Lifestyle - The Korea Times

Book pays tribute to 32 piano legends

By Do Je-hae Some pianists have been known to move the heart not just with their music, but also with words. Legends like the Austrian pianist Alfred Brendel have not only been respected for keyboard magic but also for accomplishments in poetry and essays. With the new book “Pianist Now,” Korean pianist Kim Joo-young places himself into a rare category of successful pianist/writers. Korean piano lovers have longed for a book like “Pianist Now,” a collection of essays on 32 iconic pianists on the stage today. The essays provide a breezy look into the musical outlook, personalities and achievements of the pianists. This is the first Korean book to cover the lives of pianists of this level in one publication. Because the author has actually met most of the pianists he writes about,including Mikhail Pletnev and Boris Berezovsky, some of the stories are more intimate and personal. The author is one of the first generation of Korean pianists to have been trained in Russia, the land of virtuosic pianism with a long line of iconic pianists, from Sergei Rachmaninoff to Evgeny

Apr 6, 2012By Do Je-hae

First Western family’s life in Busan

By Robert Neff The origin of this book is what every historian dreams of ― a chance encounter with someone in possession of a cache of documents and correspondences that they don’t know what to do with. Prof. Wayne Patterson is one of the few lucky ones. While accompanying some students on a field trip to China in the early 1980s, Patterson met Lina Sharp, a tourist, who asked him if he would be interested in the personal correspondences of a man who had lived and died in the Far East in the late 19th century ― William Nelson Lovatt. As any historian would ― he promptly accepted and committed himself to nearly three decades of research in which he traced down surviving members of the Lovatt family ― going so far as to travel to Andorra ― and sifted through “nearly indecipherable diaries.” The result of his efforts is “In the Service of His Korean Majesty” ― a book that is bound to change some of our perceptions of Western involvement in Joseon Korea’s early modernization attempts. Born in England in 1838, Lovatt enlisted in the British army at the age of 15 and served in va

Apr 6, 2012

Recent book

Taste of Patriotism Cho Tae-kwon; Gimmyoung Publishers; 297 pp., 13,000 won Cho Tae-kwon, CEO of local ceramics maker KwangJuYo, shares his thoughts about promoting “hansik” or Korean cuisine in his latest book. He has been one of the most outspoken advocates for the globalization of Korean food in recent years. Aside from KwangJuYo's hand-made ceramics, Cho's businesses also include Hwayo, a distiller of soju. The book elaborates on Cho's conviction that the most effective way to pursue the globalization of Korean cuisine is to start with the high-end. To better promote Korean cuisine overseas, he envisioned a high-end Korean restaurant that serves only the best food and liquor on elegant ceramic dishes, with a luxurious atmosphere. Such visions led to the 2003 opening of a fine dining Korean restaurant called Gaon in Apgujeong in 2003. Besides his 20-year experience in business, the book also mentions Cho's suggestions for the government's efforts to promote hansik; menus for some fusion hansik dishes; and excerpts from previous interviews from local dailies. -Do

Mar 30, 2012

Pictorial history of modern nursing in Korea

By Robert Neff They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. And through the hundreds that grace the pages of Prof. Oak Sung-deuk’s new book, “A Pictorial History of Modern Nursing in Korea,” the reader ― or rather the viewer ― is granted a privileged account of the history of Western medicine in Korea. This massive tome contains rare images of Gwanghyewon (the first Korean hospital of modern medicine) which was established in April 1885 by Dr. Horace N. Allen who went on to become King Gojong’s personal physician and later the American Minister to Korea. Prof. Oak notes that at the Gwanghyewon, Allen “used ‘uinyo’ (government medical/dancing girls) as nurses, yet soon replaced them with male assistants.” Scattered throughout the book are the portraits of the various Western doctors and nurses ― most of them great personalities of the late Joseon Korea ― who, up until now, were mere names; faceless except in our imaginations. The rough buildings that served as their homes and medical facilities as well as their equipment are candidly revealed and further illustrat

Mar 30, 2012

Nazarbayev‘s leadership story published here

By Kim Yoo-chul One event on Sunday captured a neighborly relationship between Korea and Kazakhstan, made possible through mutual respect despite the geographical distance. Their respect is based on Korea’s successful economic model and Kazakhstan’s bold effort to remove its Soviet legacy and become nuclear-free. That was why the biography of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev was published in Korean and an event to mark the occasion was held Sunday in Seoul with a press conference with the British biography author. ``It’s true that the Kazakhstan President has a lot of charm, charisma and ``It’s true that the Kazakhstan President has a lot of charm, charisma and good sense of humor. I wrote the biography

