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robbie_davies
Joined: 16 Jun 2013
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Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2016 7:31 am Post subject: The Great Korean ESL Novel |
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With the amount of liberal arts graduates that work in the ESL industry in South Korea, it is surprising that the breakout Korea ESL novel has yet to be written.
There have been some pretty decent stabs at it though, Dispatches from the Peninsula by Chris Tharp was good and I liked 'The Dog Farm' by David Wills (which was slated online) and the late Shawn Matthews and his 'Island of Fantasy' is an excellent tribute to his writing ability.
So, does anyone here plan to write the great Korea ESL novel? |
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yodanole
Joined: 02 Mar 2003 Location: La Florida
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Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2016 12:19 pm Post subject: |
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The first one that I saw was in the year 2000. An oddball that I worked with showed us his self-published effort ( right before he got fired ). There have been others since. Some are less distressing than others. |
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Steelrails
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Joined: 12 Mar 2009 Location: Earth, Solar System
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Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2016 8:01 pm Post subject: |
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Nobody cares about ESL in Korea. You'd need a war to breakout for someone to give a crap. |
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robbie_davies
Joined: 16 Jun 2013
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Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 12:21 am Post subject: |
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yodanole wrote: |
The first one that I saw was in the year 2000. An oddball that I worked with showed us his self-published effort ( right before he got fired ). There have been others since. Some are less distressing than others. |
Right, what was the name of your colleagues effort? Is it still in print?
Do you have a favourite amongst the books you have read on the subject? |
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robbie_davies
Joined: 16 Jun 2013
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Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 12:23 am Post subject: |
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Steelrails wrote: |
Nobody cares about ESL in Korea. You'd need a war to breakout for someone to give a crap. |
I don't know, I am pretty sure there is a breakout book on the subject to come in the near future.
If you look at James Herriot's books, no-one would find being a Yorkshire vet all that interesting, never mind as a comedy book, but it made millions for the author and spawned films, TV series etc. |
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ttompatz
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Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 3:41 am Post subject: Re: The Great Korean ESL Novel |
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robbie_davies wrote: |
With the amount of liberal arts graduates that work in the ESL industry in South Korea, it is surprising that the breakout Korea ESL novel has yet to be written.
There have been some pretty decent stabs at it though, Dispatches from the Peninsula by Chris Tharp was good and I liked 'The Dog Farm' by David Wills (which was slated online) and the late Shawn Matthews and his 'Island of Fantasy' is an excellent tribute to his writing ability.
So, does anyone here plan to write the great Korea ESL novel? |
You mean like, "Prisoner of Wonderland: An ESL Misadventure" by Jane Keeler?" (2006)?
Then there was "Locked Up Abroad - Korea" The story of Cullen Thomas, an EFL teacher in South Korea arrested for importing hash by mail.
The list goes on....
.
. |
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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 4:33 am Post subject: |
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You mean like, "Prisoner of Wonderland: An ESL Misadventure" by Jane Keeler?" (2006)?
Then there was "Locked Up Abroad - Korea" The story of Cullen Thomas, an EFL teacher in South Korea arrested for importing hash by mail.
The list goes on.... |
Prisoner of Wonderland was a factual account, like a blog, cobbled together and sold in a book the length of a novella. "locked up abroad' was the name of the TV series, one episode of which was about Cullen Thomas. His book was called 'Brother One Cell.' There are a ton of books out there with a similar theme, basically anyone who gets done for drug smuggling abroad seems to write one these days. I'm waiting for the one about those two dopey British girls currently in a prison in Peru.
I've read three Korean ESL novels. The Dog Farm and one about a guy who ends up with a South American girl, can't remember the name. They were both OK and pretty similar. Drunken Western waster comes over, works for dodgy hagwons, meets a local girl etc...The other novel was called 'English Toss on Planet Andong' and I didn't finish it. There were some funny parts, mostly from the depraved wine swigging guy, but the characters were too wacky and the plot too minimal, to keep my interest.
