BOOKSTORE: BOOK REVIEW

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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I. HAWAIIAN BOOKS:

II. KOREAN BOOKS

AMERICAN BOOKS WITH A KOREAN CONNECTION
- Quiet Odyssey: A Pioneer Korean Woman in America -- Mary Paik Lee's tale of a Korean immigrant's struggle to survive at the turn of the century.
- Kori: The Beacon Anthology of Korean American Fiction -- First anthology of Korean-American fiction
- Century of the Tiger: One Hundred Years of Korean Culture in America (Manoa 14, 2) -- Work by some of the best and most eloquent Korean authors in Korea and America, past and present, in order to tell the dramatic story of Korean culture in America over the last century and the diverse experiences of Korean Americans today, particularly in Hawai'i.
- In the Absence of Sun: A Korean American Woman's Promise to Reunite Three Lost Generations of Her Family -- A woman's promise to her grandmother to reunite three generations of the family
- Still Life With Rice : A Young American Woman Discovers the Life and Legacy of Her Korean Grandmother -- A young woman's retracing of her grandmother's life
- House of the Winds (Novel) -- Girlhood vignette's of growing up in Seoul in 1960s
- One Thousand Chestnut Trees: A Novel of Korea -- A woman's journey to Korea to rediscover her roots
- Native Speaker (Novel) -- A Korean-American who is the perpetual outsider
- East to America: Korean American Life Stories -- Diverse series of interviews with Korean-Americans grew out of the editors' reaction to the media portrayal of ``inarticulate aliens'' during the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
- The Foreign Student: A Novel -- Korean man's experience in 1955 at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee.
- The Foreign Student: A Novel -- Korean man's experience in 1955 at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee.
- The Korean Frontier in America: Immigration to Hawaii, 1896-1910
- The Ilse: 1st Generation Korean Immigrants in Hawaii, 1903-1973 (Hawaii Studies on Korea)-- A compelling social history of the Korean experience in Hawaii from 1903 to 1973 as seen primarily through the eyes of the ilse.
- Man Sie: The Making of a Korean American
- Growing Up Asian American
- Everything You Need to Know About Asian American History
- People and Cultures Hawaii -- A Psychocultural Profile
- Beyond Ke'Eaumoku : Koreans, Nationalism, and Local Culture in Hawai'I (Asian Americans)
- The Dreams of Two Yi-Min
- Moonbay -- A collection of 7 short stories previously published in Amerasia Journal, Hawaii Ridge, and other literary magazines, presenting a fascinating gallery of unforgettable characters, set in meticulously crafted stories of war, displacement, discrimination, and reconciliation.
- Cry Korea Cry -- Mixed reviews on thriller.
- A Ricepaper Airplane: A Novel (Intersections: Asian and Pacific American -- Dreams of a dying Korean laborer to return to his homeland.
- The Watcher of Waipuna (Bamboo Ridge, No 55-56) -- Messages of a Korean immigrant in Hawaii.
LITERATURE
- Tales of a Korean Grandmother -- Recommended as the first book to read about Korean folklore.
- Korean Folk and Fairy Tales -- Great tales...that are good reading for kids and adults.
- The Woodcutter and the Heavenly Maiden Vol1 and the rest of the series -- A series that makes provides English text at the top -- Korean text at the bottom. Aid for teaching English to Korean youngsters.
- Proverbs, East and West: An Anthology of Chinese, Korean and Japanese Savings With Western Equivalents -- Collection of sayings that are funny and thought-provoking.
- A Guide to Korean Literature -- A little tedious but many examples of Korean styles
- Best Loved Poems of Korea -- Selected for Foreigners
- The Long Season of Rain -- Novel of a woman's plight of unfulfilled dreams. Set in 1960s Seoul.
- Understanding Korean Literature (New Studies in Asian Culture)
- Anthology of Korean Literature : From Early Times to the Nineteenth Century (UNESCO Collection of Representative Works) -- A definitive collection
- Han Sorya and North Korean Literature (Cornell East Asia Series No. 69) -- A A historical look at North Korea literature
- Silver Stallion : A Novel of Korea -- Novel about Korean War by Ahn Junghyo. Made into a popular movie.
- White Badge : A Novel of Korea -- A novel about the Vietnam War by Korean soldiers by Ahn Junghyo. Made into a popular movie.
- The Clan Records: Five Stories of Korea -- Five of Kajiyama's Korean tales, the first English translations from Japanese that deal with Korea under the harsh Japanese military rule.
KOREAN CULTURE
- An Introduction to Korean Culture -- Covers many areas of the asian culture and how the Korean people have evolved.
- Folk Art and Magic: Shamanism in Korea -- A great pictorial book on the Mudang (Shaman) practices in Korea.
- Korean Shamanism: The Cultural Paradox (Vitality of Indigenous Religions)
- Korea's cultural roots -- The book is divided into three parts: Shaman Roots, Buddhist Roots, and Neo-Confucian Roots.
- Korean Impact on Japanese Culture: Japan's Hidden History -- Another great pictorial source of information that attempts to prove the hypothesis that the first emporer of Japan was Korean and other cultural aspects are owed to the Korean Paekje people.
- Voices from the Straw Mat: Toward an Ethnography of Korean Story Singing (Hawaii Studies on Korea)
HISTORY
- The Archaeology of Korea -- Surveys Korean prehistory from the earliest paleolithic settlers, perhaps half a million years ago, through the formation of the Three Kingdoms and on to the creation of United Silla in AD 668, when the peninsula was largely united for the first time.
- An Introduction to Korean Culture - Covers many areas of the asian culture and how the Korean people have evolved.
- Korea: Tradition and Transformation: A History of the Korean People -- Great historical reference book that is well-organized and provides insights to Korean life.
- Traditional Korea: A Cultural History -- A Korean nationalistic re-interpretation of history -- "the study of the total culture of Korean as patterns of interrelated experiences by applying the disciplines of history, literature, art, philosophy, and social sciences." Traces Korean history up to the late Yi-Dynasty.
- Korea Old and New: A History -- Highly recommended history book
- Generals and Scholars: Military Rule in Medieval Korea -- History of the Koryo dynasty period.
- The Confucian Kingship in Korea -- Story of 18th Century King Yongjo, tragic sage king.
- Confucian Gentlemen and Barbarian Envoys: The Opening of Korea, 1875-1885 -- Two categories in the Korean world-view, Korean Confucianists and barbarians osolates the important decade from 1875 to 1885, when Choson negotiated treaties with Japan, China, Russia, the United States, and France.
- The Confucian Transformation of Korea: A Study of Society and Ideology (Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series, No 36)
- The Samurai: A Military History -- Excellent source of information on the 1592-1598 Japanese Invasion of Korea
- Min Yong-Hwan: A Political Biography (Hawaii Studies on Korea) -- The diplomat and scholar-official Min Yong-hwan (1861-1905), described by one contemporary Western observer as "undoubtably the first Korean after the emperor," is considered to be the foremost patriot of Korea's Taehan era (1897-1910).
- Sources of Korean Tradition -- Collection of primary readings in the social, intellectual, and religious traditions of Korea from the sixteenth century to the present day.
- Sourcebook of Korean Civilization -- A compilation of the basic materials necessary to study Korean thought, religion, and culture, for students and general readers, based on the five-volume Korean edition published from 1984 to 1986.
- The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong: The Autobiographical Writings of a Crown Princess of Eighteenth Century Korea -- Lady Hyegyong wrote the collected four memoirs in an attempt to weather the storms of political intrigue surrounding her.
- Korea and Her Neighbours -- Isabella Bird Bishop, an independent British Victorian lady toured Korea four times between March 1894-7.
- Culture and the State in Late Choson Korea (Harvard East Asian Monographs/Harvard-Hallym Series on Korean Studies, 182) - Investigating the late sixteenth through the nineteenth century, this work looks at the shifting boundaries between the Choson state and the adherents of Confucianism, Buddhism, Christianity, and popular religions.
- Offspring of Empire: The Koch'Ang Kims and the Colonial Origins of Korean Capitalism, 1876-1945 (Korean Studies of the Henry M. Jackson School of int - Detailed economic, historical, and biographical polemic about the origins of capitalism in Korea. The author argues, that Japanese "(c)olonialism...for better or worse...was the catalyst and cradle of industrial development in Korea...".
- God, Mammon and the Japanese: Dr. Horace N. Allen and Korean-Amer Relations 1884-1905 (Multinational Corp Ser)
  Japanese Occupation
- Korea : A Geography Based on the Authors Travels and Literature -- by Hermann Lautensach this book remains a standard Korean reference text
- For Whom No Labor of Love is Lost; The History of Presbyterian Medical Center "Jesus Hospital" Chonju, Korea, 1898-1990 -- A book that traces the missionary efforts in the Provincial capital of Chollabuk-do, Korea.
  Contemporary History
- Korea and Its Futures : Unification and the Unfinished War -- Hypothesis that Unification to South Koreans is largely perceived not as the integration of different identities but as the southern conquest and assimilation of the north - in short, as winning the war.
- Korea's Place in the Sun : A Modern History -- A controversial look at Korean history slanted towards revisionist history
- South Korea's Minjung Movement: The Culture and Politics of Dissidence (Studies from the Center for Korean Studies)
- Laying Claim to the Memory of May: A Look Back at the 1980 Kwangju Uprising (Hawaii Studies on Korea) -- The Kwangju Uprising--"Korea's Tiananmen"--is one of the most important political events in late twentieth-century Korean history.
- Kwangju Diary: Beyond Death, Beyond the Darkness of the Age -- A insider's view that blames the U.S. for its "cowardly" acts. The Korean viewpoint is not necessarily the world view.
- Korean Politics : The Quest for Democratization and Economic Development -- The changes in politics up to Kim Dae-Jung.
- Education Fever: Society, Politics, and the Pursuit of Schooling in South Korea (Hawaii Studies on Korea) -- Transformation from a nation where a majority of the population had no formal education to one with some of the world's highest rates of literacy, high school graduates, and university students.
BUSINESS
- Think No Evil: Korean Values in the Age of Globalization -- Trying to understand the Korean catchword "Globalization" and what it means to the Koreans.
- Korean Etiquette and Ethics in Business -- An excellent condensed form of business etiquette and ethics. But there have been many changes due to "globalization" in Korea...and the IMF pre-conditions have changed things even more.
- Doing Business with Korea
- Passport Korea : Your Pocket Guide to Korean Business, Customs & Etiquette (Passport to the World)
- Made in Korea : Chung Ju Yung and the Rise of Hyundai -- Story of the founder of Hyundai whose methods would be extreme today, but whose success cannot be denied.
- Help Wanted: Korea; The Insider's Guide to Working and Living in Prosperous, Exotic South Korea -- Guide for college grads to find a job in Korea...
- The Culture of Korean Industry : An Ethnography of Poongsan Corporation -- An ethnography of a South Korean metal manufacturer, showing how Korean values, ethics, and other cultural traits such as kinship networks are translated into organizational structure and economic life.
LIFESTYLES AND MODERN LIFE
- The Koreans: Who They Are, What They Want, Where Their Future Lies -- A controversial look at the Koreans by an English correspondent
- Culture Shock: Korea
- South Korea Handbook
- Lonely Planet Seoul: A Planet City Guide (2nd Edition)
- Chi-Hoon : A Korean Girl -- A week in the life of a 8-year old in Seoul.
- Class Struggle or Family Struggle? : The Lives of Women Factory Workers in South Korea -- In a male-dominated society, trying to be a traditional mother and a modern wage-earning woman can be a problem.
- American Images of Korea -- A collection of American impressions of Korea dating from the late 1880s to the present some of which would definitely not be looked upon favorably by Koreans.
MILITARY
OUT OF PRINT
- Korea Patterns -- Exceptional book to add to your Korean library if you can find it.

