Most Popular
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Medical profs at top hospitals suspend surgeries, clinics
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Exports to US reach all-time high, widen gap with China
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Trump rekindles criticism: US forces defending 'wealthy' S. Korea 'free of charge'
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Samsung chip business back on track, logs W1.9tr operating profit in Q1
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Shinsegae faces showdown with investors over SSG.com's delayed IPO
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Hopes rise for possible Gaza truce deal
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Ex-pro baseball player who killed debtor appeals sentence
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S. Korea discussed possible participation in AUKUS Pillar 2 with Australia: defense minister
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[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
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[Music in drama] Rekindle a love that slipped through your fingers
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Bible’s strong comeback surprises secular Norway
OSLO (AP) ― It may sound like an unlikely No. 1 best-seller for any country, but in Norway ― one of the most secular nations in an increasingly godless Europe ― the runaway popularity of the Bible has caught the country by surprise. The Scriptures, in a new Norwegian language version, even outpaced “Fifty Shades of Grey’’ to become Norway’s best-selling book.The sudden burst of interest in God’s word has also spread to the stage, with a six-hour play called “Bibelen,’’ Norwegian for “the Bible,’
June 10, 2013
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‘Pride and Prejudice’ favorite classical novel in Korea
“Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austin was given the honor of being the nation’s favorite piece of classical literature according to a survey by Kyobo Book Center, the country’s biggest bookseller.The result came as South Korea welcomed more silver-screen and musical adaptations of classical literature involving well-known titles such as “The Great Gatsby, “Les Miserables” and “Resurrection.” In the survey, “The Catcher in the Rye” by J. D. Salinger was ranked second and Hermann Hesse’s “Demian” t
June 4, 2013
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Yonhap News publishes 2013 English almanac
Yonhap News Agency, South Korea’s main newswire service, has published the 2013 edition of “Korea Annual,” an English almanac that covers all the main events and issues that defined the country last year.This year’s edition, published for the first time since 2004, aims to better inform foreign government organizations, businesses and people of South Korea. It is also the only English-language almanac published in the country.The almanac contains all the latest information on South Korea and cov
June 3, 2013
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Book tries to overturn interpretation over famous travelogue
By Park Sui, Intern reporterA nonfiction companion to a Joseon scholar’s famous travelogue, “Jehol Diary is a Fiction,” attempts to overturn the traditional interpretation of the centuries-old book. It claims that “Jehol Diary” (‘Yeolha Ilgi’ in Korean) is not a fact-based travelogue but a first-person narrative novel.“Previous studies, discussions and education on ‘Yeolha Ilgi’ are totally misguided,” Oh Soon-jeong, the author of the book, told The Korea Herald. The 51-year-old author, a vete
June 3, 2013
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Korean culture advocate with big dreams
Publisher Hank Kim says he often feels like Don Quixote, the famous fictional Spaniard with reckless enthusiasm and big dreams. “It’s to dream the impossible dream,” he says.Kim quit his reporting job at Yonhap News Agency to start a bookstore and a publishing house, Seoul Selection, in 2002, and devote himself to promoting Korean culture in the English language.And the 51-year-old is dreaming the seemingly impossible in Korea’s publishing industry, where the number of English-language books pub
May 31, 2013
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Seoul Selection picks
Since the early 2000s, Seoul Selection has published about 70 English-language books on Korea and its culture. Here are some of the picks from their books.“The Voices of Heaven” by Maija Rhee DevineOne of the latest publications by Seoul Selection, “The Voices of Heaven” is an engaging account of the Korean War (1950-1953) from a young girl’s perspective. Korean-born American Maija Rhee Devine, wrote the novel based on her real-life experience going through the war, as well as her family secrets
May 31, 2013
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S. Korean defense chief to discuss N. Korea at Singapore forum
South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin arrived in Singapore Friday to attend a security forum where he will focus on coordinating efforts on North Korea as hope grows for talks to reduce tension following months of bellicose rhetoric from the communist country.The Asia Security Summit, also called the Shangri-La Dialogue, was to open Friday evening for a three-day run, with the defense chiefs and security experts from 27 nations in attendance.The 12th summit, organized by the London-based In
May 31, 2013
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’65 riots backdrop for ‘Little Scarlet’
Walter Mosley grew up in Los Angeles and experienced firsthand what he considers one of the most crucial events in 20th Century American history: the 1965 Watts riots.But it wasn’t hearing screaming police sirens or spotting bodies in the streets or men jumping out of windows with arms packed with loot that had the biggest impact on the renowned mystery writer.It came from watching his father, Leroy Mosley, drinking and seeming upset.“I’m not scared,” Leroy Mosley said. “I want to get out there.
