make a winning young adult novel. A love story involving two misfit teenagers in the 1980s, the characters are flawed and relatable; it crackles with hip cultural references, and suspense is created through believable situations.Now available in Korea, what makes this New York Times bestseller noteworthy is the probing of two difficult subjects: domestic abuse and racial identity. While one of the main characters struggles with a chaotic home, the other grapples with a mixed, Korean-Irish background. It is the nuanced handling of the first topic ― more than the second ― that propels the book forward. Set in Omaha, Nebraska the story follows Eleanor, a “big girl” with fiery red hair, and Park, a sensitive so

Feb 7, 2014

KTO publishes Korean cooking guide for foreigners

An excerpt from “Easy Korean Cooking” / Courtesy of KTOBy Yun Suh-young The Korea Tourism Organization has published a guide leaflet for foreigners introducing simple recipes to make Korean food. “Easy Korean Cooking” introduces 18 dishes in English, Japanese, German, French and Chinese. The recipes include bibimbap, or rice mixed with vegetables, and kimchi-jjigae, or kimchi stew with pork cuts. The recipes introduced in the booklet provide information on how to cook Korean food with local ingredients. The recipes are simplified and are explained with photos to help even people with little or no cooking experience to understand.The leaflets provide additional information catered to the food culture of people speaking each language. For instance, the English version has added information and which oil to use. The Japanese and Chinese versions have detailed explanations about the use of meat when it differs from the dishes of their own countries. The leaflet is offered for free at 30 KTO offices overseas as well as at tourism-related organizations and tour

Feb 7, 2014

KTO publishes Korean cooking guide for foreigners

Lee swaps realism for fantasy

Chang-rae Lee dips into dystopian fantasy in his new novel, “On Such a Full Sea. / Courtesy of Riverhead Books“On Such a Full Sea,” Chang-rae Lee, Riverhead BooksBy Kim Young-jinReaders often expect particular traits from prolific authors. This holds true for Chang-rae Lee, whose charm has been the measured, introspective study of narrators seen in novels “Native Speaker” and “Aloft.”While his restrained prose and deft storytelling remain, it’s welcome that the Korean-American author departs from realism and dips into dystopian fantasy in “On Such a Full Sea,” released in Korea earlier this month. Where previously he immersed into the inner lives of marginalized narrators, Lee envisions a bleak future America, pressing fast-forward on some of the current problems plaguing the country.The story begins in B-Mor, a self-contained, corporate-run community built where Baltimore once stood. Its inhabitants, whose ancestors came from an environmentally degraded land called “New China,” live sanitized lives, working

Jan 24, 2014

Exploring the politics of beauty

Chin Jung-kwon, a professor at Dongyang University, speaks at a news conference in Seoul earlier this week on the renewed edition of his bestselling art book series, “Aesthetics Odyssey.” / Courtesy of Humanist BooksBy Baek Byung-yeulChin Jung-kwon describes himself as an educator, culture critic and author of some wellknown books. However, it’s his snarky, left-leaning political commentary that made him a god on Internet message boards and Twitter.So despite his status as a transcendent personality, he will struggle to attract the interests of journalists if he refuses to take questions related to politics. There were barely 10 reporters at Chin’s recent news conference on the renewed edition of his three-book series, ``Aesthetics Odyssey,’’ their colleagues repelled after being told that the event would be entirely about the book. That’s a shame because, 20 years after its first publishing, “Aesthetics Odyssey” continues to be a must-read for its intelligent discussions on art and how it resonates with the broader culture a

Jan 17, 2014

Book on Cespedes published in Japan

The Japanese version of Park Chul’s “Gregorio de Cespedes: Primer Visitante Occidental a Corea en 1593”/ Korea TimesBy Baek Byung-yeulA book on Gregorio de Cespedes, the 16th century Spanish priest and first European on record to arrive on the Korean Peninsula, written by Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) President Park Chul, has been translated and published in Japan.Park, a scholar of Spanish literature, wrote “Gregorio de Cespedes: Primer Visitante Occidental a Corea en 1593’’ in 1986. The book has been published in Korea and Spain.Cespedes, who had been assigned for missionary activity in Japan, reached Korea in 1593 accompanying Japanese troops during their invasion of Korea, also called the Imjin War (1592-1598). He stayed in Korea for about a year and sent four letters to Spain about his impressions of Korea.Tomoko Taniguchi, professor at Japan’s Aichi Prefectural University, has completed the translation of Park’s book in Japanese.Park was elected as the president of HUFS in 2006, and has been a member of the

Aug 5, 2013

Recent Book

Hidden in Plain SightJan Chipchase and Simon Steinhardt; Winner’s Books: 304 pp., 15,000 wonAs the economic trends shift from mass-production to the multiple lower-volume production, businesspeople are searching for profitable models to fit a diverse range of markets, each with different demands. Jan Chipchase, the author and executive creative director of consulting company Frog Design, stresses that to be competitive in new marketsm, in-depth study about behavior is vital.His book,“Hidden in Plain Sight: How to Create Extraordinary Products for Tomorrow's Customers,” sheds light on how ordinary people interact with products and services.The authors’ process of coming up with their theories  through worldwide travel  and hints about finding hidden business opportunities, makes this book a worthwhile summer read that may be inspirational as well. ― Baek Byung-yeul

Jul 19, 2013By Baek Byung-yeul

Inside the shady world of Asian finance

By Kim Young-jin Phillip Y. Kim, author of "Nothing Gained"After the 2008 financial crisis, plenty of ink was spilt to explain why stock markets plunged and governments bailed out large financial institutions. For those unversed in the jargon of international finance, it was not an easy event to understand.The evictions, foreclosures and unemployment that followed in some parts of the world, of course, were a gut-punch for millions. But factors such as sub-prime mortgages and high risk, complex financial products didn’t exactly make for riveting reading.Phillip Y. Kim, a first-time novelist with a long history in the banking industry, is out to change that. His new book, “Nothing Gained,” is a thriller that paints an intriguing, if unsettling, portrait of the world of investment banking. Having worked for 25 years at such firms as Lehman Brothers and Morgan Stanley, the Korean-American is well placed to shed light on some of the more colorful, if unsavory, aspects of the industry."Nothing Gained" covers the world of interest banking. / Courtesy of Penguin

Jul 19, 2013

Books