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Son Deureo!
Joined: 30 Apr 2003
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Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2004 6:48 am Post subject: Recommend something to read-- in Korean |
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I've just finished reading my latest comic book/collection of essays, and I'm looking for something with a little more meat. Can anyone suggest a good novel or collection in short stories (geared towards adults, I'm sick of little kids books) with relatively easy Korean, and is worth reading? |
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the_beaver

Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2004 6:49 am Post subject: |
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Harry Potter. |
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just because

Joined: 01 Aug 2003 Location: Changwon - 4964
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Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2004 7:45 pm Post subject: |
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Sports newspapers. hey you have something good to look at, its informative and its geared at adults but the language is relatively easy.  |
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Tiberious aka Sparkles

Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Location: I'm one cool cat!
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Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2004 9:14 pm Post subject: |
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Cereal boxes. They're riveting.
Sparkles*_* |
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Son Deureo!
Joined: 30 Apr 2003
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Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2004 9:52 pm Post subject: |
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I appreciate the suggestions, I'll definitely try the sports newspapers. I've been diligently reading my cereal boxes, too. I learned a lot about Italian fashion from Almond Pu-Rei-Keu.
I was hoping for something a little more literary, like a novel, short stories, or poetry.
Harry Potter might be right around my reading level Korean, but I'd rather read something that was originally written in Korean than a Korean translation of a Western book.
Any ideas? |
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mithridates

Joined: 03 Mar 2003 Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
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Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2004 11:48 pm Post subject: |
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The most popular book here last year was ����, originally written in French. I read it. If you don't know French then reading it in Korean wouldn't be a betrayal to the original text.
Do you know French? |
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nolin nae

Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Location: ���ֹ�
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Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2004 12:08 am Post subject: |
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i've read ���� in seven different languages (wow, i even impress myself sometimes!). i just finished reading it in chinese and a lot was definitely lost in the translation from the french version. actually, come to think of it, it might have been a different book altogether.
recently i've been reading my wife's �������� and have found them to be insightful glimpses into the korean mind.
[edit] i'm a great guy, am i not? humility is one of the few languages i can't comprehend...
Last edited by nolin nae on Thu Feb 12, 2004 12:18 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Tiberious aka Sparkles

Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Location: I'm one cool cat!
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Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2004 4:18 am Post subject: |
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The most recent Murakami novel is published in Korean. I wonder when the English translation will be available.
Read that.
Sparkles*_* |
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Son Deureo!
Joined: 30 Apr 2003
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Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2004 5:37 am Post subject: |
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Thanks for the suggestions so far, everyone.
Mithridates, yes I can read French. It was my major in University. Even if I couldn't though, I'd rather avoid Western lit in translation in Korean. Can you suggest anything you enjoyed that was originally written in Korean?
Nolin nae, what is "��������" about, and who is the author? Is it �ڱ��� by any chance?
Tiberious, I assume Murakami is Japanese, can you tell me any more about the novel? I've never heard of him. |
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seoulmon

Joined: 13 Nov 2003 Location: Seoul
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Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2004 5:14 pm Post subject: |
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I would avoid Harry Potter like the plague. The book is an Egnglish experience. So in a way, culturaly you are still reading English.
(I must admit though I do read a lot of J to K to comics). (in my opinion) Many of the holidays and life styles translate smoothly from J to K.
The most cool thing is an article that appears in the �����Ϻ�. It is called "Yesterday and today." (I think). It has two pictures, Korean in 1960 and Korean now. It talks about the differents.
Last week they had one where they showed huge mamoth blocks of ice being pulled from the Han-river. Then they showed today...it didn't even ice over (!?!?!) |
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the_beaver

Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2004 6:26 pm Post subject: |
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seoulmon wrote: |
I would avoid Harry Potter like the plague. The book is an Egnglish experience. So in a way, culturaly you are still reading English. |
Actually, the entire feel is different with low form and form Korean used everywhere. It's not Korean but it's definitely not English.
It would be better to read something purely Korean but the young adult market is cornered by comics and there isn't a lot of selection for intermediate readers. |
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Tiberious aka Sparkles

Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Location: I'm one cool cat!
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Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2004 6:35 pm Post subject: |
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Son Deureo! wrote: |
Tiberious, I assume Murakami is Japanese, can you tell me any more about the novel? I've never heard of him. |
I don't have any specifics about the new Murakami novel, because it hasn't yet been published in English. The title's translation is something close to "(Name) By Sea" (I think). A friend of my wife's has read it and gave it a positive review -- she loves what Koreans refer to as the wacky "Japaneseness" of Murakami's writing.
I have, however, read all of his other novels, with the sole exception of "A Wild Sheep Chape", his first book. The novels "The Windup Bird Chronicle", "Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World", "Dance, Dance, Dance" "The Elephant Vanishes(short sories)", "After the Quake (short stories)" and "Norweigian Wood" are all good. I would say "Norweigian Wood" and "The Windup Bird Chronicle" are his best. Of course, you could read these in English, but if you are interested in using them to assist in your Korean studies, they are all published in Korean as well.
One Caveat: Murakami's "South of the Border, West of the Sun" and "Sputnik Sweetheart" are pretty lame. The latter is actually quite awful, and until I read his follow-up collection of short stories, "After the Quake", I had lost my faith in him.
He also wrote a really good non-fiction book, "Underground", about the Aum Shinriko cult's gas attack on the Tokyo subwau system. In the book, he interviews victims of the attack, their friends and family, and also former members of the Aum cult.
Hope this info helps.
Sparkles*_* |
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Squid

Joined: 25 Jul 2003 Location: Sunny Anyang
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Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2004 7:19 pm Post subject: |
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I'm still on storefront signs. I've worked out "kaka" though. |
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Jensen

Joined: 30 Mar 2003 Location: hippie hell
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Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2004 11:15 pm Post subject: |
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Tiberious aka Sparkles wrote: |
...I have, however, read all of his other novels, with the sole exception of "A Wild Sheep Chape", his first book... |
"A Wild Sheep Chase" is good. First thing I read by him was a short story called "On meeting my 100% woman" or something like that. Great stuff.
I don't know very many newer Korean writers. There were some recommendations on Buddy's "Great Korean Author..." (or some such thing) thread.
I love ������� by ����ȣ, as well as a bunch of his short stories. His work varies so much, from artsy short stories to long serialized soap opera novels, it's best to skim and see if it's your kind of stuff rather than assuming it'll kick ass because he wrote it. He does write simply. I think �η����� �÷��� is his best short story, there is a collection by this title.
The language in ���� �̾ƴ� ���� �� �Ծ����� by �ڿϼ� is a little more difficult. It's a straightforward autobiographical story of growing up in the countryside and experiencing the Korean war. Lots of interesting details about daily life at that time. I've been trying to translate it for years, but I never get very far with it.
I can't find my copy, but there was a book written by an artist about his experiences living in a NY hotel/apt/whatever. It's called "Collect Call" (Just hangul-ize it), can't remember his name, but it had a lot of detail and was interesting.
I wish my Korean skills were better so I could read faster and catch more. If I don't look things up, I miss important points and if I do take time to look things up, I never get finished with the book. |
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kangnamdragon

Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Location: Kangnam, Seoul, Korea
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Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2004 11:55 pm Post subject: |
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I am interested in Korean history. Is there a good comic book series in Korean about history, or maybe history books written for middle school students, either nonfiction, or historical fiction. something with more than pictures, but not too difficult. |
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