As Robbie points out there's no reason why a Korean ESL novel couldn't become the next 'Beach' but there'd have to be a better plot than the ones written so far and more universally interesting characters. It'll probably have to start out as a blog or self-published work as publishers don't seem to want to take any risks these days. |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 5:07 am Post subject: |
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Most prolific writer on the subject: Expat Hell blogger
http://www.expathell.com/?p=5947
I'd place my bets on him. |
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slothrop
Joined: 03 Feb 2003
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Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 5:58 am Post subject: |
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'the beach' by alex garland took place in thailand, but it wasn't ABOUT thailand. every novel i've read about esl in korea is ABOUT korean esl. and there's the problem. A novel that features an expat esl teacher in korea is a fine backdrop, but it can't be ABOUT korea and ESL. if it is then you get page long descriptions of soju and kimchi and screaming brats. i don't care how literary you are, there's no way to make universal themes out of those things. they are at best comic relief.
these books are useful to someone who has never been to korea or taught at a hagwan and wants to get an idea of what it would be like, but for anyone who has done it for any legnth of time it holds no interest, and these are the very readers most likely to want to read expat fiction on a regular basis.
i recently re-read 'the stranger' by camus. mersualt is a frenchman living in algeria, a colony. he has a job, but it's only passingly mentioned. you know why? because nobody wants to read about what he does all day at work! Because for most people, a job is what you do to make money and life is what happens when you're not there. What does it say about a writer if all she has to write about is her job? unless you are a hitman, conman, or prostitute, your job is BORING and no one wants to read about it.
anyway, i think 'dog farm' is the best so far. it's a shame the author took down the kindle version, but who can blame him? the reviews he got say more about the minds of bitter eslers than the writing itself. |
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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 6:35 am Post subject: |
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slothrop wrote: |
'the beach' by alex garland took place in thailand, but it wasn't ABOUT thailand. every novel i've read about esl in korea is ABOUT korean esl. and there's the problem. A novel that features an expat esl teacher in korea is a fine backdrop, but it can't be ABOUT korea and ESL. if it is then you get page long descriptions of soju and kimchi and screaming brats. i don't care how literary you are, there's no way to make universal themes out of those things. they are at best comic relief.
these books are useful to someone who has never been to korea or taught at a hagwan and wants to get an idea of what it would be like, but for anyone who has done it for any legnth of time it holds no interest, and these are the very readers most likely to want to read expat fiction on a regular basis.
i recently re-read 'the stranger' by camus. mersualt is a frenchman living in algeria, a colony. he has a job, but it's only passingly mentioned. you know why? because nobody wants to read about what he does all day at work! Because for most people, a job is what you do to make money and life is what happens when you're not there. What does it say about a writer if all she has to write about is her job? unless you are a hitman, conman, or prostitute, your job is BORING and no one wants to read about it.
anyway, i think 'dog farm' is the best so far. it's a shame the author took down the kindle version, but who can blame him? the reviews he got say more about the minds of bitter eslers than the writing itself. |
It's difficult to generalise about what topics make interesting books and what don't. E.g. I read this book about an ex pat working in Africa and most of it was about his day to day job. Still a very good read. Glengarry Glenross is all just about guys selling real estate.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Man-Africa-William-Boyd/dp/0141046899 |
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yodanole
Joined: 02 Mar 2003 Location: La Florida
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Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 10:36 am Post subject: |
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That was the point. Absolutely nothing memorable. It's not the topic. Great writers might make any topic memorable. That has been done before.
robbie_davies wrote: |
yodanole wrote: |
The first one that I saw was in the year 2000. An oddball that I worked with showed us his self-published effort ( right before he got fired ). There have been others since. Some are less distressing than others. |
Right, what was the name of your colleagues effort? Is it still in print?
Do you have a favourite amongst the books you have read on the subject? |
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robbie_davies
Joined: 16 Jun 2013
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Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 1:47 pm Post subject: |
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edwardcatflap wrote: |
Quote: |
You mean like, "Prisoner of Wonderland: An ESL Misadventure" by Jane Keeler?" (2006)?
Then there was "Locked Up Abroad - Korea" The story of Cullen Thomas, an EFL teacher in South Korea arrested for importing hash by mail.
The list goes on.... |
Prisoner of Wonderland was a factual account, like a blog, cobbled together and sold in a book the length of a novella. "locked up abroad' was the name of the TV series, one episode of which was about Cullen Thomas. His book was called 'Brother One Cell.' There are a ton of books out there with a similar theme, basically anyone who gets done for drug smuggling abroad seems to write one these days. I'm waiting for the one about those two dopey British girls currently in a prison in Peru.
I've read three Korean ESL novels. The Dog Farm and one about a guy who ends up with a South American girl, can't remember the name. They were both OK and pretty similar. Drunken Western waster comes over, works for dodgy hagwons, meets a local girl etc...The other novel was called 'English Toss on Planet Andong' and I didn't finish it. There were some funny parts, mostly from the depraved wine swigging guy, but the characters were too wacky and the plot too minimal, to keep my interest.