III. COOKBOOKS

Dok Suni: Recipes from My Mother's Korean Kitchen -- Combination of personal narrative and appealing recipes in which Jenny Kwak shares stories and food from her mother's Korean kitchen.
Growing Up in a Korean Kitchen: A Cookbook -- Part autobiography and part cookbook. Over 175 recipes follow for a wide range of everyday and special-occasion dishes.
Practical Korean Cooking -- From the beautifully laid out step-by-step pictures to the detailed instructions, this book is far and away the best cookbook for authentic korean cooking. 200 recipes.
Practical Korean Cooking -- From the beautifully laid out step-by-step pictures to the detailed instructions, this book is far and away the best cookbook for authentic korean cooking. 200 recipes. The Korean Cookbook: Quick & Easy Recipes -- A lot of common-sense ideas for making Korean food, but somewhat hard to follow.
Korean Kitchen: Classic Recipes from the Land of the Morning Calm -- High marks, but biggest drawback no pictures.

IV. AMAZON.COM SEARCH ENGINES

KOREAN BOOKS
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BOOKS OF AMERICAN LIFE WITH A KOREAN CONNECTION

Quiet Odyssey: A Pioneer Korean Woman in America
by Mary Paik Lee
Price: $15.95
Paperback: ; Publisher: University of Washington Press; ISBN: 0295969695; (May 1990)

Editorial Reviews
From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Erica Bauermeister
Forced by Japanese soldiers to leave their home in Korea, Paik Kuang Sun (later Mary Paik Lee), her parents, and her brother emigrate to the United States in 1905, leaving behind their extended family and comfortable way of life. They spend one year in Hawaii, then move on to California, changing locations every year or so in hopes of finding work that will allow them to feed and clothe their rapidly growing family. Mary Lee writes of "whites only" signs, of laws that prohibit Asians from renting or buying property, of the year they eat only biscuits and water. Through it all her father works at back-breaking and sometimes life-endangering jobs, always ready to give to others who are in need. Mary grows up to be a hard-working, honest, and caring woman, prepared to stand up for what she believes is right, particularly when it comes to racism. Her autobiography is written with the intimacy of an oral history and through her memories, the reader is allowed into the life of one of the few (perhaps less than three dozen) Korean-born children growing up on the west coast before 1910. Su Cheng Chan, the book's editor, has added an extensive introduction and appendix which place Mary Lee's autobiography within a detailed historical and cultural context without invading its boundaries. The result is a book that can be read both as a piece of a history or and the personal testament of one courageous woman. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14.

Reviewer: A reader from Los Angeles, CA, USA GIves perspective on the lives we lead, October 1, 2000 I was assigned Quiet Odyssey for an Asian American studies class, and I was riveted by the clean, simple prose. But the story is far from simple, I admire Mary Paik Lee for her incredible endurance and courage. As a second generation Asian American, my family's roots in the United States are relatively new, but now I realize, that it has been due to Asian Americans like Mary Paik Lee that allow me to lead and pursue the life I wish. Not only is Quiet Odyssey the story of her life, it is also the story of California. It's eye opening to see how much Los Angeles and the rest of California have changed since she first landed here. And lastly, Mary Paik Lee has some incredible spunk to do and say some of the things she did. Impressive.

Reviewer: kissmyfist@hotmail.com from California,US Historical significance cannot be stressed enough! Read it!, July 28, 1999 I read this book in highschool while living in in Seoul, Korea. I am a Korean-American woman and I found the information in this book to be _invaluable_. Unlike similar historical works such as John Okada's 'No-No Boy' or Sui Sin Far's 'Mrs. Spring Fragrance and Other Writings', this is pure autobiography (or ethnobiography if you want to be technical). I cannot believe how lucky we are as Americans to get a first-hand account of a Korean-American living in turn of the century America, when there were literally only a handful living in the country at the time. The 'memoirs' are not only highly satisfying in themselves, they serve as anchors to the past in which to begin tracing a discernable branch of Asian-American history. Adds perspective in which to view today's world of American race relations. I think this is necessary reading for anyone who is interested in race, American society, and/or history. Will also appeal to minority activists.

Kalani O'Sullivan Note: This was included in the "Growing Up Asian American" anthology. The heroic tale of Mary Paik Lee (from Quiet Odyssey ) is the tale of a Korean immigrant's struggle to survive at the turn of the century. She tells of living in a shack along a stream filled fish, but having to worry of rat bites while they slept. This was a family scratching out a living to survive. However, what sticks in my mind was a statement by the father that though they were suffering in America, the life in Korea was worse.

I believe in the end she is described as being an apartment manager in LA. Thus her story is not a rags-to-riches one, but an immigrant's story. A tale of Korean stoicism, patriotism, family-relationships and all things Korean.

Kori: The Beacon Anthology of Korean American Fiction
by Heinz Insu Fenkl (Editor), Walter K. Lew (Editor)
Price: $16.10
Hardcover: 263 pages ; Publisher: Beacon Press; ISBN: 0807059161; (June 2001)

Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Edited by Heinz Insu Fenkl and Walter K. Lew, Kori is the first anthology of Korean-American fiction; as such, it identifies a literary void, but barely begins to fill it. Featured are works by 16 writers, including Chang-Rae Lee and Susan Choi. All but three are excerpted from previously published books. Themes of assimilation, racism and immigration prevail, and the selections are of uniform high quality. But the short essays preceding each entry, while instructive, often assume the stilted tone of a doctoral dissertation: the editors seem to be trying too hard to drive home ideas that the authors articulate with more grace and style. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Reviewer: Midwest Book Review from Oregon, WI USA 16 entries in this excellent and recommended collection, September 10, 2001 There has been major growth in the popularity of Korean-American literature lately, and Kori represents the first anthology to provide a comprehensive collection of 20th century works by Koreans from the 1930s to the 1990s. Prominent Korean-American scholars and writers edit and present the 16 entries in this excellent and recommended collection.

Reviewer: Rob Wilson from Santa Cruz, CA United States Splendid and useful anthology, tastefully deployed, August 23, 2001 This is a splendid and useful anthology, tastefully deployed and edited with historical range, literary verve, and critical care. The generational waves and generic diversity of Korean American writing is captured in a way that leaves the future open to a range of forms and possibilities that can draw upon everything from the ur-realism of Ty Pak to the transcendental deconstructions of Theresa Hak Kyung Cha.

Century of the Tiger: One Hundred Years of Korean Culture in America (Manoa 14, 2)
by Jenny Ryun Foster (Editor), Heinz Insu Fenkl (Editor), Frank Stewart (Editor)
Price: $11.20
Paperback: 220 pages Publisher: University of Hawaii Press; ISBN: 0824826442; (November 2002)

Editorial Reviews
Book Description
The year 2003 marks the hundredth anniversary of Korean immigration to the U.S. Century of the Tiger gathers work by some of the best and most eloquent Korean authors in Korea and America, past and present, in order to tell the dramatic story of Korean culture in America over the last century and the diverse experiences of Korean Americans today, particularly in Hawai'i.

About the Author
Jenny Ryun Foster is a fiction writer and librarian and has studied Korean literature, shamanism, and folklore in the U.S. and Korea. She lives and works in Honolulu. Heinz Insu Fenkl is director of creative writing at the State University of New York, New Paltz and is the author of Memories of My Ghost Brother. Frank Stewart is the author of four books and editor of six, primarily on Pacific and Asian writers and literature.

In the Absence of Sun: A Korean American Woman's Promise to Reunite Three Lost Generations of Her Family
by Helie Lee
Price: $16.80
Hardcover: 352 pages ; Publisher: Harmony Books; ISBN: 0609609343; 1st edition (April 23, 2002

Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Lee's bestselling debut, Still Life with Rice (1996), created quite a stir. It chronicled Lee's grandmother's 1950 escape from northern to southern Korea during a civil war that separated the Koreas and tore Lee's grandmother's family apart, as her eldest son, Lee Yong Woon, did not make it out of the north. Lee (who was born in Seoul, South Korea, and now lives in Los Angeles) used her uncle's real name in Still Life and included his picture. Once that book became available in South Korea, Lee's family was notified that her book had placed her relatives in North Korea in danger. Nonetheless, Lee promised her grandmother that she would see her son again, thus undertaking a daring mission chronicled here to reunite the family. The account is a gripping and inspiring one, and Lee's prose resonates with a poetic sensibility. She also brings a distinctly American perspective to the entire situation. At times, the author's desire to make the story her own (including a long segue into her relationship with her boyfriend) steal some of the swiftness and urgency from a story that ultimately belongs to her entire family. But an all-out thrilling escape story, complete with dangerous border crossings, unexpected romance and touching family moments, makes for a terrific and beautiful chronicle. Lee reflects, "I believe one family, one person, one action can make a difference, because we are all connected. When we realize this connection, peace is possible." B&w photos not seen by PW. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Reviewer: A reader from Houston, TX Outstanding!!!, August 14, 2002 In the Absence of Sun and Still Life with Rice are two of the bests books I have ever read! I was very glad I read Still Life with Rice first because it gave me a foundation for In the Absence of Sun, as well as introduced me to the Lee family. I could not put either book down. I laughed, I cried, and then I cried some more! Helie Lee is a wonderful writer and has shared a personal, heart-touching, real-life story with her readers. I am awed by her personal strength--as well as the strength of all the women in her family. I will never forget their story--it changed me.

Reviewer: A reader from USA Wow!!, August 13, 2002 Inspiring! Absolutely inspiring! Nothing else needs to be said about this book and the author. I have become the favorite of all my family and friends since passing along In The Absence of Sun to them.

