tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-207003952010-02-28T09:00:17.152+09:00Charles Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17489538189139910055noreply@blogger.comBlogger142125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20700395.post-44051366210592632772010-02-28T08:59:00.002+09:002010-02-28T09:00:17.338+09:00

to www.ktlit.com..I see some people still seem to be subscribed here. ;-)

Charles Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17489538189139910055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20700395.post-31555524137944130212010-01-31T20:53:00.001+09:002010-01-31T20:54:29.889+09:00

remember...the new posts are going up atwww.ktlit.com...and you can subscribe right there on the page...

Charles Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17489538189139910055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20700395.post-37403027985462057662010-01-28T17:51:00.001+09:002010-01-28T17:53:25.045+09:00

A reminder.. the site has been shifted towww.ktlit.comand now feedburner is set up for those of you who want to subscribe...AND there's a new post. ;-)

Charles Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17489538189139910055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20700395.post-9847895149463325232010-01-27T06:43:00.003+09:002010-01-27T06:44:01.362+09:00

To a nice new (under design but running) WordPress site atwww.ktlit.com

Charles Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17489538189139910055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20700395.post-55509997507137159992010-01-26T03:38:00.002+09:002010-01-26T10:59:24.368+09:00

After reading my way through the absolutely horrible Hong Gildong (again, not the Jimoondang fiction, but the folk-tale), I was a bit apprehensive about reading Park Wan-suh’s Weathered Blossom, even though I’ve liked everything I’ve read of hers. The fear was purely based on similarity – another small book with a lovely cover and.. maybe .. another crappy translation.A closer look, however,

Charles Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17489538189139910055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20700395.post-7363586513794144492010-01-24T21:59:00.004+09:002010-01-24T22:05:38.525+09:00

The AsianInfo site nicely divides Korean lit into three categories and then goes on to explain them:The Character of Korean LiteratureKorea's Classical LiteratureThe Modern Literature of KoreaIt's necessarily a gloss, but a great place to begin if you want to learn the overall outlines of Korean literature.At just less than 6,000 words, you might just want to cut and paste it into a Word (OR hwp!

Charles Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17489538189139910055noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20700395.post-28023951783886057062010-01-23T18:52:00.002+09:002010-01-23T18:59:32.823+09:00

I took Hong Gildong (the "Korean Classical Literature Institute" version) in to work to show it around the Translation Department, who all had a good hoot. Over a delicious 갈바당 lunch the chair asked why I bought it, and I replied the cover was nice. She took a look at the cover and said, "yeah, nice, but it really doesn't have anything to do the story, does it?"I peered at it and joked, "Yeah,

Charles Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17489538189139910055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20700395.post-59492226199216446042010-01-20T20:56:00.002+09:002010-01-20T21:55:19.128+09:00

As part of my ongoing project to review all of the KLTI/Jimoondang short novels, I have begun to read Hong Gildong by Seo Hajin. This is based on a Korean folk-tale of the same name. Thus I was ecstatic to find a translation of this work at the "Foreign Bookstore" (Right across from exit 1 of the Noksapyeong Subway Station on line 6). I had a lovely gift certificate from my fiancee, which I

Charles Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17489538189139910055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20700395.post-47788965449417586542010-01-16T16:12:00.003+09:002010-01-16T16:24:44.675+09:00

ADAPTED FROM MY UPCOMING ARTICLE IN 10 MAGAZINE ASIAOne drawback of living or traveling in Korea is difficulty finding English books. Good bookstores are rare, and if you only know one or two, you are unlikely to find the range of books you like. Many of us also enjoy browsing in used bookstores, which are even harder to find. Luckily, there ARE good “English” bookstores in Korea, you just have

Charles Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17489538189139910055noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20700395.post-8600597154152927482010-01-12T11:32:00.002+09:002010-01-12T11:42:01.218+09:00

Park Wan-suh’s Who Ate Up All the Shinga, originally published in Korean in 1992, is a brilliant book on at least three levels. First, it is the compelling narrative of a writer coming into being in the most trying of times. Second, it is a highly amusing and often bittersweet mother-daughter memoir. Finally, it is an unusually well-balanced novel – a remarkable cultural artifact, if one chooses

Charles Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17489538189139910055noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20700395.post-62449517784617785392010-01-11T22:39:00.002+09:002010-01-11T22:45:52.688+09:00

Man.. Korea still won't come to terms with the internet. And for once I'm not talking about out of date Active-X crud....the brilliant LIST MAGAZINE, which I suspect I've talked about here before, is a great way to push Korean literature to the world.Until you look at the website in which everything is a graphic...."Why," you non-ex-webmasters ask, "would this be a problem?"Because graphics

Charles Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17489538189139910055noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20700395.post-40287699621557927892010-01-08T18:56:00.004+09:002010-01-08T19:07:04.868+09:00

Working some incredibly clean text from the folks at Ewha...The text is about family structure in Korea and the family thing is clearly on the translators mind.. well.. kind of..The first one indicates the translator may not have like all family members equally:In the meanwhile, bother-in law is considered the most uncomfortable family member to male respondents, followed by bothers,

Charles Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17489538189139910055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20700395.post-91668352034908437222010-01-04T12:28:00.001+09:002010-01-04T12:28:18.854+09:00