As Robbie points out there's no reason why a Korean ESL novel couldn't become the next 'Beach' but there'd have to be a better plot than the ones written so far and more universally interesting characters. It'll probably have to start out as a blog or self-published work as publishers don't seem to want to take any risks these days. |
I agree with this, Edward. Especially the last paragraph, it might have to take a self publishing route, I remember reading about books written from teachers working in China and someone said that publishers are not interested in narratives from white males (who tend to write these type of books) on this particular subject, and would need to have another angle - a woman from an ethnic minority would pique the interest of publishers, which would be a shame if it stops a really good story from coming out. |
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robbie_davies
Joined: 16 Jun 2013
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Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 1:50 pm Post subject: |
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slothrop wrote: |
'the beach' by alex garland took place in thailand, but it wasn't ABOUT thailand. every novel i've read about esl in korea is ABOUT korean esl. and there's the problem. A novel that features an expat esl teacher in korea is a fine backdrop, but it can't be ABOUT korea and ESL. if it is then you get page long descriptions of soju and kimchi and screaming brats. i don't care how literary you are, there's no way to make universal themes out of those things. they are at best comic relief.
these books are useful to someone who has never been to korea or taught at a hagwan and wants to get an idea of what it would be like, but for anyone who has done it for any legnth of time it holds no interest, and these are the very readers most likely to want to read expat fiction on a regular basis.
i recently re-read 'the stranger' by camus. mersualt is a frenchman living in algeria, a colony. he has a job, but it's only passingly mentioned. you know why? because nobody wants to read about what he does all day at work! Because for most people, a job is what you do to make money and life is what happens when you're not there. What does it say about a writer if all she has to write about is her job? unless you are a hitman, conman, or prostitute, your job is BORING and no one wants to read about it.
anyway, i think 'dog farm' is the best so far. it's a shame the author took down the kindle version, but who can blame him? the reviews he got say more about the minds of bitter eslers than the writing itself. |
This is a fair enough comment, but a lot of stories focus on the job rather than the location - one that comes out is most military books about a soldiers experience overseas, the latest ones of course being about Iraq and Afghanistan.
One I do remember and read was 'The Virgin Soldiers' By Leslie Thomas which was about a young national serviceman in Malaya and though the story was more about going on partols, barracks life and trying to get laid, the plot and characterisation of the main players brought it to life.
Also, I think your idea would work better with a book about China - where you could get more out of a teacher's travels around the country. |
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robbie_davies
Joined: 16 Jun 2013
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Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 1:51 pm Post subject: |
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yodanole wrote: |
That was the point. Absolutely nothing memorable. It's not the topic. Great writers might make any topic memorable. That has been done before.
robbie_davies wrote: |
yodanole wrote: |
The first one that I saw was in the year 2000. An oddball that I worked with showed us his self-published effort ( right before he got fired ). There have been others since. Some are less distressing than others. |
Right, what was the name of your colleagues effort? Is it still in print?
Do you have a favourite amongst the books you have read on the subject? |
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Agreed. |
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robbie_davies
Joined: 16 Jun 2013
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Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 1:55 pm Post subject: Re: The Great Korean ESL Novel |
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ttompatz wrote: |
robbie_davies wrote: |
With the amount of liberal arts graduates that work in the ESL industry in South Korea, it is surprising that the breakout Korea ESL novel has yet to be written.
There have been some pretty decent stabs at it though, Dispatches from the Peninsula by Chris Tharp was good and I liked 'The Dog Farm' by David Wills (which was slated online) and the late Shawn Matthews and his 'Island of Fantasy' is an excellent tribute to his writing ability.
So, does anyone here plan to write the great Korea ESL novel? |
You mean like, "Prisoner of Wonderland: An ESL Misadventure" by Jane Keeler?" (2006)?
Then there was "Locked Up Abroad - Korea" The story of Cullen Thomas, an EFL teacher in South Korea arrested for importing hash by mail.
The list goes on....
.
. |
There are a few books on the subject, Ttom. The best one in my opinion is Shawn Matthews book, the writer sadly committed suicide shortly after publication but I thought it was very well written - despite some blogger saying it was shit and said blogger was going to pen her own Korean ESL novel and it got me thinking.
But the top three for me at this moment in time are
Shawn Matthews - Island of Fantasy
Chris Tharp - Dispatches from the Peninsula
David S. Wills - The Dog Farm |
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