Reviewer: Kenneth Bauersachs from Cincinnati, OH USA Heartfelt Book, August 5, 2002 This book works because it is so close to the author. In the macroscopic world view, Korea might be a small peninsula, but in her microscopic world, the war-torn and divided Korea represents the her past, present, and future. It is because of this, the book represents not only hope and dream for her and her family but the rest of folks in Korea. Must read.

Reviewer: A reader from West Africa Could Not Put The Book Down, July 6, 2002 I felt like I was part of the author's family with her endearing and brutally honest descriptions of them. I am an American volunteering in Africa, who got this book as a gift. Being here, I could understand the issues of poverty, corruption, paranoia. But, her vivid accounts of getting her family out of North Korea brought it to another level of desperation. I went away inspired by her mission and wanting to know more about the status of her North Korean family.

Still Life With Rice : A Young American Woman Discovers the Life and Legacy of Her Korean Grandmother
by Hellie Lee
Price: $10.40
Paperback: 320 pages ; Publisher: Touchstone Books; ISBN: 0684827115; Reprint edition (April 1997)

Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
As a way to explore and affirm her Korean heritage, Lee reconstructs the life of her maternal grandmother. Born in 1912 into a well-to-do merchant family, Hongyong Baek had a traditional upbringing, culminating in her wedding day, when she met her husband for the first time. Marriage to her charming and somewhat feckless husband turned out to be happy, and Baek was content with her severely circumscribed role. But life was disrupted by political events. To escape Japanese oppression, Baek and her family joined other Korean refugees in China, where her resourcefulness helped her prosper as a dealer first in sesame oil and later in opium. When 36 years of Japanese occupation ended, she and her family returned home. But peace and prosperity came to an abrupt end with the outbreak of civil war. After incredible hardships, family members were reunited, and Baek used her skills as a healer to restore some measure of financial security. Written with great narrative power and attention to detail, a testament to the will to survive. Mary Ellen Quinn --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews
In a bio-fic, Lee makes her debut both recounting and imagining her Korean grandmother's eventful life: childhood and marriage under Japanese occupation, opium smuggling in China, and flight during the Korean war. Lee opens her first-person biography of her grandmother, Hongyong Baek, with a telling fraction of her own story--an all-American California girl, slightly uncomfortable with her grandmother's Korean outlook, who travels to Korea, Hong Kong, and China to trace her roots. But Lee's mannered na‹vet‚ about her family's past seems at least in part a narrative device to stir curiosity about her grandmother's life. Likewise, her simplistically novelized recreation of that life is a strategy to acclimate the reader, albeit at the risk of losing sight of history. Lee successfully grounds such matters as her grandmother's pampered childhood and arranged marriage within the context of Korean culture, vividly illuminating family relationships, power struggles, and the realities of daily life in pre-Communist Korea. But the irritating imagined sections, with stilted dialogue and interior musings--such as Hongyong's marriage ceremony and her wedding night--are extravagantly intimate and unsatisfying. Nor does Lee seem to have full command of the background to the family's exile to China, where Hongyong entrepreneurially took up opium smuggling (and the healing art of Chiryo), nor to her grandmother's persecution under the North Korean Communist regime for converting to Christianity. Lee incorporates little sense of history beyond vague sentiments and a few important dates; the Japanese occupation and the Communist regime dwindle into a hazy background. Only with the Korean war is there a sense of living through history as Hongyong and her four youngest children make the harrowing trek south as refugees. The human interest of Hongyong's story is compelling, but its treatment will likely strike readers as incomplete. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Ingram
In this radiant memoir of her grandmother's life, Lee recreates a culture that is both seductively exotic and strangely familiar. Lee's desire to recover the family's history, as well as to understand the intricate weave of her own identity, results in the exploration of universal issues such as the complex nature of family relations and the rapidly changing lives of women in this century. of photos.

Reviewer: A reader from New York, NY a window to a courageous korean woman's life, December 8, 1997 As a Korean-American who has little knowledge of the cultural history of Korea, I found Helie Lee's book both informative and entertaining. She did a good job protraying her grandmother as a courageous and strong woman. Her book gave me a renewed the respect for my Korean elders who are so often seen in America as helpless and weak because of their language and cultural barriers. I would recommend this book especially to those who are interested in life in Korea before the (Korean) war, but are estranged culturally, geographically, or linguistically from grandparents who would be able to account such expriences first hand. Helie Lee's book opened up a new dialog between my mother and me about her own life in Korea before immigration to the States and stories she had heard from her mother about Korea in the early 20th century.

Reviewer: John R Loppnow from Pasadena, CA United States Touching - Insightful - An Amazing Storytelling adventure, June 4, 2002 A friend recommended this book to me and now I recommend it to everyone. Of course you will learn a great deal about Korean culture (including some Korean-American culture), but you will also learn about people struggling against all odds, suffering, joy, the power of family and a strong and risk taking mother, as well as daughter. The power and depth of these people inspires me to live my life with greater courage and gratitude. A must read! I met Helie at a booksigning and she is wonderful. She is down to earth and very present and available when you speak with her. I felt as though she was interested in my story, not her story alone. Helie and her family are wonderful people and they give a glimpse of what a family who takes risks can accomplish for love.

Native Speaker (Novel)
by Chang-Rae Lee
Price: $10.36
Paperback: 349 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.89 x 8.01 x 5.13 Publisher: Riverhead Books; ISBN: 1573225312; (March 1996)

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Korean-American Henry Park is "surreptitious, B+ student of life, illegal alien, emotional alien, Yellow peril: neo-American, stranger, follower, traitor, spy ..." or so says his wife, in the list she writes upon leaving him. Henry is forever uncertain of his place, a perpetual outsider looking at American culture from a distance. As a man of two worlds, he is beginning to fear that he has betrayed both -- and belongs to neither.

Gish Jen, author of Mona in the Promised Land
Native Speaker is that great rarity: an eloquent page-turner. Beautifully crafted, enlightening, and heart-wrenching, it is a brilliant debut and a tremendous contribution to Asian-American literature.

East to America: Korean American Life Stories
by Elaine H. Kim, Eui-Young Yu, Anna Deavere Smith
Price: $11.87
Paperback: 386 pages ; Publisher: New Press; ISBN: 1565843991; (September 1997)

Editorial Reviews
Los Angeles Times
Fascinating. . . [East to America] provides a panoramic view of the Korean community.

From Kirkus Reviews This diverse series of interviews with Korean-Americans grew out of the editors' reaction to the media portrayal of ``inarticulate aliens'' during the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Kim (Asian-American Studies/Univ. of California, Berkeley) and Yu (Sociology/Calif. State Univ., Los Angeles) successfully offer a ``glimpse of some Korean American perspectives on history, identity, and community.'' As with all immigrant groups, the editors note, some Koreans see America as ``a promised land''; to others... read more --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reviewer: slee23 from Baltimore Oral History is good, June 4, 2000 This book emphasizes the importance of oral history. Although you might not find polished masterpieces here, "East to America" accomplishes the much-needed task of placing Korean-American voices within a more prominent context--or at least publishes their voices. Praise for Elaine Kim & Co. for compiling the book; in my own research there has been slim pickins as far as the K.A. literature goes). But, as a "second generation" (American-born) Korean-American, I was disappointed to find that few members of my own generation (X?) were included in the collection (But it makes sense; after all, the book is called "East to America" ...bah). I found the stories gritty and real, and it was hard to put the book down. I would recommend this book to not only any Korean-American, but to anyone who is interested in viewing the Korean-American population as something more than gun-toting greengrocers or model minority geeks.

Reviewer: A reader from Seattle Fascinating and Educational, August 24, 1999 I have grown a deep appreciation and respect for my Korean/American friends and neighbors. There is a tremendous sampling of real-life stories that I found to be very informative. Many of the problems in the world cultivate from a lack of understanding. However, the more we can learn aobut eachother and ourselves, the easier it will be to find common ground. This book has taught me a great deal about the struggles, agonies, and triumphs of Korean Americans.

Reviewer: A reader from NY, NY A very informative and fun book., May 3, 1999 As a 1.5 generation, I really enjoyed the book. The life stories range from the 1900's immigrants to the most recent. To the authors: how about a book based on the immigrants on the eastcoast?

Reviewer: A reader An excellent book for understanding modern Korean Americans, December 10, 1996 For the reader who is looking to take a look at modern Korean Americans, this book is well worth the buy. It is not only highly entertaining but also very educational as it explores the lives of many different Korean Americans including some well known members of the Korean American community. One negative aspect of the book is that because it does cover the stories of the so many Korean Americans I found the stories sometimes to be a little brief. Maybe it was because I was enjoying the book so much that I wanted to read more and more.
One final note. Elaine Kim is highly active in the Korean American community and has even produced Sa-I-Gu, (which means 4-2-9 which is the date of the riots), a movie about the L.A. riots in perspective of Korean American Women --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

The Foreign Student: A Novel
by Susan Choi
Price: $10.40
Paperback: 336 pages ; Publisher: Harper Perennial; ISBN: 0060929278; (September 1999)

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The year is 1955 and a young Korean man has just arrived at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. Chang Ahn has been dropped off at night in the middle of nowhere and left to make his way to the campus on his own: "This was the petrified figure that Mrs. Reston, the vice vice chancellor's housekeeper, found at the door to the vice vice chancellor's house.... You would not have known that the motionless person had just walked two miles straight uphill with a steady and terrified step." It soon becomes apparent that Chang, called Chuck, suffers from more than just fear of the dark. During the Korean War, he was first a translator for the United States and later a prisoner in a Communist internment camp. Even in the U.S. "he could not accept the lack of precaution as a sign that he was safe." On his first day in Sewanee, Chuck meets Katherine, a young woman who lives in town and is the secret lover of a professor who was once a classmate of her father's--and the man who first seduced her when she was 14.
The American South in 1955 is hardly an ideal locale to start an interracial romance, yet Katherine and Chuck are drawn to each other almost from the start. What begins as friendship gradually becomes something more, yet it takes a surprise proposal from Katherine's lover and a summer spent apart to make them face their true feelings. Susan Choi writes this first novel with assurance, weaving Chuck's terrible experiences of war and Katherine's own troubled past into a heartfelt tale of love that demonstrates real talent. Choi is definitely a writer to keep your eye on. --Margaret Prior --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