~ Greetings ~2S2 (2nd Saturday at 2pm) meeting for expats in Korea to get together and be jolly.January Meet up Details: Saturday, January 9th 2010.12pm: Meeting with the SeoulEats crowd at a dumpling Restaurant in Insadong. Confused on meet up area contact 2S2 Blog. 2PM: Both groups will move to the Twosome Cafe near Anguk station (walking).Book Exchange: Bring books you are finished with and

Charles Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17489538189139910055noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20700395.post-59950676891055077072010-01-01T15:23:00.004+09:002010-01-01T15:57:00.904+09:00

Reading an introduction to a collection of Korean short stories, I was struck by the introduction in which the editor attempted to explain why Korean fiction was sometimes unsatisfying for Western readers. His argument, essentially, focused on style, which I thought was a bit shallow, but he did mention something that I had already noted about Korean fiction; something that makes it a bit

Charles Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17489538189139910055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20700395.post-57460124775425914362009-12-30T08:58:00.003+09:002009-12-30T09:08:24.043+09:00

Buried in an otherwise uninspiring article in the nearly worthless Korea Times is this gem:Among others, poet Ko Un's ``Maninbo'' (Ten Thousand Lives) has been completed 23 years after he started writing the popular historical poem in 1986. It will be published early next year over 30 volumes.He started the monumental poem during his imprisonment with a determination to describe every person he

Charles Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17489538189139910055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20700395.post-30909814160360906282009-12-23T13:22:00.001+09:002009-12-23T13:23:20.782+09:00

Is now online where anyone can see it.http://issuu.com/10magazine/docs/10magazine_jan2010/15?zoomed=&zoomPercent=&zoomX=&zoomY=&noteText=&noteX=&noteY=&viewMode=magazine

Charles Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17489538189139910055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20700395.post-74088264747550685502009-12-21T17:53:00.002+09:002009-12-22T22:08:53.746+09:00

TFYFQZ4RX8F5Mystery gobbledegook for TechnoratiTags: TFYFQZ4RX8F5

Charles Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17489538189139910055noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20700395.post-40276625363052678362009-12-21T08:46:00.004+09:002009-12-21T08:55:09.990+09:00

In his review of Kang Sok-kyong's The Valley Nearby (Found over at London Korea Links) Philip Gowman says:The synopsis on the back of the book suggests a more action-packed plot than is the caseand quotes the synopsis:Living in the country, Yun-hee is engaged in a solitary struggle. Her two worlds, that of a rural housewife and that of an advocate for equality, are at odds with each other. As her

Charles Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17489538189139910055noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20700395.post-33148771780130650752009-12-20T19:25:00.002+09:002009-12-21T16:57:22.162+09:00

An interesting article in the Herald about what pushed Korean book sales last year..It relates to my previous post about Shin Kyung-sook, inasmuch as one of the motive forces was apparently female authors.The other motive force was the e-book:Kyobo, the country's biggest bookstore chain, said its preliminary yearly sales rose 8.9 percent from 2008, helped by the stronger-than-expected revenue

Charles Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17489538189139910055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20700395.post-89147525610444787182009-12-19T10:15:00.002+09:002009-12-19T10:25:38.281+09:00

As reported over at the Herald,The publication rights for the best-selling South Korean novel "Take Care of My Mother" have been sold in 15 countries, with the first overseas edition to be published in China next year, a local agency said Tuesday, according to Yonhap News.I can't seem to find the article, but this book was credited for turning around the fiction publishing industry in Korea. It's

Charles Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17489538189139910055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20700395.post-52137447628197355802009-12-17T15:59:00.004+09:002009-12-17T16:34:09.177+09:00

Choe In-ho’s Deep Blue Night is one of my favorite of the Portable Library of Korean Literature translations, partly because it’s theme is so accessible to a western reader. It is a combination of a travelogue and that most quintessential American literary form, the buddy road-trip. The story begins with a scene reminiscent of the opening scene of Lee Kyoun-young's The Other Side of Dark

Charles Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17489538189139910055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20700395.post-11728107171343609282009-12-16T10:34:00.002+09:002009-12-16T10:45:25.511+09:00

An interesting conference to be held this August in Seoul. Unfortunately, the deadline for paper submission is passed, but some of the topics on the agenda look pretty good. Held triennially (what?why?) it is described as:The Congress of the International Comparative Literature Association (ICLA) is the Olympics of literature. Held triennially, this monumental event brings together over 1,000

Charles Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17489538189139910055noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20700395.post-37865776236285830092009-12-07T18:48:00.001+09:002009-12-07T18:50:45.060+09:00

You might want to check out the Fulton's discussing " The Red Room: Stories of Trauma in Contemporary Korea" (and other tales of trauma).

Charles Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17489538189139910055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20700395.post-74515887472333790882009-12-05T14:24:00.003+09:002009-12-05T14:30:32.468+09:00

I shouldn't be so cranky about this, but the Korea Times has an article about its translation contest winners in which, well.. read it..Korea Times President and Publisher Park Moo-jong hoped more English translations of Korean literature would boost the chances of a Korean winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in the future."It would have been nice if a Korean won the Nobel Prize for Literature

Charles Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17489538189139910055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20700395.post-7761124783659215182009-12-04T14:16:00.003+09:002009-12-04T14:33:59.629+09:00

Here's a cool looking blog (Korean American Readings), apparently by a woman in the United States (I'm guessing from info and twitters on the site). She doesn't post a ton, but when she does it is quality stuff. She's apparently been at it for a while as the list of reviews on the right side of her site indicates.There are cool things beyond reviews as well, this post on asian american book

Charles Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17489538189139910055noreply@blogger.com0