Anthology of Korean Literature: From Early Times to the Nineteenth Century

by Peter H. Lee (Editor)

This books offers a comprehensive sampling of the major genres of poetry and prose written from about A.D. 600 to the end of the nineteenth century. The book contains a dazzling array of myths and legends, essays and biographies, love poems and Zen poems, satirical tales and tales of wonder, stories of adventure and of heroism, as well as quieter works treating the farmer's works and days and the pleasures and sorrows of the simple life.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Classic Literature, Literature, Language, History

342 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1981

About the author

Peter H. Lee (1929-) was born in Seoul, Korea. He received his B.A. from the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, and his M.A. from Yale in 1953. Lee went on to study various languages and comparative literatures at universities in Switzerland, Italy, England and Munich, Germany, where he earned his Ph.D. from Ludwig-Maximilian University in 1958. After holding positions at Columbia, Hawaii, and UC Berkeley, Lee came to UCLA in 1987 to begin his distinguished teaching career in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures as a professor of Korean and comparative literature. Professor Lee is an academic pioneer, credited with single-handedly developing the field of Korean literature, especially in a comparative context, in the West. He is the author of 16 books and numerous articles.

(from http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:...)

Reviews

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a gem. I'm currently studying sources on the daily lives of the Korean common people during the mid-Choson period. There is so much to be found in this book through the voices of the various authors dealt with in this anthology.
Honestly some of the translated works fill me with confusion as to what their meaning is (I'm guessing there is a lot of references to Chinese classics which I just don't notice and / or get/know).
Anyway this book contains some of the info I can definitely use for my project!
The only thing I do miss is the dates on some works and more commentary on specific works (like background or implied meanings).

[Ludo-Van · Rating 4 out of 5]

This anthology serves as a good introduction to those new to Korean literature, like myself. I particularly appreciated that there are a number of sections dealing with female authors, something not to be taken for granted.
The satirical texts and the short stories were my favourite (some are really funny).
I would have liked to have more background at the beginning of each section and more notes because certain texts, in particular the poems, are hard to understand for those not accustomed to Korean literature.
Overall a recommended book

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the poems in this book would have been better presented had they been published side to side in English and the original language. It seemed that the poems in the book had entirely lost their musical quality and I can only guess that the reason is that it is lost in the translation from Korean to English. I enjoyed the short stories much more and found them very entertaining.

[Kenra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book a lot simply because it really gave a wonderful glimpse into history in a unique way. I wish desperately that there could have been the original Chinese and Hangul script to compare, but I think seeing how this wasn't necessarily written for people interesting in language learning, this doesn't detract from the book.

I also think I just deeply appreciate how much Korean poetry focuses on nature. I wish I had tallied up the number of poems were about mountains, trees, autumn, rain and so on. It's incredibly soothing to read.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you teach English at a hagwon in Busan, South Korea, you should read this book.