Most Popular
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[AtoZ into Korean mind] Humor in Korea: Navigating the line between what's funny and not
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Yoon seeks rebound, taps 5-term lawmaker as chief of staff
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Medical standoff deepens as doctors reject new med school plan, talks
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[Herald Interview] Why Toss invited hackers to penetrate its system
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[Graphic News] 77% of young Koreans still financially dependent
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S. Korean envoys convene to navigate strategy amid Middle East tensions
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North Korea fires several short-range ballistic missiles into sea: JCS
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Samsung, SK hynix investors dump shares on Nvidia crash
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Suspect in murder of girlfriend's mugshot, name made public
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[Exclusive] Korean military set to ban iPhones over 'security' concerns
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[Herald Interview] KLTI reaches out to global literary market
Translation institute’s new director Kim stresses importance of international promotion of Korean literatureMore international networking and aggressive marketing are needed to better promote Korean literature overseas, said the newly appointed director of Korea Literature Translation Institute on Wednesday.“What local critics consider as an exceptional piece of literary work here may not be regarded the same way overseas,” Kim Seong-kon told The Korea Herald in his office in Samseong-dong, Seou
Feb. 9, 2012
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[Herald Interview] KLTI reaches out to global literary market
Translation institute’s new director Kim stresses importance of international promotion of Korean literatureMore international networking and aggressive marketing are needed to better promote Korean literature overseas, said the newly appointed director of Korea Literature Translation Institute on Wednesday.“What local critics consider as an exceptional piece of literary work here may not be regarded the same way overseas,” Kim Seong-kon told The Korea Herald in his office in Samseong-dong, Seou
Feb. 9, 2012
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Mars-Jones wins Hatchet Job award
LONDON (AP) ― A critic who accused a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist of scattering literary allusions like “tin cans tied to a tricycle’’ has won a prize for the year’s most lacerating book review.Adam Mars-Jones’ review of Michael Cunningham’s novel “By Nightfall’’ was named the winner of the Hatchet Job of the Year Award.The review condemns the novel’s pretensions, saying it is “filled with thoughts about art, or (more ominously) Thoughts about Art.’’Mars-Jones, a British-born novelist, was aw
Feb. 8, 2012
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Book details JFK affair with teen White House intern
NEW YORK (AFP) ― John F. Kennedy carried on an 18-month-long affair with a teenaged White House intern, according to a new book by the woman who claims to have been the late U.S. president’s lover.Excerpts of the shocking memoir, “Once Upon a Secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath,” were released Monday by the New York Post, which said it purchased a copy of the book at a local bookstore, although it is not scheduled for publication until Wednesday.In her tell-all mem
Feb. 7, 2012
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Kim named new director of literature translation agency
Professor Kim Seong-kon of Seoul National University has been appointed the new director of Korean Literature Translation Institute, the Culture Ministry announced on Tuesday.Kim, who has been teaching the University’s English literature program since 1984, also served as the director of Seoul National University Press, Seoul International Forum for Literature, and International Association for Contemporary Korea Studies. He also served as the president of the Korean Association of Modern Fictio
Feb. 7, 2012
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Went to film school, wound up with a book
Film School By Steve Boman(BenBella Books)I’ve always thought of advanced degrees in filmmaking as finishing school for misfits. Brilliant misfits, some of them. But misfits just the same.Into the film school world stumbles Steve Boman, a former reporter seeking a midlife U-turn. Astoundingly, even to him, the father of three has been accepted into the graduate program at the University of Southern California’s esteemed School of Cinematic Arts, where he will compete against hipsters half his ag
Feb. 3, 2012
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Analyzing Elizabeth Taylor as a feminist
The Accidental FeministBy M.G. Lord (Walker & Co.)Elizabeth Taylor was many things: a talented actress whose first star turn came at age 12 in “National Velvet”; an international celebrity whose eight husbands included her “Cleopatra” co-star Richard Burton twice; an AIDS activist long before it became fashionable; a recovering addict, diet book author and friend of Michael Jackson; and a voluptuous, violet-eyed, raven-haired beauty for the ages. But was she a feminist?In a new book published al
Feb. 3, 2012
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Scholar delves into the world of Korean tea
The Book of Korean Tea:A Guide to the History, Culture, Philosophy of Korean Tea and Tea Ceremony By Yoo Yang-seok (MyungWon Cultural Foundation) For those familiar with the well-known tea culture of India, China or Japan, it would be surprising to discover Korea’s rich history in tea ceremonies and culture. Known as “darye” in Korean, the ceremonies have been practiced by Korean people for some two thousand years since the ancient Gaya Kingdom (42-562 A.D.). For any tea lover who’d like to expl
Feb. 3, 2012
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Two approaches to book criticism
Partway through “Higher Gossip,” the seventh and final collection of reviews and occasional pieces by the late John Updike, I began to understand the problem I’ve always had with the author’s work. It’s pleasant enough ― congenial, intelligent, fluidly written ― but only rarely is it great. As to why this is, “Higher Gossip” offers an unintended answer by revealing not so much the range of Updike’s interests as the chatty conventionality of his ideas.The title, editor Christopher Carduff notes,
Feb. 3, 2012
