Next Reviews for 10 Magazine

Only notable, I suppose, because of how I lightened up my criticism of the translation of Aunt Suni (which I first talked about here)

THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY
By Ann Shaffer and Annie Fiery Barrows

The “Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” focuses on an eponymously named book club. The club is the part fanciful and entirely necessary creation of a moment. Caught out after curfew by Nazi occupiers a character creates the book club as a cover.

Shaffer researched the occupation of the Guernsey Islands; tales of privation, cruelty, a concentration camp, collaboration and bravery, and weaves the lives of occupied and occupiers to reveal the moral confusion the occupation raised, while also celebrating local resistance. The book club becomes a functioning one and helps the locals deal with their painful situation. Love stories anchor the book, which is written in epistolary style. In the post-war passages this style seems slightly contrived. The book is serious, lighthearted and entertaining at the same time, and by virtue of its epistolary style, probably like nothing you have recently read.
(288 pages 18,200W)


MY SISTER’S KEEPER

“My Sister’s Keeper”, by Judy Picoult has a plot that might seem far-fetched. Anna Fitzgerald is an intentional genetic doppelganger of her sister Kate, and has only been brought into the world to keep that sister alive. Beaten down and unhappy as a result of her ‘replacement’ status and years of ‘donation’ of body-parts, she seeks revenge in the most modern of ways – she sues. Not just sues, but hires a lawyer who has already sued God!

Like The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, My Sister’s Keeper is told from multiple points of view. This is a wise approach, allowing the depth of each character to be revealed and characters who might otherwise have seemed unsympathetic are given full personalities and understandable justifications: The mother, in particular, emerges as a sad but sympathetic character. A good read, My Sister’s Keeper carefully balances science, philosophy, morality, law, and finally fate.
(448 pages 20,800W)




AUNT SUNI
By Ki-young Hyeon

Ki-young Hyeon’s “Aunt Suni”, is a troubling story that rewards a determined reader with a glimpse of unfortunate Korean history. The narrator returns to Jeju to attend his grandfather’s funeral only to discover he is also “attending” the death of his Aunt Suni. As Suni’s story unwinds, we realize that she - tragic, insane, a suicide - was a battered relic of historical crimes.

The story is a series of conversations, allowing multiple narrators to explain the tragedy. A sub-plot brings Suni to Seoul where, in the smallest things – accent, rice consumption, burned fish – Hyeon reveals Suni’s trauma. Where the bones of plot and muscles of story-telling show through, Hyun’s strength as a writer shines. A potential reader, however, should know that the translation is sometimes difficult: A must-buy for fans of Korean history and literature, “Aunt Suni “might be a ‘maybe- buy’ for more general readers.
(123 pages 10,000W)

The Next Review of to 10 Asia

I'm still troubled by the short format. ;-)

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES
Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

A romantic novel with brains (delicious human brains!), Pride and Prejudice and Zombies begins, "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more." With this truism established, author Seth Grahame-Smith is off, updating Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice to a post-apocalyptic zombie-strewn landscape. This idea works brilliantly, and tension between the delicate novel of manners and the horrorshow zombies is played for broad comic effect, as in:

"The creature advanced, and Elizabeth landed a devastating chop … The limbs broke off, and the unmentionable fell to the ground . . . Elizabeth found herself … within view of the house … face glowing with the warmth of exercise.”

Published by the appropriately named, Quirk Publishing, Pride, Prejudice and Zombies is also available for kindle download from Amazon.com. Shamble out and pick this one up!
(320 pages, 15,160₩)

150 words


BROTHER ONE CELL
Cullen Thomas

Brother One Cell is a cautionary tale with an inspirational conclusion. Cullen Thomas illegally teaches English in Korea, and on vacation in Thailand mails hashish to Seoul. This scheme unravels and he is sentenced to 3.5 years imprisonment during which time he overcomes personal demons and comes to accept personal responsibility for his own fate.

Cullen’s flat, observational writing style is appropriate when he describes his entry into the Korean penal/judicial system, which appears largely opaque to him: What he does see tends to be depressing. Cullen’s descriptions of the psychic price of his double isolation (prisoner and foreigner) and powerlessness are matched with his growing appreciation of small pleasures, such as his joy at being given simple jobs.

