[KS] A different approach to understanding North Korea
Ruediger_Frank
ruediger.frank at univie.ac.at
Sat Feb 17 15:58:02 EST 2007
Dear Brother Anthony and all,
I have read the book, quite fascinating indeed - especially for someone who has stayed at the Koryo himself (never found a corpse, though). The author (about who's identity we all keep speculating wildly - could be someone with a capital K in his first name) even seems to know my own work on the East German reconstruction of Hamheung...
It is a novel, not a documentary. With this in mind, it definitely is a recommendable book, although too short for my taste; I hope for a sequel.
Best wishes,
Ruediger Frank
on Samstag, 17. Februar 2007 at 15:24 you wrote:
>
> I think that there is a new book about North Korea that has not yet
> been mentioned on this List, and might be of interest. I have just
> been reading an article in today's Independent (the UK newspaper)
> about a detective novel set in North Korea, _A Corpse in the Koryo_
> (published in October 2006 by Thomas Dunne Books) ISBN-10 :
> 0312352085 The article explains that "The author goes by the name
> of James Church, described by the publisher as "a former Western
> intelligence officer with decades of experience in Asia", and who
> in his own words has been "in, over and around the country numerous
> times, dating from when Kim Jong Il was a young man" so I expect
> some members of the list might know who he is. It is almost
> certainly the first thriller written by a westerner in which the
> main character is a "stalwart of the Ministry for the People's
> Security in the great city of Pyongyang" and also the first novel
> written by a westerner who (the article says) "may know the country
> as well as any Westerner" so it might be really interesting. The
> article is currently readable at
> http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2278038.ece but be
> warned, most Independent articles go into "subscribers only" mode within a couple of days.
>
>
>
> I have ordered the book.
>
>
>
> Brother Anthony
>
> Sogang University, Seoul
>
> http://hompi.sogang.ac.kr/anthony/
>
>
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