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Sam Vaughan, editor and author, dead
NEW YORK (AP) ― Sam Vaughan, a longtime editor and publisher at Random House and Doubleday who worked with Dwight D. Eisenhower, Duke Ellington and many others has died. He was 83.Random House Inc. announced Tuesday that Vaughan died in his sleep Monday night at his home in Tenafly, New Jersey.“Sam was a giant, a fabulous man, a great leader, and a remarkable and very creative editor,’’ Random House executive vice president Kate Medina said in a statement. “He was magic on the page and in person
Feb. 1, 2012
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Late author Park’s life and works once again under spotlight
Special edition Park Wan-suh novels hit bookstores a year after her deathIt’s been exactly a year since the death of celebrated author Park Wan-suh, but her works continue to appeal to readers, scholars and even theater producers.Commemorating the one-year anniversary of her death, the month of January has been filled with Park Wan-suh themed events and publications. Leading publishing houses have been releasing special editions of her works, while the performing arts scene is celebrating her sh
Jan. 31, 2012
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U.S. author traces Rimbaud’s mysterious Java journey
KEROBOKAN, Indonesia (AFP) ― In 1876 French poet Arthur Rimbaud joined the Dutch colonial army, sailed to the Indonesian island of Java and then deserted and fled into the jungle. No one knows what happened next.More than 130 years later, an American author followed in the Frenchman’s footsteps to try and solve the mystery.“It’s like a Sherlock Holmes story,” said Jamie James, alluding to the detective work needed to trace where the enigmatic Rimbaud, who was born in 1854 and died just before tu
Jan. 29, 2012
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New books in ‘Insight into Korea Series’
New books in ‘Insight into Korea Series’Making the High-Speed Train Fly: Korean Global STI Strategy, Empowering Korea with New InnovationsBy Kim Suk-joon and others(Jimoondang)The Korea Herald’s “Insight into Korea” book series, which previously dealt with key Korean issues including Dokdo, the Korean Wave, and various social and financial topics, has published two more volumes ― this time about the challenges Korea faces in R&D and science and technology. The books ― “Making the High-Speed Trai
Jan. 27, 2012
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Book explores handaxes from the early Paleolithic Asia
Handaxes in the Imjin BasinEdited by Yi Seon-bok(SNU Press)Many things remain a mystery about the early Paleolithic period, especially the one of East Asia. Many of the Paleolithic remains found in the region have added to such questions. Most importantly, hand axes, which had been considered some of the most significant remains of the early Paleolithic in Europe and Africa, were not found in Asia until the late 1970s.Yet as the first set of Acheulian-like hand axes were found in Korea’s Imjin R
Jan. 27, 2012
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Fresh portrait of a monarch
Sure, why not. Let’s have yet another biography of Elizabeth II, this one as she’s about to mark 60 years on the throne.So what is new to justify Sally Bedell Smith’s massive “Elizabeth the Queen”? What is left to uncover, and what should be left uncovered and unknown in the life of this exemplary lady whose predetermined existence of regal obligation is yawningly unenviable, however bejeweled the box it comes in?Smith’s book answers those questions with a double yes ― yes, there are mercifully
Jan. 27, 2012
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Miller wins U.K. Costa Book Award
LONDON (AP) ― Author Andrew Miller on Tuesday won Britain’s lucrative Costa Book Award for his historical novel, “Pure,’’ set in Paris in the years leading up to the French Revolution.Judges praised the novel for its “rich and evocative’’ portrayal of pre-revolutionary France. Set in Paris, 1785, the book was about a young engineer who was assigned to empty an overflowing cemetery.Miller beat four other finalists to the 30,000-pound ($46,870) prize. His rivals were Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy
Jan. 25, 2012
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Gantos’ ‘Dead End in Norvelt’ wins Newbery Medal
NEW YORK (AP) ― This year’s winners of the top prizes in children’s literature were honored for stories of resilience over the most everyday troubles: a boy grounded by his parents, a dog that loses its favorite toy.Jack Gantos’ “Dead End in Norvelt’’ won the John Newbery Medal for the best children’s book of 2011, and Chris Raschka’s “A Ball for Daisy’’ won the Randolph Caldecott award for best illustration. The prizes were announced Monday by the American Library Association during its midwint
Jan. 24, 2012
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New Book
‘The Obamas’ surprisingly lacks surpriseThe Obamas By Jodi Kantor(Little, Brown) With all the headlines about Jodi Kantor’s book on Barack and Michelle Obama, the biggest surprise about it is this: There aren’t any surprises.I learned little about the Obamas or the presidency that I didn’t know or imagine, and I’m not even a passionate follower of events in Washington. Well, one thing shocked me. Can you believe the White House residence has a spotty Internet connection and only one extension of
Jan. 20, 2012
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Scholar offers thought-provoking study of Korean multiculturalism
Voices of Foreign Brides: The Roots and Development of Multiculturalism in KoreaBy Kim Choong-soon(AltaMira Press)One of the stars to emerge from last year’s silver screen hit “Punch” was Jasmine Lee. The Filipino-born Korean actress and activist, who rose to prominence as a panelist on KBS TV’s multicultural show “Love in Asia,” also appeared as an immigrant in the box-office hit. Aside from the film and TV roles, Lee was appointed one of Seoul City’s first foreign civil servants last year. The
Jan. 20, 2012
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Elmore Leonard’s creation is a complex hero for the modern world
Staring down a no-good, gun-toting heir to a marijuana empire in rural Kentucky who’s just thrown a dead rat at his car, Raylan Givens stands unfazed.“You know how many wanted felons have given me that look?” he says, calm as a man on a Sunday stroll. “I say a thousand I know I’m low.”Cool.Raylan Givens is one cool character, whether he’s enforcing the law as a deputy U.S. marshal in Elmore Leonard’s new novel “Raylan” or on “Justified,” the taut, moody FX series that has become a critical favor
Jan. 20, 2012