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IntrovertedBear

Introverted Bear

Tracking the books I've read.

Currently reading

Atlas Shrugged: (Centennial Edition)
Ayn Rand

Pop Goes Korea: Behind the Revolution in Movies, Music, and Internet Culture

Pop Goes Korea: Behind the Revolution in Movies, Music, and Internet Culture - Mark James Russell Russell brings Korean pop culture to your attention through interviews, research, and random historical facts. His tone is very casual, so you can relax while reading it. The first half of the book focuses on movies and the history of the film industry. Music is also given some coverage, but not much is said of manhwa. It was rather disappointing, especially since I think a lot of non-Korean people are introduced to Korean pop culture through scanlations online (which he mentions in passing). In fact, I think the most popular Korean mediums online are TV dramas, music, and manhwa. So why he chose to focus more on films was beyond me.

This book was a chore to read at times, especially in the film sections. The organization becomes extremely chaotic. Sometimes the author jumps ahead in time but only to go backwards and explain something else. I found it hard to keep timelines straight. It's also hard to keep track of who's who, but that's because everyone tends to have the same last name, which isn't the author's fault.

My favorite parts of the book are the random side snippets of information. It's interesting to get a closer look at films, music, and famous people. I really liked the Top TV dramas and Movies lists. I think the book may have been more interesting if the author included a section of how Korean pop culture fared in the US. He wrote about American acceptance or indifference of Korean culture in a few places, but not a definite section in which he interviewed Americans about Korean culture.

It's definitely interesting to read if you want to know more about past Korean pop culture, but it's not helpful for present or future trends.