May 30, 2013
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A roller-coaster of romance and reality
All I NeedBy Susane Colasanti (Viking)Skye wants what every teen girl does: A real love connection. She aches to be swept off her feet by her soul mate ― that guy, that perfect guy, the one she’s so in sync with he can almost read her mind. And she’s been waiting. For years. Every summer at the beach brings the same crew, boys with killer abs but little karma.Then she sees Seth, and she knows he’s something special. The two have a magical 24 hours together, including a butterflies-in-your-belly
May 30, 2013
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Brown’s latest keeps readers guessing
InfernoBy Dan Brown (Doubleday)Last Monday afternoon, Amazon posted a tease on its Kindle Facebook page reminding fans that the “year’s most anticipated thriller” was set for release the next day.There was skepticism amid the responses, as some wondered if Dan Brown’s latest, “Inferno,” could live up to the hype. The answer is yes!The latest chapter in the life of Harvard professor Robert Langdon is a compelling and suspenseful tale filled with twists and turns. (Advance copies of the book were
May 30, 2013
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Telling stories through fantasy
German fantasy writer Ralf Isau grew up listening to his father’s stories and harmonica. “I think that’s how I developed my love for the fantasy genre,” the writer said in a press conference in Seoul on Monday. “When I was a child, my art teacher wrote on my report card that my paintings have ‘a lot of fantasy elements.’”The 57-year-old writer, famous for his friendship with the late German author Michael Ende (1929-1995), visited Seoul this week to promote the recently released Korean edition o
May 30, 2013
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Publishers try to capitalize on ‘revival of humanities’
South Korea is witnessing renewed public attention to books on humanities, with some observers suggesting it is a “revival of humanities.” However, many in the publishing industry cast doubts on whether the term “revival” would be fit to describe the current trend.“It is not a revival since humanities has never been dead,” said Go Won-hyo, head of the humanities department in Munhakdongne Publishing Group in an interview. “Rather than calling it a revival, ‘restoration of interest in humanities’
May 24, 2013
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War, childhood and family secrets
Korean-born American writer Maija Rhee Devine was just getting ready to study abroad after graduating from the English literature program at Sogang University in Seoul, when a family secret that had been buried all of her 20-something years suddenly burst into open: Her parents were not her biological parents. “I just immediately went into a denial, a total denial,” the 70-year-old said during a press meeting in Seoul on Wednesday. “I just had had enough of this (Korean) culture ― I was given aw
May 23, 2013
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Baumann balances acting career with a literary one
To some people ― those who might attend a guerrilla reading in San Francisco, for example ― Ken Baumann is a writer and small-press publisher who is part of the contemporary literary vanguard. And yet, to a generation of adolescent girls, he’s instantly recognizable as a star of the beloved ABC Family series “The Secret Life of the American Teenager,” now in its last season.“As long as I can do both, why wouldn’t I want to?” Baumann asks at an L.A. cafe. He’s lanky and pale-skinned, making it ea
May 23, 2013
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Curses, ghosts and miracles enliven
The Kings and Queens of RoamBy Daniel Wallace (Touchstone)“Once upon a time” is probably the most seductive phrase in the language of books. Add a forest, a witch, a giant and a princess, and children are enchanted beyond any reasonable doubt: No need to know the story’s setting (it’s a kingdom!) or the king’s reasons for beheading his daughter’s suitors one by one (they gave the wrong answer!).Even adult readers still warm to the tall tale, the fable and the fairy tale. Maybe that’s the reason
May 23, 2013
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Famous authors to discuss works in Seoul
A local book club is hosting two famous authors on May 25.Novelist Kim Young-ha, whose internationally-acclaimed works “I Have the Right to Destroy Myself” and “Your Republic is Calling You” have earned him fans at home and abroad, is the invited speaker for the 10 Magazine Book Club meeting organized by Sookmyung Women’s University professor Barry Welsh.Krys Lee, the Korean-American author of “Drifting House,” will moderate the meeting.Internationally recognized as a master of storytelling ― hi
May 22, 2013
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Poetry finally joining e-book revolution
NEW YORK (AP) ― Over the past two years, publishers have been steadily filling one of the largest gaps in the e-book catalogue ― poetry.Adrienne Rich, Allen Ginsberg, Langston Hughes and Wallace Stevens have been among the poets whose work recently became available in electronic format. And Random House Inc., W.W. Norton and several other publishers now routinely release new books in both print and digital versions, including last month’s Pulitzer Prize winner for poetry, Sharon Olds’ “Stag’s Le
May 19, 2013
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Another visit from Bernie Gunther
A Man Without Breath, By Philip Kerr (Marian Wood/G.P. Putnam’s Sons)Through nine Philip Kerr novels spanning the rise and fall of Nazi Germany and the subsequent pursuit and prosecution of some of its creators, lead character Bernie Gunther has become an old friend.Each visit of the always wisecracking, sometimes compromised detective, private investigator and German soldier is eagerly awaited.A year ago, I read Gunther’s then-latest adventure while in the hospital recovering from open-heart su
May 9, 2013
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Florida vacation without leaving home
Board StiffBy Elaine Viets (Obsidian)With few exceptions, characters in mysteries change and grow throughout the series. Not only does that reflect real life ― are any of us the same person we were last year? ― but it also allows authors to stretch their storytelling skills. Elaine Viets’ “Dead-End Jobs” series started with her heroine taking low-paying, off-the-grid jobs following a horrific divorce. Viets’ lively plots and broad humor complemented these highly entertaining novels while also sh
May 9, 2013
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Items from Hemingway’s Cuba home go to JFK Library
WASHINGTON (AP) ― While most Americans have never seen Ernest Hemingway’s home in Cuba where he wrote some of his most famous books, a set of 2,000 recently digitized records delivered to the United States will give scholars and the public a fuller view of the Nobel Prize-winning novelist’s life.A private U.S. foundation is working with Cuba to preserve more of Hemingway’s papers, books and belongings that have been kept at his home near Havana since he died in 1961. On Monday at the U.S. Capito
May 9, 2013