A novel of personal growth in difficult circumstances, Brother One Cell also gives a peek into a side of Korean culture even expatriates rarely (thankfully) see.
(347 pages, 19,500₩)

150 words


OUR TWISTED HERO
By Munyol Yi

Our Twisted Hero is a retrospective meditation on power by narrator Pyongt'ae Han who was weak and bullied in elementary school. The bully, Sokdae Om, rules with an iron fist and keeps nearly perfect order. Han is not used to this arbitrary power, and rebels. For this, he is ostracized: Om has created an all-powerful cult of personality. Han not only works his way back into Om’s good graces, but even comes to perversely admire him. When Om’s reign crashes down at the hands of even greater power other students turn against Om, with only Han refusing to completely repudiate him.

Readers with knowledge of post-war Korean politics will particularly enjoy this work. Although it is simple and brief, it also clearly allegorizes political issues (dictatorship, the role of intellectuals, suppression of revolt) that preceded and surrounded its original date of publication in 1987.
(119 pages, 7,000₩)

Not Exactly All About Korea - but first reviews in "10 Magazine Asia"

Three little ones - the problem was actually to get them down to 150 words and still say something. I guess I'm a wordy writer. These will publish next month.

THE APPEAL
John Grisham

Summer reading season is here. On Gwangali or Boryeong beach, or huddled by your air-conditioner, you can count on John Grisham to deliver a solid summer book; a long story, simply told, in which the bad guys are really, really bad. “The Appeal” delivers page-turning plot and doesn’t let anything interfere. If a character is evil his chauffeur describes him as “ a hothead with a massive ego,” and the action speeds ahead.

“The Appeal” focuses on a small legal firm that has just defeated the deep-pocketed and evil Krane Chemical company. Krane responds with a multi-pronged counterattack hinging on the increasing politicization of the judicial election system and a Machiavellian manipulation of unrelated social issues. The story races towards a satisfyingly downbeat conclusion and with the exception of a few clunky phrases and occasional caricature, is a brilliant choice for beach or sofa. (482 pages, 10,390₩)


THE AQUARIUMS OF PYONGYANG
Chol-hwan Kang & Pierre Rigoulot


“The Aquariums of Pyongyang” tells of a childhood partially spent in a North Korean internment camp. Chol-hwan Kang, recounts his happy childhood in a family that moved to North Korea from Japan. The family arrives as heroes. When the patriarch turns against the state he ‘disappears’ and the family is exiled to camp Yodok. Nine year-old Kang spends ten years struggling to remain alive. Starvation, beatings, overwork and disease are daily fare at the camp, and sensitive readers might flinch as Kang unsparingly recounts his experiences with hunger, sadism, and “the death of compassion.” Kang’s family is finally released, but the specter of re-internment never leaves. Kang escapes to China and then to South Korea. The book’s conclusion, preface and introduction (the last by Pierre Rigoulot) contain some political posturing, which seems hard-earned and does little to lessen the book’s general impact. (238 pages, 14,400 ₩)

LAND OF EXILE
Bruce and Ju-Chan Fulton eds.

Readers looking for a quick but comprehensive primer on Korean post-WWII short fiction should purchase a copy of the updated “Land of Exile.” A semi-canonical work within fifteen years of its first publication, four new stories substantially broaden the brief of the anthology, expanding the narrative styles as well as extending the geography of exile that constitutes the main theme of the collection. Co-editors and translators Bruce and Ju-Chan Fulton have added "Scarlet Fingernails" by Minsuk Kim; "The Last of Hanak'o" by Yun Ch'oe; "Conviction"(2003) by Such'ol Ch'oe; and "From Powder to Powder" (2004) by Hung Kim. According to Amazon.com, none of the stories in this anthology are in print in any other volume. The “Land of Exile” continues to wear the crown Thomas Hughes grants it as “the richest, most comprehensive selection of postcolonial South Korean short fiction currently available.” (343 pages, 37,640₩)