Michael Breen (1) (1952–)

One of the most fascinating, concise history texts available. Its curiously long title might come off as zealous but chalk it up to poor marketing because the book itself is a valuable piece of work that is far easier to delve into. Breen breaks each chapter down into manageable pieces that impressively read like page-turning newspaper articles and less like dry scholarly papers.

An obviously brilliant writer, Breen's journalistic fact-then-opinion approach helps to identify what is interpretation and what is generally understood to be factual. His sprinkled personal anecdotes are appropriate and charming. He's also humbly modest when he claims that ancient Korea is not his field of study because he does a fine job at covering the important aspects of ancient Korea and her vast history.

All in all, this is a must read for those wanting to gain a well-educated and experienced look into Korea.… (mehr)

Nothing to Envy got me interested in learning more about Korea, and this book was recommend by the author, so I got it despite the subtitle (Who They Are, What They Want, Where Their Future Lies), which has an offputting tinge of The Aliens have Landed! It was, actually, quite interesting to read. The author is a journalist who lived in Seoul for fifteen years. The book has four major sections: society, history, economy, politics, all of which are interspersed with personal anecdotes conveyed with mingled exasperation and humor and affection, in a style that is not exactly PC, and that sometimes compares Korean people and institutions unfavorably with ideals rather than realities of British counterparts. And yet, this can be a useful perspective on another culture, with one model of how things should be encountering another. Maybe I noticed this aspect more because as an American I might not have seen things in quite the author's way. So, grain of salt, not the definitive last word, and a tad sketchy in the history section, but still well worth reading.

(read 24 Apr 2011)… (mehr)