The New York Times Book Review, Kimberly B. Marlowe
Moving from the present to the past, from America to Korea, Choi brings hundreds of small scenes to life... --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reviewer: A reader from Honolulu, HI Powerful story, solid character development rings true., October 4, 1998 Sewanee, Tennessee is a real place, and I went to college there for four years. The alumni of the University of the South are going to hate Susan Choi's geographical liberties, but I believe she has captured the spirit of the place as well as one can without using any of the real-life characters who live there, or did live there in the fifties. I attended Sewanee in the eighties, not the fifties, and while I have lived in Asia, I'm actually from Alabama. However, Susan Choi's interpretation of what it must have been like for foreign students at Sewanee in the fifties, or women in Sewanee before women were allowed to attend the university, rings true, to an amazing degree.
But that is not why you should buy _The Foreign Student_. You should buy the book for its powerful story and fine characters. Be warned, though. Don't read this book if you need your sleep. You won't want to sleep until you've read the last page, and you'll wake up wishing you didn't have to wait for Susan Choi to publish another book! --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Reviewer: A reader from New York WOW!, October 16, 1998 None of the newspaper or magazine raves (amazing as they are) even come close to nailing what makes this book so cool: the absolute power and control that choi displays, from the first word to the last. It's actually two completely different novels, each one great in its way. Katherine's story, written in a lyrical, introspective style, puts you inside the mind of a woman whose one great, bold, daring moment in life turned out to be a dead end. Chuck's tale, in a tough, laconic mode reminiscent of the best of Graham Greene, is a war story that grows more and more harrowing until you almost can't take it. You won't believe Choi took such risks her first time out and got away with it. She's a confident, thoughtful, observant guide through an unfamiliar landscape inhabited by lonesome people who are (almost) too proud to live down the past. It's that combination of pride and confusion that makes these characters so captivating. There's not one false move in the whole amazing book. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Reviewer: sofomtext from Chicago, IL A Novel That Stops Time, May 11, 2002 I'm a Korean American with an M.A. in Korean history. I usually dislike reading KA fiction because it gets irritating when authors write about Korea but describe the country with skewed, distorted myths about it's culture and history and auto-Orientalist themes that cater to the mainstream, which is largely ignorant of Koreans and Korea.
Not so with this novel. I found myself completely lost in the story, not even caring about the "authenticity" issue because Choi does what all great writers do: she re-imagines and re-creates a palpable "real" universe that stops time. The fictional world transcends almost everything else I've read by Korean Americans, making you believe the characters, the location, the feelings. In short, it is a beautifully written novel and my personal favorite of all the Asian American novels I've read.
That having been said, I am absolutely delighted to attest that Choi does indeed write about the truth of the Korean War that goes against the conventional American myths about this unknown conflict. Choi places Koreans as historical actors, front and center, and does not hesitate to go into little known aspects of the war such as S. Korean President Syngman Rhee's execution of political prisoners and the Cheju/Yosu rebellions which took 100,000 lives even before the Korean War erupted in June 1950. Moreover, Choi depicts the Orientalist, racist experiences for Chang, a foreigner in America's South, and subtly links it to America's damaging foreign policies that warped Korea. She even resurrects a devastatingly convincing portrait of Gen. Hodge, the commander of the US military government in S. Korea--you can practically hear him breathing and speaking. This novel is startling in its audacity to depict America's occluded responsibility for the war that probably even challenges what most Koreans over 50 believe, who were raised with a certain ideology and mythology about the war themselves. As a former fact-checker for the New Yorker magazine, I suspect that she used her skills to do meticulous research into the origins of the Korean War (like reading Korean War historian Bruce Cumings, I think). Having lived in Korea (and in Chicago, where her description of Clark and Belmont is right on) I am utterly amazed by her accuracy and the "truth" of her details. I've read an article where Choi downplays the "authenticity" issue of her novel, and emphasizes that it is fiction. She's right, of course, but I am simply delighted that she told a searingly beautiful story that can not only amaze the common reader, but satisfy the scholar of Korean history whose appreciation of her research only heightens the pleasure of reading this utterly beautiful gem of a novel.

Reviewer: A reader from Providence, RI United States Brilliant, Searing, Flawed, July 3, 2001 Katherine Monroe and her mother, Glee, are two of the most vivid women I have encountered in fiction for quite a long time. I began reading this book about two years ago, and although I put it down, I never was able to put out of my mind the opening chapter, when Chuck arrives at Sewanee and meets Katherine for the first time. Finally I have read the entire book, and I feel that it will haunt me for quite a while. One flaw in this beautiful novel is the love affair between Katherine and Chuck. I don't see that these very different people would attract one another. I found myself rooting for the depraved Charles Addison. Another flaw lies in the sometimes-lengthy flashbacks to the Korean War. They were sometimes labored and struck me as the product of fastidious research rather than first-hand knowledge (which would be impossible given Choi's birth in 1969). Aside from this, the novel is well worth reading and I look forward to Choi's future novels.

House of the Winds (Novel)
by Mia Yun
Price: $10.36
Paperback: 230 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.46 x 7.78 x 5.07 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper); ISBN: 0140291946; Reissue edition (August 1, 2000)

Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
This is a novel full of beautiful and vivid description: the shape of fruit, the play of light, the sensuous qualities of water, warmth, touch. The narrator is the youngest child of three in a family in Korea in the 1960s. Central to her story is her mother: strong, sweet, and upright against the forces of poverty and the usually absent father, one who dreams and promises but cannot deliver. Much is made of the life of dreams, of the gossip of neighbors like the cackling Pumpkin Wife, of the moves into ever less desirable housing. What we also participate in here, though, is the life of children longing for sweets, playing in the sun, wondering about the mysteries of their relatives. It is very close in its intensity and its themes to Linda Watanabe McFerrin's Namako (about a Japanese girl and her family) and Gail Tsukiyama's Night of Many Dreams (about a Chinese girl and her family in Hong Kong). GraceAnne A. DeCandido --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Kirkus Reviews
A Korean-American writer's limpid first novel records the progress of its unnamed narrator's girlhood in Seoul in the early 1960s. Her doting mother (long known as ``Young Wife'') is a bewitching repository of fanciful tales festooned with magical-realist drollery: birds cry rather than sing, and butterflies house the souls of children who have died in their sleep. Subtly linked episodes are dominated by such vivid figures as Young Wife's own mother, an ``infamous hypochondriac'' and inexhaustible fount of stories; infrequent visits from ``the stranger who was said to be my father''; an irreverent peddler (the Falstaffian ``Pumpkin Wife''); a house haunted by weeping women ghosts; and the narrator's saddened farewells to her parents and siblings on embarkation to America. A lovely, lyrical coming-of-age tale, graced by judiciously blended notes of humor and melancholy. A superlative debut. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author
Mia Yun was born in Korea and came to the United States as a graduate student. She has worked as a reporter and a freelance writer and is now the Korea correspondent for the re-launched Evergreen Review. She received her MFA in creative writing from City College of New York.

Reviewer: A reader from Westchester, New York, USA Utterly Refreshing, September 20, 2000 I can't say enough good things about this brilliant novel. It is so different from anything I have read recently. One thing about "House of the Winds" is that it has the timesless quality we see in books that become classics. It is utterly refreshing! The book shows you how an excellent writer could tell a story so originally despite the universal theme, that is, family. Mia Yun's language is so very vivid and lyrical, so very eloquent and truthful, it moved me to tears many times. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in not only a good story-telling but also in great writing. Yun earned my admiration.
Reviewer: A reader from LA, CA A series of vignettes, October 29, 2000 This book is noteworthy because it is one of the few books "about" Korea that is not written in a "fortune-cookie fiction" mode; the passages are lyrical, fluid, and evocative. She writes more like James Joyce describing a Dublin childhood rather than a "this-is-how-we-do-it-in-Korean" cultural guidebook. No broken-English, Charlie Chan aphorisms here.
Yun describes life in Korea in the '50's and '60's in a series of vignettes; there isn't a single, linear plot that unfolds, but a series of "snapshots" taken from the author's memory (or so I presume). There is a definite sense of loss and mourning as well as nostalgia for the past now that the writer is in America; a sense that she wishes to recover the past by looking back across that chasm one takes once one crosses over to another land. In a sense, you never go back. "Preserve your memories," she says. The real kicker in the story is at the end, when the narrator, in America, recounts her mother's life in very sad, beautiful hues and tones.
For anyone who would like to take a retrospective look back at a time and place in Korea that is slowly fading from the memories of the still-living, this is a good place to start.

One Thousand Chestnut Trees: A Novel of Korea
by Mira Stout
Used from $6.18
Paperback: Publisher: Riverhead Books; ASIN: 1573227382; (May 1999)

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
How best to prepare for a trip to Korea? Forget the kimchi experiments and immerse yourself in a novel that's thick with the people, the history, and the feel of Korea. Mira Stout's protagonist is Anna (based loosely on Stout herself), a young artist who lives in New York and feels lost. Knowing little about her Boston Irish father and her Korean mother, and less still about Korea, she decides to journey to Korea, as Mira Stout herself did, to try to make sense of the random jigsaw pieces of her background--tidbits like the story of her great-grandfather, once the ruler of Kangwon Province, who was stripped of land and title by the invading Japanese and ordered a temple be built atop the highest mountain amidst 1,000 chestnut trees. In the novel, Anna's Korean curiosity begins as a teenager, when Uncle Hong-do arrives from Korea to visit Anna's mother, the sister he never met. Years later, Anna turns to Korea as an answer to her feelings of existential angst, retracing her mother's steps in an effort "to see my family undie." Told in her voice as well as her mother's and grandfather's, what you get is a stirring novel that combines Korea's epic history with a family legacy and a personal exploration. A fine read whether you're going to Korea or lounging in your living room, Stout's story is engrossing and educational. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

The New York Times Book Review, Philip Gambone One is left feeling that the core of this sincere book might have been better suited to a novella, saving the multiple narrators and fact-filled descriptive passages for another occasion. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reviewer: A reader from Maryland A Fascinating Historical Journey, February 19, 1999 As a second generation Korean-American like the author Mira Stout I have struggled to understand the 2 worlds that create my world. Do not read this book if you're going to get annoyed with the already mentioned, imperfect grammar and prose. However, if you're interested in Korean history through the eyes of people who've lived through the last 100 years of Korea's turbulent past, then read this book. It enabled me to better understand the traumas of war that my grandparents and parents endured, and finally initiated a revealing conversation with my father about subjects he has always avoided. For me, this book was a page turner that was nearly impossible to put down. Mira Stout made the 3 narrators of the novel real and pulled me into their lives, I didn't even notice the inconsistencies mentioned in the other reviews. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Reviewer: misquared from San Francisco, CA A must-read for Korean-Americans., February 27, 2002 As a Korean-American who grew up in the U.S., I have pitifully little knowledge of Korean history. Reading Mira Stout's book, all the bits and pieces I had heard of my parents' and grandparents' lives in Korea came together, and I realized the magnitude of the difficulties they all had to overcome. Anna, the main character in the book, comes to better understand her mother by exploring the history of Korea--Japan's overbearing influence, the "yangban" class, World War II, and the division of North and South Korea. This book drew me closer to my own mother and heritage. I couldn't wait to tell my mother about the book and to ask her more about her own story.
My mother's Japanese-given name was Michiko--there's so much I never would have known if I hadn't read this book. Many thanks to the author.