Mar 26, 2012By Kim Yoo-chul

Renowned travelogue marks record sales

By Do Je-hae Yoo Hong-jun’s renowned travelogue series has sold 3 million copies, according to its publisher Changbi. The six-part series is the only humanities publication to hit the 3 million mark. “As of March, several humanities books have sold over 1 million copies, like “What is Justice” or “Youth Hurts.” But the travelogue is the first in the category to sell over 3 million,” the publisher said in a statement “My Survey of Cultural Heritages” has made the author one of the most recognizable experts in this area. No scholar in modern times has been able to write such detailed, enlightening, and at times entertaining, stories on cultural heritage across the Korean Peninsula. Of the six books, two of them are devoted to stories solely on cultural treasures in North Korea. Yoo also served as the head of the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea from 2004 until 2008. He currently serves as a professor in the Art History Department at Myongji University. An art historian by profession, he released the first part of the series in 1993, centered on his personal exper

Mar 23, 2012By Do Je-hae

Kim Jong-il‘s eldest son opens up

By Do Je-hae Kim Jong-nam has displayed behavior unbefitting the eldest son of one of the world’s most reclusive leaders Kim Jong-il, who died on Dec. 17, 2011. Kim Jong-nam is the only member of North Korea’s “royal family” who speaks to the foreign media. He travels freely and spends much of his time in China or Macao, its special autonomous region. He considers himself a “capitalist.” So when it was reported in January that a book containing his interviews and emails was published in Japan, the international press paid attention to see Kim’s own views on the future of North Korea. “Hello, This Is Kim Jong-nam” is the Korean version of a book about Kim Jong-il’s estranged eldest son originally entitled “My Father, Kim Jong-il, and Me.” The book contains conversations between Kim Jong-nam and the author, Yoji Gomi, a Japanese journalist with the Tokyo Shimbun specializing in inter-Korean affairs. It is expected to serve as a useful source of reference for anyone interested in North Korea. The interesting aspect of this new Korean version is that it contains the text

Mar 23, 2012By Do Je-hae

Recent books

‘Park Tae-joon”: A Memorial Issue Lee Dae-hwan: Asia Publishers; 240 pp., 13,000 won Who does not know POSCO and its founder the late Park Tae-joon, who passed away at the age of 84 on Dec. 13, 2011 due to pulmonary ailment? This book comprised of a series of speeches he made and articles on the late “man of steel,” however, will still provide glimpses into his life and the man that he was, both in Korean and English. Built against all the odds and partly from funds from Property Claims Against Japan (Or Indemnities for Japanese Colonial Rule), Park grew POSCO largely on his legacy of “patriotism by steel manufacturing” and “right face.” The latter a military phrase that Park shouted to his men either to build a steel factory or just turn “right face” and march straight into the waters off Korea’s East Coast. POSCO was ranked 30th in the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World in 2012 by “Corporate Knights,” a Canadian economic magazine. The book carries, among others, the address that he gave at a reunion between him and 390 retired founding

Mar 23, 2012By Do Je-hae

Recent book

Success Will Come If One Follows True Desires Lee Kyung-yoon; Money Plus; 153 pp., 13,000 won This is the success story of Yoon Song-yee, vice president and chief strategy officer of NCsoft, Korea_lading online games company renowned for a series of hits with Lineage, City of Heroes and Aion. She is what one may call 'theorean Marissa Mayer,' the vice president of Location and Local Services at Google and largely regarded as the public face of the multinational Internet and software corporation. They are both smart, good-looking, and on the fast lane at a successful technology company. The author, who has written several books on self-motivation, says that she wrote this book particularly for young women who are having a hard time getting or keeping a job. The 37-year-old is a familiar public figure here, better known as the 'genius girl' who received her doctorate from MIT in the United States at the age of 24. She subsequently made headlines when she joined SK Telecom, one of the nation's telecommunication giants, as a vice president when she was only 28. One of the

Mar 16, 2012

‘Cine Class‘ ― atypical guide to film

By Cho Jae-hyon Film as a medium is much like language — it performs many of the same functions of communication. From opening to ending scenes, films are full of signs, codes, episodes and stories directors want to show and tell. To better understand the language, one needs to have a basic knowledge about moviemaking. Audiences don’t have to fully decipher all of the text and signs implied by directors in the scenes and sounds of movies. As people have their favorite genres, directors and actors, they can enjoy films in individual ways, leaving the parts difficult to understand behind. Sometimes, moviegoers have opportunities to listen to directors explain their work and those accounts, in most cases, can help achieve a better understanding. A movie may not be fully understood and this isn’t always necessary. Still, a basic knowledge of filmmaking may guide viewers into a deeper and broader appreciation of what they are watching. It will also amplify the joy of watching. Though people think they know a lot about movies, they actually might lack some

Mar 16, 2012By Cho Jae-hyon

Books

Books

Book pays tribute to 32 piano legends

First Western family’s life in Busan

Recent book

Pictorial history of modern nursing in Korea

Nazarbayev‘s leadership story published here

Renowned travelogue marks record sales

Kim Jong-il‘s eldest son opens up

Recent books

Recent book

‘Cine Class‘ ― atypical guide to film

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