Crenshaw's Books & Decks

Korea. The impossible Country is a passionate comprehensive introduction to Korea, its culture and its people. The book is easy to read, engaging, very informative, and a great introduction to the country, especially if you intend visiting. Tudor's depth of knowledge is admirable and impressive and although his expertise  is economics and business,  the book has a soul. What is more, Tudor is able to dig into the Korean soul and present it to you in its many faces. You will dive through Korea's collective psyche and understand why Koreans behave and do things in a certain way.

This could have been a Wikipedia sort of book or a travel guide sort of book, does none of that, but succeeds at being informative and a good companion for travelling. The book touches on the eternal and the mundane in five fascinating sections:

1- Foundations: We are presented with a brief analysis of the most influential religions in Korea (Buddhism, Christianity and Confucianism) and the specific ways that Capitalism and Democracy show in that country. 
2- Cultural Codes: We immerse ourselves into those beliefs, ways of being and attitudes that make Koreans who they are and are: Jeong, Chemyon, Han, Heung, competition, family and neophilia.
3- Cold Reality, focuses on those aspects of life that make the functioning of society possible but aren't as thrilling as others: politics, business, work,  marriage, studying and being fluent in English.
4- In the hours not spent working: Eating, drinking, music, cinema, and the living space are the subject of this part.
5- More of Us and Less of them analyses Korean attitudes towards foreigners, gays, women, and the many faces of Korean nationalism.
 

The book is preceded by a short historical introduction.Generally speaking, I dread those, especially when they come from non historians, but I have to confess that the introduction is short and sweet, very informative. and a good first approach to the History of Korea. Plenty of historical details are also found in each chapter when a historical background is needed.The epilogue is, in a good part, a brief summary of what Tudor discusses throughout the book, that is, what makes Koreans a remarkable nation and the challenges that Korea has and needs to face in the changing world we live in.

Tudor is basically an economist, and there are plenty of statistics and business and economical references in this book. However, they add to the overall believability of the book.

I love that one can read the chapters individually if one wants, as they are complete in themselves, so this makes the book very versatile and practical. 

I didn't find any typo in the book, something really cool.

THE ABSENTEES
>>> Two of the main absentees in the book are Korea's working classes and rural dwellers, who are barely mentioned in this work. Korea is a  very urban country, I get that, but I would have liked having a bit of more background on rural Korea and its culture and see how it differs from urban Korea, or not. On the other hand, the working class is barely mentioned, and I would have liked to know more about them as well. Are their interests, struggles and obsessions similar to those of the people who send their kids to an American University and have plastic surgery to look better in their resumé?

>>> There is a total absence of Korean literature,  theatre, painting, sculpture,  and visual arts, except for movies, in section 4, they are basically ignored. Korea has a vibrant literary scene, a scene where women are dominating the field, and are well-respected. I love Korean films, but what about visual arts like painting, sculpture, experimental artists, any around in Korea?

>>> One of the chapters I was looking forward to reading was that on Korean food.  One can find a list of typical Korean dishes anywhere, so I expected this chapter to go beyond that and offer some depth about Korean culinary culture. But there is little depth, and other things are taken for granted, as the author supposes that we already know many things about it. Some of the questions I wanted to know about and aren't mentioned in the book:  Which hours do they eat in the day? Is their main meal in the morning, midday or evening? Is there a foodie culture in Korea as we have it in Western countries?  Is eating out expensive? Does everybody cook at home these days or is still a women's task? Do Koreans have a strong street food culture? Which differences do you see in food eating according to social classes in Korea? Is there a "vernacular" tea culture in Korea? Do they love TV programs like MasterChef? Which foreign food/s do they love the most? Tudor knows all of this and much more and I would love have loved that sort of information commented on, even if lightly. Perhaps in the new edition of the book?