Reviewer: Christina Park from Los Angeles, CA excellent, March 12, 2001 1000 Chestnut Trees is a wonderful and highly enlightening book. Stout paints a very accurate and insightful portrait of Korea and its people. As a second-generation Korean-American, I was very well able to relate with Anna, in particular her experiences in modern-day Korea. Stout's impressions of Korea and Koreans are highly perceptive, and I was especially impressed with her ability to capture their essence in such a simple, easy manner. She also possesses a knack for humanizing each character in her novel, be it Uncle Hong-do or Anna herself. I found them highly believable and began to sympathize with them right away. The diction is very eloquent throughout the novel-it strikes a perfect balance between the abstract and the concrete. I read other reviews that criticize Stout for being too "flowery" and "eloquent", but I disagree. Her style is very clear and precise. (Besides, isn't eloquence supposed to be a good thing? One can never bee "too eloquent".)
I have read quite a few books on Korean culture and history, but I have yet to find an author who can duplicate Stout's elegance and grace in presenting the topic.

Reviewer: A reader from Europe Very well worth a read, July 15, 2000 While exploring and growing her relationship with her mother, her past, and her roots, the protagonist tells a tale of Korean history which I found enriching. I at times found the literary style "flat" and the narrative voice too simple for a work of fiction -- as if a girl / woman down the corridor had verbally told her tale. But perhaps this was the intention of the author as indeed this voice matched the character of the young woman in the book. Some of the imagery and comparisons used were nonetheless refreshing and new. To add to this, both the tale of the family (history) and the unfolding of characters (the mother) kept me interested and reading. The book sounded / read as an autobiography in many parts and I wonder if the story should not have been developed in one of either direction -- clearly non-fictional or more solidly fictional (clear distance between author and narrator-character). As a final comment, there is a search for the past and a discovery that much of the past has completely disappeared; although the images, impressions, and memories remain. This is a discovery with which many could probably identify and the finding that a certain family memory can be passed on serves as a form of shared comfort.

The Korean Frontier in America: Immigration to Hawaii, 1896-1910 , Wayne Peterson, Published 1988. Price: Paperback: $19.95 (Special Order); Hardcover : $30.00

Reviewer: Kalani O'Sullivan: An interesting book that covers how the Hawaiian Sugar Planters Association (HSPA) used fraudulent practices to import the Koreans into America. The Koreans were to be used as the "scabs" to offset the growing Japanese presence and demands for higher wages. The HSPA is definitely NOT the good guy in this tale. Well-documented and informative, it also illustrates the corruption and incompetence in the last Korean king's government...and the desperate poverty of the Korean people at that time. As a side-note, it also highlights the noble work of Protestant missionaries in Korea who helped Koreans to emigrate.

The Ilse: 1st Generation Korean Immigrants in Hawaii, 1903-1973 (Hawaii Studies on Korea)
by Wayne Patterson
Price: $19.95
Paperback: 288 pages ; Publisher: University of Hawaii Press; ISBN: 0824822412; (April 2000)

Editorial Reviews
Book Description
Although much has been written about early Chinese and Japanese laborers in Hawaii, until now no comprehensive work had been published on first-generation Korean immigrants, the isle. Making extensive use of primary source material from Korea, Japan, the continental U.S., and Hawaii, Wayne Patterson weaves a compelling social history of the Korean experience in Hawaii from 1903 to 1973 as seen primarily through the eyes of the isle. Japanese surveillance records, student journals, and U.S. intelligence reports--many of which were uncovered by the author--provide an "inner history" of the Korean community. Chapter topics include plantation labor, Christian mission work, the move from the plantation to the city, picture prides, relations with the Japanese government, interaction with other ethnic groups, intergenerational conflict, the World War II experience, and the postwar years. The Isle is an impressive and much-needed contribution to Korean American and Hawaii history and significantly advances our knowledge of the East Asian immigrant experience in the United States.

About the Author
Wayne Patterson is professor of history at St. Norbert College in Despere, Wisconsin, and visiting professor at the Fairbank Center for East Asian Research at Harvard University.

Man Sie: The Making of a Korean American
by Peter Hyun
All used from $8.99
Hardcover: 186 pages ; Publisher: University of Hawaii Press; ASIN: 0824810414; (October 1986)

Growing Up Asian American: , Edited by Maria Hong, Paperback, Published 1995. Price: $10.00.

Review: Kalani O'Sullivan: Stories of childhood, adolescense and coming of age in America from the 1800s to the 1990s -- by 32 Asian-American writers. Though an anthology of many authors, the tales are really the trials that ALL immigrants to America faced -- Asian or Hispanic...then or now. "Fourth Grade Ukus (1952)" by Marie Hara tells of life in the old non-standard English schools of Hawaii. It is both illuminating and funny. "Carnival Queen" by Marvis Hara is a poignant story of Japanese-American girls struggling with concepts of American-caucasian beauty standards at McKinley Highschool many years ago.

The heroic tale of Mary Paik Lee (from Quiet Odyssey ) is the tale of a Korean immigrant's struggle to survive at the turn of the century. What sticks in my mind was a statement by the father that though they were suffering in America, the life in Korea was worse. A tale of Korean stoicism, patriotism, family-relationships and all things Korean.

Everything You Need to Know About Asian American History
by Lan Cao, Himilce Novas (Contributor)

Price: $11.16
Paperback - 366 pages (August 1996)
Plume; ISBN: 0452273153 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.78 x 7.92 x 5.30

Reviews
Synopsis
How did the U.S. get involved in Vietnam? Why do Filipinos have Spanish names? What is the origin of the fortune cookie? Most Americans are woefully uninformed about their country's history, and most standard history books provide very little information on the rich history of the Asian-American people. This text fills that void, with with a lively question-and-answer format.
Synopsis
Utilizing a lively question-and-answer format, a comprehensive overview of Asian-American history documents the dramatic impact of Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean, Indian, and Pacific Island cultures on American society. Tour.

People and Cultures of Hawaii
Edited by John F. McDermott, Jr., Wen-Shing Tseng, Thomas W. Maretzki
Paperback (1980)
Price: $11.95
The main body of the book deals with each of the ethnic group in the order of their arrival in Hawaii: Hawaiian, Caucasian, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Okinawan, Korean, Filipino, Samoan, and the people from Indochina. The story of each ethnic group is organized along similar lines for ease in reading and comparison: History of immigration; Traditional culture; Stereotypes or myths needing clarification; The groups contemporary situation in Hawaii; Mental health issues.
As to Koreans, the Korean immigration began in 1903, 1921-1925 Korean brides arrived, 1969 War brides arrive (wives of American servicemen in Korea). The book states, "Maintaining one's face, losing it, saving it, regaining it, or gambling it -- all were deadly serious transactions among Koreans in Hawaii."
With the influx of Koreans to Hawaii in the 70s, the "second generation Koreans watch the newcomers with a kind of nostalgic recognition from their youth that gives them a better retrospective understanding of their parents and makes them empathic to the new immigrants, especially the children. The third and fourth generation look with curiosity for clues to the cultural heritage for which they lack an intuitive sense."

Beyond Ke'eaumoku: Koreans, Nationalism, and Local Culture in Hawai'i (Asian Americans: Reconceptualizing Culture, History, Politics)
by Brenda L. Kwon
Price: $60.00
Library Binding: 200 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.63 x 8.77 x 5.68 Publisher: Garland Pub; ISBN: 0815333579; (May 1, 1999)

Editorial Reviews
Book Description
This book reclaims Korean history in Hawaii through the examination of works by three local writers of Korean descent: Margaret Pai, Ty Pak, and Gary Pak.

The Dreams of Two Yi-Min
by Margaret K. Pai
Price: $23.00
Hardcover: 220 pages ; Publisher: University of Hawaii Press; ISBN: 0824811798; (May 1989)

Margaret K. Pai: Author from Hawaii of Korean descent.

Moonbay
by Ty Pak
Price: $12.00
Paperback: 214 pages ; Publisher: Woodhouse; ISBN: 0966745817; (February 5, 1999)

Note: Author from Hawaii of Korean descent.

Book Description
A collection of 7 short stories previously published in Amerasia Journal, Hawaii Ridge, and other literary magazines, presenting a fascinating gallery of unforgettable characters, set in meticulously crafted stories of war, displacement, discrimination, and reconciliation: Moonbay, brazenly evil as original sin, yet tied inextricably to the fabric of society itself; the Tiger Cub, lucky survivor of insane wartime violence, who is bent on doing good but becomes an unwitting pawn of fate; the Christ-like Gardener, whose lack of fingers marks his destiny as a healer and martyr; the third-generation Korean American officer who undestands and accepts his racist baiter, Private George McDuff; the guilt-wrenched Korean American professor whose cynical affair with a white student leads to his wife's death; the Vietcong and Korean American soldiers, locked in mortal faceoff, who back away, recognizing mutual humanity...

About the Author
1969 Ph.D. in English, Bowling Green State University, Ohio 1970-1987 Professor of English, University of Hawaii 1984 Chaired the Korean American Literature Conference, UCLA 1989 Invited on the Asian American Writers Series, UC Berkeley and Cal State Hayward 1990 Invited speaker, Korean American Literature, Korean American Student Conference, Harvard and MIT 1991 Visiting Professor of Creative Writing, Occidental College 1993 Invited speaker, Korean American Literature, Michigan State U. 1998 Invited speaker, Korea Society, New York

Reviewer: b from nyc,ny highly recommened, July 15, 2001 Although the short stories in this collection veers towards the negative, ie., racism, death and deception, Ty Pak's writing creates a dreamy fog around his stories making it a bit romanticized. The book is written beatifully with just the right amount of details.
Although the themes in the collection of short stories veers towards the negative, for example, racism, death and deception, Ty Pak's writing creates a dreamy fog around the stories. It is written beautifully, with just the right amount of interesting details. I highly recommend this book and am sure that this will be one of the books I'll read over and over.

Reviewer: A reader from Southern California Beautifully Crafted, March 25, 2000 From one Korean to another, much kudos to this author. This book hit very close to home for me and I very much enjoyed it. Though I love to write, I'm not much of a reader. Ty Park did a wonderful job at creating interesting stories. Though I enjoyed reading it, it had too much of a "The Joy Luck Club" theme. Like a typical Asian-American "fighting against prejudice" kind of story. I wanted a bit more to the story than just the fight against racism. Despite that, I very much enjoyed the book. The characters are truly truly unforgettable and most are likable. Congratulations to the author and much more luck and fortune in the future!

Cry Korea Cry
by Ty Pak
Price: $12.00
Paperback: 531 pages ; Publisher: Woodhouse; ISBN: 0966745809; (February 5, 1999)

Note: Author from Hawaii of Korean descent.

