I am almost caught up now on my reading, which will hopefully make me less stressed about my challenge. Surprisingly, I’ve done much better with the weight loss portion than the reading portion, but I am trying to even that out. I finished Terminal Freeze by Lincoln Child tonight. Child is one of my favorite authors, but I couldn’t help but be a little disappointed in the book. It was well-written and exciting, but the plot was kind of a retread of Relic, which he wrote with Douglas Preston. When I read Relic the first time, probably 15 years ago, I couldn’t put it down. I ended up staying awake most of the night to read it. Now I couldn’t stay up all night if I wanted to, but I didn’t have that sense of urgency with Terminal Freeze anyway. I knew where it was going, and luckily, getting there was still a fun ride. His new book with Douglas Preston is coming out later this spring, and I am really looking forward to that one.
I’ve been collecting books from the Portable Library of Korean Literature, so I’ve decided to tackle those next. I only have seven of them, but there are probably at least 50 in the series. Most of the books are novellas or short story collections, and they usually only run about 100 pages. I am starting with A Dwarf Launches a Little Ball by Cho Se-Hui. It was first published as part of a short story collection in 1978, and is considered a modern classic in Korea and remains very popular. The translator of this edition, Chun Kyung-Ja, has won awards for her English translations of Korean literature, so I am hoping it is a good translation.
I am having surgery in about three weeks that will hopefully help with my back problems, which will probably result in a brief spike in weight loss like when I was sick a couple weeks ago. So don’t be worried if I lose weight a little more rapidly that week. I am just hoping it has a positive effect on my back. The bummer is that I won’t be able to walk Chiqui for awhile. Well, I can walk with her and Stephen, but I won’t be able to hold the leash.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Kara, Best of luck with your surgery. I hope it goes well and you are back to normal asap!!!! XO!
Well, you know I stopped blogging about my reading because I found set goals were becoming more important than the books. Don’t stress! Not good for your back. Good luck with the surgery.
Dear Kara,
There are about 25 of these books published by KLTI. I am currently in the process of trying to review them for my own website at KTLIT.
It is worth noting, about “The Dwarf” that the KLTI publication is actually only an excerpt from the larger work. The larger work has been published in its entirety by the University of Hawaii Press, and can be found at Amazon here.
When you get to “Toy City” you will find the same thing is true. The KTLI version is one of three chapters, and it is worth getting the complete version, both because there is more of it and because Chi-Young Kim does a completely superior translation.
Have fun with this group of books, some of them are a lot of fun, while others are typically depressing pundan munhak.
Charles Montgomery
Wow Charles – I am so glad you posted and I’m pleased to find your website!
I will definitely grab the full version of The Dwarf. I actually have the full version of Toy City (but not the KTLI version), which is getting nearer to the top of my reading pile.
I can’t wait to explore your website in more depth. Thank you so much for posting.
Kara