KOREAN, REALLY?
Some of the things Tudor says about Korean can be seen also in Western Europe, USA and Australia, so I wonder in which ways they are specifically Korean. For example:
# Yummy mummies who don't work or have achieved nothing in life and use their children's achievements to push their own egos and, therefore, push their kids unnecessarily for their own sake are everywhere.
# The obsession with technology. Sure, Korean moves faster than any other country on neophilia. Yet, I found very similar attitudes and obsessions in countries like Australia, where teens can be seen with super-duper phones and their parents renew their handsets in less than two years. In many Western countries people camp outside Apple stores before the launch of a new product to be the first to get it.

# Gay actors who keep in the closet not to destroy their careers. Certainly, gay people have a brighter life in the Western World (Wester Europe especially) and no actor is going to be publicly shamed or condemned for being gay. In real life, though, there are youngsters who are bullied, abused, and marginalised because of their sexual orientation in different countries called civilised and very Western. The Australian ex-swimmer Ian Thorpe had depression, publicly denied being guy, wrote a biography in which he denied it again, and when he came out of the closet said that he had kept it secret out of fear because he didn't know if his country would accept him. Also in Australia, a pop singer Anthony Callea kept his gay self hidden for work career purposes, he said, as most of his fans were female teens. Of course, nobody is making life difficult for them, but Korea is not the only country in which the attitudes mentioned in the book are part of the daily life of gays. 

> The problem of the ageing population and low birth rates. I cannot but agree with what Tudor says, but this is not a typically Korean problem, as it affects most countries in Western Europe, Spain and Italy with one the lowest birth rates in the world and the population ageing at the speed of ageing :).

THE EDITING
I notice the editing when the editing is not good. When it is is, I don't notice anything. I focus on the writing, the message of the book or the story being told. This book could have been a better book if the editing had been better. An editor is not just a person who corrects typos and grammar in writing (which is excellent here by the way), an editor also focuses on content, how one says things and the way one says them, what is superfluous and what is not, which things have been repeated many times and which things should be mentioned and they haven't. Just a few examples:

> Tudor repeats himself quite often, things are said over and over again in different chapters, sometimes in the same chapter, and it is not always necessary. Just one example, the per capita earnings of  Koreans in the post-war era. 
>  At times the book reads like a blog, others like a newspaper article, and others like a proper book. That is, there is no coherence in the style. That is distracting to me and not good for any book.
> The "Special Feature: Interview with Choi Min-sik" feels like a cut-&-paste from a blog or article added here. I don't know if that is the case, but it reads as a pastiche even though I loved Oldboy. The question that matters here is, is this interview really relevant to know the film culture of Korea and necessary to be included in the book? The answer is no.
> The data that Tudor uses for some references to religious practices relates to the 1990s! Hello hello, 2016 calling. I wonder how accurate the statistics were in 2012, when the book was written, and today.

> The author mentions a few books and articles, but does not properly quote them. I understand that the book is for the general public, but including an endnote after an explicit reference would not disturb the general populace, it is a matter of courtesy to the author mentioned, it is the right thing to do when you are a professional writer as it backs up your reputation, and some readers could be interested in that book or article. Just an example:

" In a paper on the influence of chemyon on Korean consumer culture, Yoosun Hann of the University of Illinois wrote that it was important “not to stand out, but to fit in” (pp. 112-113)

RENDERING FOR KINDLE
~~ The comprehensive final index is not rendered for Kindle, therefore, not linked, therefore, useless for Kindle users. Moreover, the number of pages relates to the printed edition. Cheat!  Cheat! Cheat!
~~ If I get an e-book, I expect the book to have any website mentioned in the text out-linked.

A WISH
After reading the book I am sure he is an expert on Korea. Why not including a list of  must-read books and reputed sources on Korea?

IN SHORT
I cannot highlight enough how much I enjoyed this book and how much I recommend it to anybody interested in Korea.  However, the book is also lacking in finesse, and some themes that are also very Korean, aren't mentioned.