Reviewer: A reader from Los Angeles, CA United States Horrible, July 17, 2000 I really wanted to like Cry Korea Cry (especially as a Koreanwhen there are so few Korean American or Korean titles published inthe States) but it was horrible on all levels. Pak constantly shifted his protagonist from one ludicrous situation to another at the drop of a hat...And on top of that he is the epitome of Korean-obsessed Western beauty and has a 200+ IQ. Yes, he can do no wrong. Moo Moo's identity crisis becomes the character's only identity trait midway through the book and the repeated reiteration brings nothing but boredom, not new insight, to the reader. The romance with Nan is completely unfelt and seems more like an add-on by the author. The one plus of the book is that Pak is equally harsh to both South Koreans, Americans, and North Koreans though this does tend to lead to not one likeable character. Pak obviously is very knowledgeable about Korean social and political climes however that cannot make up for the paper thin characters and completely unbelievable plots.

Reviewer: A reader from USA A great read!, January 18, 2000 Cry Korea Cry was a wonderful read! To my knowledge, this story is quite unique, as opposed to what a one reviewer has claimed is "old stuff new cover". It is well written and provides interesting insight into post war Korea. I for one, was truly touched by how honest a picture Mr. Pak was willing to paint concerning the ugly side of war and also the wide spread prejudice within a homogenous nation. I especially like how this book resonates with themes of rejection and alienation, a feeling that I and many Korean Americans who were adopted by American families feel toward that country. I would recommend this book to anyone curious about Korea and its culture.

Reviewer: A reader from Hawai'i Old stuff with a new cover, June 26, 1999 Done before, read it before, it's old stuff with a new cover

Reviewer: Jamisaac @aol.com from United States A well crafted thriller that will stir you., March 24, 1999 Cry Korea Cry by author Ty Pak is a beautifully crafted thriller about a mixed-blood Korean War orphan, who calls himself Moo Moo..which in Korean means "nothing".TY Pak is an author of great skill who draws you into this story that is hauntingly real.The novel builds around the themes of war, dispersion and people in search of home and substance..For those of us who enjoy a novel with a deep soul Cry Korea Cry is a true treasure.You will not be able to put this thriller down..you will find your self walking the paths of Moo Moo. Self discover is the name of the game but I will not say more..I'm not one to spoil one great read.I cannot say enough about the care and skill poured into this book by my favorite author Ty Pak.

A Ricepaper Airplane: A Novel (Intersections: Asian and Pacific American
by Gary Pak
Price: $18.95
Paperback: 180 pages ; Publisher: University of Hawaii Press; ISBN: 0824813014; (May 1998)

Note: Author from Hawaii of Korean descent.

Editorial Reviews Book Description From a hospital bed a dying man unfolds the tale of an arduous life on the fringes of a Hawai'i sugar plantation in the 1920s. There Kim Sung Wha -- laborer, patriot, revolutionary, aviator -- envisioned building an airplane from ricepaper, bamboo, and the scrap parts of a broken-down bicycle, an airplane that would carry him back to his Korean homeland and to his wife and children. From the start Sung Wha's dream is destined to fail, but this moving and passionate work is the story of a man who dares to life past the wreckage of shattered visions. His is a heroic story of loss, of deep love, and of rebirth

The Watcher of Waipuna (Bamboo Ridge, No 55-56)
by Gary Pak
Price: $8.00
Paperback: 180 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.49 x 9.04 x 6.04 Publisher: Bamboo Ridge Pr; ISBN: 0910043280; (June 1992)

Reviewer: Rob Wilson from Santa Cruz A multi-voiced and situated portrayal of local Hawai'i today, May 16, 1999 Gary Pak is an awesome writer, who captures a range of political and cultural positions in Hawa'i with care and tact: he offers, in this collection as in his recent novel with U of Hawai'i Press, a multi-voiced and situated portrayal of local Hawai'i today in all its complexity and struggle. Highly recommended for ordinary readers, college and high school courses, but maybe not for tourists looking for exotica on the beach.

LITERATURE

Tales of a Korean Grandmother
by Frances Carpenter
Paperback, Published 1973
Price: $7.16 .

Reviewer: Kalani O'Sullivan: Though the book is "dated" in the sense that the writing style is a little old-fashioned, it is filled with insights into Korean culture. Originally published in 1947, it captures the flavor of Korea folklore and life in the Choson Dynasty. It presents a very good overview of Korean folk tales from the Tangun myth to insights into old customs of Korea. I recommend this book as the FIRST book to read before reading any of the hundreds of Korean folktale books (geared for the young reader) on the market today.

Korean Folk and Fairy Tales
, Suzanne Crowder Han
, Hardcover, Published 1991.
Price: $27.95.

Reviewer: Kalani O'Sullivan: A representative sampling of Korean stories passed down from generation to generation. From these tales one can gain some insights into Korean culture. Nice illustrations help in visualizing the tales...from spooky ghost stories to animal parables. These tales are as well-known to a Korean as Grimm's Fairy Tales are to a Westerner. Well written and very entertaining.

The Woodcutter and the Heavenly Maiden Vol1 ; The Seven Brothers and the Big Dipper Vol 4; The Ogres' Magic Clubs Vol 5; The Snail Lady Vol 6; The Son of Cinnamon Tree/the Donkey's Egg Vol. 10; and the rest of the series by Duance Vorhees, etal,
Hardcover, Published 1990.
Price: $9.45 + .85 surcharge

Reviewer: Kalani O'Sullivan: Excellent for teaching English to Korean children. These books have the English at the top of the page and the Korean translation below, with large colorful illustrations on the opposite page. Ideal for teaching English reading skills to Korean students -- especially if you don't speak Korean and can't explain the words. My daughter, whose primary language is Korean, learned to read English using these books. Books in this series seem geared for Korean-American market -- not for Korea. The Korean kids will read the Korean and bypass the English version unless forced to read it in class. Once past the elementary stages, it is of limited value as a teaching aid.

A Guide to Korean Literature by In Sob-Zong
Price: $29.95
Hardcover

Review: Kalani O'Sullivan: A guide to meet the demands of foreign readers or scholars interested in Korean Literature. A little slow and tedious in places, but gives many examples of the types of literature styles. Most of the Korean literature seems too dark and moody for me, though some of the poetry are warm and touching. However, I have an untrained ear for Korean literature. Some of the novels seem rather morose -- the cow runs away, the wife runs away, the people beat the man up, and he loses everything. The problem is that the author treats so many thngs as givens -- a knowledge of Korea that perhaps foreigners don't possess. For example, the loon's call in the morning to parting lovers is glossed over without mention. In Korea, the loon is a bearer of sad omens...something that every Korean child knows, but Americans may not.

In addition, my problem in understanding Korean literature is that I'm limited to translations. Korea has only recently attempted to follow Japan's example by translating their authors for export. It will be a few more years before there are a significant amount of Korean authors translated into English on the American bookshelves. And even then, most translations will be only those books that lend themselves to translation. If you look at the tons of English books on Korea currently offered for sale, the majority are personal memoirs of the Korean War, tourism how-to books, history books, scholarly tomes repackaged for commercial sale, or business-related books. There are few novels.

The reason for very few novels coming out of Korea is due to the translation process. Another this is that much of the contemporary Korean writers deal with topics or themes that are not of a universal nature. They are Korea specific themes usually dealing with political or Korean society issues. Thus most successful Korean novels would fail in the broader world market. (This would be much like the Hawaiiana books that appeal to a very limited segment of American society.) Do a search of "Korean Literature" on Amazon.com and you'll come up with 40 or so entries -- from a nation with written literature from about 600 AD. Pretty slim.

Best Loved Poems of Korea -- Selected for Foreigners
by Chang-Soo Koh (Translator)
Price: $14.50
Hardcover (1984)

Review: Kalani O'Sullivan: Provides a general overview of Korean Poetry in terms of suject matter, themes, and modes of expression. The majority of the poems have been taken from among the most widely read and best-loved poems. As the poems were selected primarily for ease of translation into English, it cannot be said to be truely representative of Korean poetry.

Proverbs, East and West: An Anthology of Chinese, Korean and Japanese Savings With Western Equivalents
by Kom Yong-Chol (Editor)
Price: $27.95
Hardcover (1991)

Proverbs, East and West is a personal selection of proverbial sayings from three kindred nations in the Far East (China, Korea, and Japan) and from Western nations, primarily England and the United States. Each group of Asian proverbs -- arranged in such thematic categories as "the Virtues," "The Natural," and so on -- is placed with a comparable group of Western proverbs so that the reader may view the Asian proverbs against their Western equivalents, or vice versa.

Review: Kalani O'Sullivan
The collection seems more like a hobbyist's collection and some don't quite match. However, I have used the lists in Conversational English classes with Korean college students. As proverbs are pithy truths -- and most are universal -- they easily lend themselves to topics for discussing cultural differences. The students had a point of reference that is the similar to mine...making conversation easy.

The Long Season of Rain
by Kom Yong-Chol (Editor)
Price: $27.95
Hardcover (1991)

Book Description
When the grey Korean Changma--the rainy season--arrives, eleven-year-old Junehee resigns herself to long months cooped up with her sisters, her mother, and her grandmother. But this year, the Changma brings more than water. Orphaned by a mudslide, a young boy comes to live in Junehee's house--and stirs up long-hidden secrets in her family. For as the rain drums out its story on the sloped roofs of the village, Junehee's own family story unfolds. And Junehee soon realizes that her mother's sadness is tied to a long-standing tradition that neglects women's dreams

Reviews
From Booklist , November 1, 1996
Gr. 10 and up. Like many of the Edge Books, this unforgettable novel, set in Seoul, Korea, in 1969, will appeal as much to adults as to older teens. The first-person narrative is totally true to 11-year-old Junehee's point of view, but it is her mother's story that is the core of the novel. Junehee sees what marriage means for women: Mother had to leave her own family and become a stranger in her mother-in-law's house, with no rights, no control. Mother's suffering reaches the breaking point when her domineering husband and his mother refuse to allow her to adopt an orphan child she loves. Yet the relationships are complex. Father is mean, and society gives him power, but he is weak. His mother is unfeeling to her daughter-in-law, but trying to do her best for the family. Junehee and her sisters quarrel; the oldest, bossy one is a spiteful bully; Junehee is the responsible, nurturing one, her mother's successor. At times there's just too much local color and culture; even if food means a lot, we don't have to hear about every ingredient in every meal and how they cooked it. But as in Laura Esquivel's adult novel Like Water for Chocolate (1992), the domestic details tell a heartfelt story of women in family and community. Hazel Rochman Copyright© 1996, American Library Association. All rights reserved

