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TWIB II-17: 1/21-1/27
And I am back on schedule!
1) Avoiding The Apocalypse – Marcus Noland
Although it was written half a decade earlier, Noland’s Avoiding The Apocalypse is a far better book than its successor (discussed in TWIB II-14). For one thing, Noland explicitly sets out to examine both North and South Korea, instead of claiming he’ll do the former and discussing both. It’s also a good 250 pages longer, which is 250 more pages of valuable background information, historical context, and economic modeling than what’s available in Korea After Kim Jong-il, which makes it much easier to comprehend Noland’s arguments. Rather ironically, Noland develops and explores his theories on the economic effects of a unified Korea in more depth here than he does in 2005, which is the exact opposite of how most theorists proceed. Although much of his discussion is geared toward other experts (making for exceedingly dry or incomprehensible reading for anyone who isn’t a dyed-in-the-wool economist), there is also a wealth of detail on North-South relations, both to one another, and within the region at large.
2) Coyote Blue – Christopher Moore
Coyote Blue is one of Moore’s earliest efforts, and it shows. His prose more frequently tries for humor than achieves it, and his characters aren’t as three-dimensional as those in his later novels. Moore’s understanding of the Japanese appears to have been gleaned from Michael Crichton novels as opposed to any actual contact with the real deal, but his depiction of modern Native Americans (and the identity issues with which they’re faced) plays quite nicely. Although a good deal of Coyote Blue is rather dull, it rallies nicely in the last quarter, leaving at least this reader with a better feeling than she’d anticipated. If nothing else, fans of Neil Gaiman should read this book to see how it eerily presages many of the themes and plot ideas Gaiman himself would take up years later in American Gods.
That will be all.
1) Avoiding The Apocalypse – Marcus Noland
Although it was written half a decade earlier, Noland’s Avoiding The Apocalypse is a far better book than its successor (discussed in TWIB II-14). For one thing, Noland explicitly sets out to examine both North and South Korea, instead of claiming he’ll do the former and discussing both. It’s also a good 250 pages longer, which is 250 more pages of valuable background information, historical context, and economic modeling than what’s available in Korea After Kim Jong-il, which makes it much easier to comprehend Noland’s arguments. Rather ironically, Noland develops and explores his theories on the economic effects of a unified Korea in more depth here than he does in 2005, which is the exact opposite of how most theorists proceed. Although much of his discussion is geared toward other experts (making for exceedingly dry or incomprehensible reading for anyone who isn’t a dyed-in-the-wool economist), there is also a wealth of detail on North-South relations, both to one another, and within the region at large.
2) Coyote Blue – Christopher Moore
Coyote Blue is one of Moore’s earliest efforts, and it shows. His prose more frequently tries for humor than achieves it, and his characters aren’t as three-dimensional as those in his later novels. Moore’s understanding of the Japanese appears to have been gleaned from Michael Crichton novels as opposed to any actual contact with the real deal, but his depiction of modern Native Americans (and the identity issues with which they’re faced) plays quite nicely. Although a good deal of Coyote Blue is rather dull, it rallies nicely in the last quarter, leaving at least this reader with a better feeling than she’d anticipated. If nothing else, fans of Neil Gaiman should read this book to see how it eerily presages many of the themes and plot ideas Gaiman himself would take up years later in American Gods.
That will be all.