From Kirkus Reviews , October 15, 1996
Changma, the Korean rainy season, brings increasing stress to a troubled family in this long, muted tale of strong women and weak men. When Grandmother brings home Pyungsoo, a boy orphaned by a mudslide, only Junehee, 11, and her mother don't treat him like a stray animal, or despise him outright. His presence causes the already strained relations between Junehee's parents, who have four daughters but no surviving sons, to deteriorate further. Her father, Jungmin, even when not on a business trip, is seldom home; when he is, he's either harsh and arbitrary, or tearfully proclaiming himself a poor man and father. After Jungmin takes the family on vacation, then abandons them for two days, and Pyungsoo, to whom Junehee has grown attached, is spirited away to adoptive parents, Junehee's strong, competent mother disappears, leaving valedictory letters to Jungmin and each of her daughters. As in Kyoko Mori's Shizuko's Daughter and Suzanne Fisher Staple's Haveli (both 1993), the textures of daily life are skillfully explored, but Junehee is more of an observer than an actor, and the rest of the cast, aside from her mother, is either unrelievedly passive- aggressive (the men) or narrow and manipulative (the women). In the end, her mother's defiant act results in little and readers wonder, along with Junehee, whether anything will come of Jungmin's talk of emigrating to America, or if there's anything to the suggestion that he's hiding a whole other family. A stiff, distant, loosely structured story. (Fiction. 11-13) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Horn Book
Set in 1960s Seoul, this first-person novel is a devastatingly clear-eyed view of societal restrictions and their effects on the young narrator's family. Changma, the rainy season, always brings damage-lost roof tiles, higher rice prices, nearby mudslides-but the year Junehee is eleven brings a different kind of damage: a breakdown of the family structure that is a virtual prison for Junehee's mother. Trapped in an arid, loveless marriage and living in a household ruled by her all-powerful, casually belittling mother-in-law, she stays only for her four daughters' sakes, facing a future that holds no security without a son to protect her. It only takes the temporary presence of a boy orphaned by a changma mudslide to set off a chain reaction of suppressed desires, emotions, questions, and knowledge. Mother wants to adopt Pyungsoo, but faces intractable refusal even to discuss it from Father; Junehee, ever the observer, notices an oval scar on Mother's hand and realizes that it is Mother's tooth marks, an inward-turning expression of her misery; Junehee learns that Father probably has other women and that he might indeed have a son somewhere. Events are seen through Junehee's eyes and clearly reflect a child's point of view, with incisively drawn portraits of the sisters and their relationships with one another and with Pyungsoo. Junehee is not only an astute observer but also a stalwart and active partisan for her mother. It is Junehee who comes right out and asks her father where he goes at night, giving her mother courage to ask the same question-and eventually to leave. The novel approaches a hopeful ending, with Mother returned, seemingly with more rights, and with Father more involved in family life. But Junehee's loss of innocence, after a long season of watching her mother's anguish, is irrevocable. Despite the wealth of cultural information conveyed, this is a universal novel, demonstrating the powerful effect the adult world has on children's lives.

Understanding Korean Literature (New Studies in Asian Culture)
by Hung-Gyu Kim, Robert J. Fouser (Translator)
Price: $24.95
Paperback - 246 pages (June 1997)

Anthology of Korean Literature : From Early Times to the Nineteenth Century (UNESCO Collection of Representative Works)
by Peter H. Lee (Photographer)
Price: $17.00
Paperback - 313 pages (April 1982)

Kalani O'Sullivan Note: The Table of Contents is listed here as an aid to anyone interested in doing further websearches on specific Korean authors/poets. Unfortunately, most of those listed are untranslated at this time for English readership.

Table of Contents
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
Three Kingdoms and Unified Silla (57 B.C.-A.D. 935)
FOUNDATION MYTHS
Tangun
Pak Hyokkose, the Founder of Silla
The Lay of King Tongmyong
King Suro, the Founder of Karak
Husband Yono, Wife Seo
OLD KOREAN POETRY: HYANGGA Kwangdok (fl. 661-681) Prayer to Amitabha
Siro (fl. 692-702) Ode to Knight Chukchi
Sinch'ung (fl. 737-742) Regret
Master Wolmyong (fl. 742-765) Requiem
Master Ch'ungdam (fl. 742-765) Ode to Knight Kip'a
Huimyong (fl. 742-765) Hymn to the Thousand-Eyed Goddess
Priest Yongjae (fl. 785-798) Meeting with Bandits
Ch'oyong (fl. 875-886) Song of Ch'oyong
Great Master Kyunyo (917-973) from Eleven
Devotional Poems
BIOGRAPHIES
Ondal
Tomi
Won'gwang
Wonhyo
Uisang
POETRY IN CHINESE
Ch'oe Ch'i-won (857-?)
On the Road
At the Ugang Station
In Autumn Rain
Night Rain in a Postal Station
On Seeing a Fellow Villager Off in Shan-yang
Inscribed at the Study on Mount Kaya
Koryo Dynasty (918-1392)
KORYO SONGS: CHANGGA
The Turkish Bakery
Ode on the Seasons
Song of P'yongyang
Song of Green Mountain
Winter Night
Will You Go?
Spring Overflows the Pavilion
Song of the Gong
PROSE ESSAYS
Yi Kyu-bo (1168-1241)
On Demolishing the Earthen Chamber
Questions to the Creator
Monk Sigyongam (fl. 1270-1350) A Record
of the Bamboo in the Bamboo Arbor of the Woltung Monastery
Yi Che-hyon (1287-1367) Descriptions of the Cloud Brocade Tower
POETRY IN CHINESE
Chong Chi-sang (d. 1135)
Parting
After Drinking
Ch'oe Yu-ch'ong (1095-1174)
Harmonizing with Secretary Chong on the Ninth Day
Upon First Returning Home
Yi Il-lo (1152-1220)
Cicada
On the River on a Spring Day
Mountain Dwelling
Written on the Wall of the Ch'onsu Monastery
Transplanting Bamboo on Bamboos-Are-Drunk Day
Yi Kyu-bo (1168-1241) The Cock
Yi Che-hyon (1287-1367) Ancient Airs (Four Poems)
Yi Saek (1328-1396)
A Returning Sail at Chinp'o
Moon Viewing at Cold Cove
Chong Mong-ju (1337-1392) Spring Mood
Song Song-nin (1338-1423) To a Monk Going to the Diamond Mountains
Chong To-jon (1342-1398) Plum
Yi Ch'om (1345-1405) In Retirement
Kil Chae (1353-1419) Impromptu
POEMS IN CHINESE BY ZEN MASTERS
National Preceptor Chin'gak (1178-1234)
Like the Sun
Night Rain
Master Paegun (1299-1375)
Clay Oxen
In the Mountain
To a Friend Seeking Potalaka
National Preceptor T'aego (1301-1382)
Nothingness
Herding the Ox in the Himalayas
At Deathbed
Royal Preceptor Naong (1320-1376) In the Mountains
Yi Dynasty (1392-1910)
SONGS OF FLYING DRAGONS (1445-1447)
EARLY YI ROMANCE
Kim Si-sup (1435-1493) Student Yi Peers Over the Wall
SIJO, I
U T'ak (1262-1342)
Yi Cho-nyon (1269-1343)
Chong Mong-ju (1337-1392)
Hwang Hui (1363-1452)
King Songjong (1457-1494)
Kim Chong-gu (fl. 1495-1506)
Song Sun (1493-1583)
Yi Hwang (1501-1571)
Yu Hui-ch'un (1513-1577)
Hwang Chin-i (c. 1506-1544)
Kwon Ho-mun (1532-1587)
Song Hon (1535-1598)
Chong Ch'ol (1537-1594)
Yi Won-ik (1547-1634)
Im Che (1549-1587)
Myongok (late sixteenth century)
PROSE PORTRAITS
O Suk-kwon (fl. 1525-1554) from The Storyteller's Miscellany
KASA, I
Chong Ch'ol (1537-1594)
The Wanderings
Hymn of Constancy
Little Odes on Mount Star
Ho Nansorhon (1563-1589) A Woman's Sorrow
A TALE OF ADVENTURE
Ho Kyun (1569-1618) The Tale of Hong Kiltong
POETRY IN CHINESE, I
Great Master Hamho (1367-1433) Rice
Cooked with Pine Bark
O Pyon-gap (1380-1434) Written on the Wall of My House
O Se-gyom (1430-1500) Chrysanthemum
Kim Chong-jik (1431-1492) On a Parrot Presented by the Liu-ch'iu Envoy
Kim Hun (1448-1492) On My Trip to Tsushima
O Mu-jok (late fifteenth century) Upon Seeing Someone Felling Plum Trees
Linked Verse Upon Listening to the Flute
Hwang Chin-i (c. 1506-1544) Taking Leave of Minister So Se-yang
Yi Hyang-gum (1513-1550) To a Drunken Guest
Great Master Sosan (1522-1604)
On the Southern Sea
The Dozing Monk
In Praise of the Portrait of My Former Master
Great Master Chonggwan (1533-1609) At the Moment of My Death
Song Hon (1535-1598) By Chance
Yi I (1536-1584) In the Mountain
Yu Yong-gil (1538-1601) A Girl Pounding Grain
Yi Sun-sin (1545-1598) In the Chinhae Camp
Im Che (1559-1587) A Woman's Sorrow
Yu Mong-in (1559-1623) A Poor Woman
Great Master Soyo (1562-1649) Wondrous Truth
Ho Nansorhon (1563-1589) Poor Woman
Kwon P'il (1569-1612) Upon Reading Tu Fu's Poetry
Cho Hwi (fl. 1568-1608) In Peking to a Woman with a Veil
Yi Tal (fl. 1568-1608) Mountain Temple
Great Master Chunggwan (fl. 1590) Upon Reading Chuang Tzu
LATER YI ROMANCE
Kim Man-jung (1637-1692) A Dream of Nine Clouds
SIJO, II
Cho Chon-song (1553-1627)
Yi Tok-hyong (1561-1613)
Kim Sang-yong (1561-1637)
Shin Hum (1566-1628)
Kim Kwang-uk (1580-1656)
Yun Son-do (1587-1671)
from Dispelling Gloom
Sunset
Songs of Five Friends
To My Friend
from The Angler's Calendar
Yi Myong-han (1595-1645)
King Hyojong (1619-1659)
Nam Ku-man (1629-1711)
Yi T'aek (1651-1719)
Chu Ui-sik (1675-1720)
Kim Su-jang (1690-1769)
Yi Chong-bo (1693-1766)
Kim Ch'on-t'aek (c. 1725-1776)
Yun Tu-so (eighteenth century)
An Min-yong (fl. 1870-1880)
Anonymous Sijo
KASA, II
Kim In-gyom (1707-?) Grand Trip to Japan
An To-won (fl. 1777-1800) An Exile's Life
Chong Hag-yu (fl. 1835-1849) The Farmer's Works and Days
SATIRICAL STORIES
Pak Chi-won (1737-1805)
The Story of Master Ho
The Story of a Yangban
Chong Yag-yong (1762-1836) On Dismissing a Servant
Anonymous The Story of a Pheasant Cock
WOMEN WRITERS
Princess Hyegyong (1735-1815) from A Record of Sorrowful Days
Lady Uiyudang Viewing the Sunrise
Anonymous
Lament for a Needle
The Dispute of a Woman's Seven Companions
THE ART OF THE SINGER: P'ANSORI
Shin Chae-hyo (1812-1884) The Art of the Singer
Yun Kyong-sun Preface to Songs of the Kwanghan Pavilion
The Song of a Faithful Wife, Ch'unhyang
SASOL SIJO
Chong Yun-gyong Preface to Songs of Green Hills
Sasol Sijo
POETRY IN CHINESE, II
Monk Ch'onghak (1570-1654) Yearning
Yi Shik (1584-1647) Newly Returned Swallows
Ch'oe Myong-gil (1586-1647) In the Shen-yang Prison Harmonizing with a Poem
Kim Sang-hon
Yun Son-do (1587-1671) Exiled to the North
Kim Ch'ang-hyop (1651-1708) Mountain Folk
Nungun (dates unknown) Waiting for My Love
Kim Pyong-yon (1807-1863) A Song for My Shadow
Pyon Won-gyu (fl. 1881) To a Friend
GLOSSARY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX

Han Sorya and North Korean Literature (Cornell East Asia Series No. 69)
by Brian Myers
Price: $14.00
Paperback (January 1994)

Reviews
The publisher, The Cornell University East Asia Program / er26 @cronell.edu , October 6, 1998
This first and only study of North Korean literary history by a Western scholar deals with the crucial role played by Han Srya, chairman of the D.P.R.K.'s Federation of Literature and Art from 1948 to his purge in 1962, both in devising the icono-graphy of Kim Il Sung's personality cult and in defining the early course of North Korean letters. Through brief studies of Han's own canonical works, the author also sets out to dispel the widely-held assumption that North Korean literature is compatible with Soviet and Chinese socialist realism. The appendix includes a complete translation of Han's 1951 novella Jackals (Sungnyangi). "A significant contribution to international scholarship on North Korea." - Far Eastern Economic Review No. 69 1994

A reader from Virginia, USA , May 1, 1999
not just for literary historians
This is really the only study of North Korean culture in English, but it is also indispensable for historians and political scientists. Myers' explanation of the DPRK's glorification of spontaneous impulses/rages etc goes a long way towards explaining that country's long list of idiotically self-defeating terrorist acts - from the ax murders at the DMZ to the Rangoon bombing.

Silver Stallion : A Novel of Korea
by Ahn Junghyo,
Price: $14.00
Hardcover - 269 pages 1st americ edition (January 1990)

Synopsis In a mountain village in Korea, 1950, the memory of the Japanese occupation has just begun to fade when the farmers hear that the World Army, led by the great American General "Megado", has landed at Inchon. --This text refers to the paperback edition of this title
NOTE: THIS BOOK MADE INTO A POPULAR KOREAN MOVIE.

Reviews
May Lee (mslee@wam.umd.edu) from Washington D.C. , June 9, 1999
Koreans' delimma with its past experience
The destructive magnitude of war on people is immeasurable. Lingering memories of the war often scar victims and survivors, especially children, for life. Ahn Junghyo, a renowned Korean writer, tactfully recaptures his own memory of the Korean War that broke out on June 25, 1950 in this heart wrenching and disturbing novel, Silver Stallion. Ahn tries to unravel the complexity of the war and fathom the impacts that the war has on Koreans. Kumsan, a remote and picturesque village, seems to have escaped from the outbreak of the war. The lives of the village people appear undisturbed and the children spend their carefree days running in the woods in search of the Legendary General and his silver stallion,unaware of arrival of the UN liberators and the communist enemies. The life as they know it shatters when two UN servicemen violate widow Ollye one evening. From that point onward, the entire village headed by the patriarch Old Hwang accompanies by other adults and children shuns Ollye and her children, Mansik and Nanhi; even though the villagers know she has been an unfortunate victim, conservative Confucian values continues to prevail. Ahn seems to tell us that Kumsan's rustic and purity has consequently been ruined in the hands of the western imperial powers. The plot thickens when an American military base--Omaha-stations at the Cucumber Island, whish is located across the river from Kumsan. Aside from the presence of the foreign personnel on the island,prostitution becomes rampant, attracting numerous poverty stricken and socially rejected women into selling their bodies for money. Conservative Kumsan villagers perceive the flourishing prostitution as an indicator of moral bankruptcy in Korea, and Old Hwang is especially outraged by this encroaching phenomenon. There is an ambiguous point of view of the island and the arrival of these unwelcome intruders. On one hand, both adults and children scavenge the garage piles in search of food and other material goods to supplement their measly diet. On the other hand, I think Ahn attempts to imply that the presence of the military base and the introduction of prostitution are extensions of the pervasive colonial imperialism that has begun to take a toll on the conventional Korean society. Ahn writes that the rapid changes taking place around Kumsan also have rippling effects on the children. This impact can be seen in two ways. First, instead of running freely in the wood or fighting against the nearby village boys in defending honor and bravery, Kusman boys engage in physical aggression against the other clan boys for food and territory on the Cucumber Island. Second, the conflict between Mansik and his playmate intensifies when Mansik verbally threatens Chandol and Jun to kill them for watching Ollye at nights. The fight between the boys extends beyond the usual fistfights; in this case, a firearm is involved which concerns with the matter of life and death. Perhaps the boys symbolize the oppressed Koreans in the sense that they want to defend itself against the invading foreign encroachment. Ahn provides a detail account of the ambivalent sentiment that Koreans felt at the outbreak of the war in 1950. The liberators advanced their imperial interests at the expense of the suffering of Korean people, completely unconcern with their welfare and well being. The legacy of the imperialist aggression left Koreans baffled with its war torn past. Most importantly, Ahn concludes the story with an open ending with Mansik looking forward to the uncertain future, as an assertion that Korea is as resilient as the child who will one day rebound and reconstruct itself as a proud nation.
Brian Lestyk (blestyk@wam.umd.edu) from Laurel, Maryland , May 11, 1999
The Korean War as seen through the eyes of a Korean boy.
If you're anything like me, then you grew up viewing the Korean War in 30-minute snippets of "dramedy" called M*A*S*H. The truth is that most Americans, and most other people as well, have not had the opportunity to see the war years from a Korean standpoint. In his fictional novel, Silver Stallion, Ahn Junghyo captures the intricate emotional travails of a rural Korean community that suddenly finds itself unable to hide from the pains of war. Intermixed with the personal drama of the lead character, a young boy named Mansik, Ahn Junghyo details the struggles that tore apart the traditional Korean social order of the 1950's. What makes this work such a powerful novel is the author's character-based writing style. He uses characters that are, at the same time, stereotypically familiar and uniquely human. Silver Stallion, as a work of literature, is compelling and engaging. As an historical tale, it is invaluable and crucial to understanding modern-day Korea. Ahn Junghyo's novel should not only be appreciated for its historical relevancy and practicality, but for its literary simplicity and genuine humanity. Brian Murphy (bhmurphy@wam.umd.edu) from College Park, Maryland , May 10, 1999
A graphic summary of rural existance in the Korean War.
In order to stand apart from other period works, a truly great historical novel must challenge any preconceived notions an audience may have resulting from being exposed to history from only one perspective. In Silver Stallion, Ahn Jungyo successfully reconstructs Western thought on the casualties of the Korean War by telling a tale, not from the perspective of American soldiers, diplomats or policy-makers, but from the point of view of the members of a small Korean farming town. Dialogue early in the book reveals the seclusion of the village and the minimal effects that any political swing would have on its inhabitants, and from the outset we are conditioned to view the village as a microcosm of Korea, a nation attempting to regain the control of its own fate. Set in an small village deeply rooted in Confucian tradition, Silver Stallion is the story of a simple Korea exposed to Americans, or bengkos, who seem to care little for the very people that they have been sent to "rescue." The proper roles of men and women within society are set before we ever meet any outsiders, so when they arrive we are able to understand why they are viewed as brash, irreverent, and disrespectful. The story really begins to take shape the night after the American soldiers arrive, when a village widow with two children is brutally raped by two American soldiers. It is because we have been introduced to the etiquette associated with the village that we are able to understand why she is soon ostracized and ignored, but when the village begins to mock and look at her shamefully we begin to question the existing social structure. Although we are never actually any closer to a substantial military conflict than an air raid or sporadic gun fire in the distance, the reader still realizes the tension and terror associated with war so close to one's home. As the war continues, and a semi-permanent American camp is built across the river, the town is exposed to drinking, prostitution and other shameful occidental habits. Once again the village's patriarch is unable to understand why these people do not respect his authority and treat him with none of the respect to which he feels entitled. The audience becomes torn between pity for his futile efforts at maintaining control, and disgust for the way he and the other villagers treat the poor victimized widow. Ostensibly Silver Stallion is a tale of innocence lost and the dismantling of a culture by the very force introduced to save it. Further examination, however, reveals that the village is already declining, the patriarchal family is nearly bankrupt, and the timeless social hierarchy has already atrophied irrevocably before the invasion began. Ahn Jungyo wrote a novel that is extremely explicit and borders on pornography with the intention to show, not how Korean life has been destroyed by an unjust war, but how women in Korea must battle to control their own identity. The book focuses on how war brought many issues to the forefront within a village already steeped in suppression and bordering on dictatorship. Silver Stallion used explicit language and many unnecessarily vulgar images in order to introduce a new perspective on not only the period of the Korean War, but on life within rural Korea itself. --This text refers to the paperback edition of this title
Brian J. McMahon (blackjac@wam.umd.edu) from Rockville, Maryland, USA , May 9, 1999
The side of the Korean War that is not in the history books.
Silver Stallion
Ahn Junghyo's novel, Silver Stallion, is a detailed description of what the Korean War's effects were on the small village of Kumsan. As the war raged on in Korea, the people of this village struggled to cope with the changing world around them. Although the war never directly came into contact with the village, but the soldiers sheer presence was enough to cause turmoil in this once peaceful little village. Both the North Korean Communist's forces and the United Nation's forces both had different effects on the village. This novel focuses on three very important aspects of Korean society: the role of women, traditional Confucian values, and that of the children. The war shook Korean women's role in society, as the villagers were exposed to a totally different type of women (Yankee Wives) or prostitutes. Traditional Confucian values were upset as the structure of Korean society came crashing down. Finally, the children, who have been isolated from the world, saw a new world with all of its marvels and horrors.
The novel centers around the detailed experiences of Ollye, a widow mother of two children. She goes is a simple mother that tries to provide for herself and her children. Yet as time passes she reluctantly become

Ancient History

Japanese Occupation

Contemporary History