[Korean Book Review] A Geek In Korea

Hellllllllllo ^^ its been so long since I did a book review! I was shocked to realise it was in 2013! Oh my goodness, I guess I took so long to review another book that I think I stopped thinking about it ._. which is a little sad. But, I have a book to review so I shall review the book I started to read last month, but due to becoming mildly obsessed with Japanese and writing Korean I stopped reading it 🙁

But I started reading it last week, and boy, its a good read! I am so serious. Enough yack and onto the review. ^^ Enjoy.

A Geek in Korea is basically the ultimate illustrated in beautiful pictures guide to everything about Korea and when I say EVERYTHING I truly mean that. It has history, who Koreans are, the science to Kpop (which is my favourite chapter) a look at Korea’s internet mania, basically everything a Korean-learner or Korean-anything enthusiast would want to know.

It has everything and MORE that I want to know. I love Korea and Korean culture and language, as a learner we want to know more about the culture so we can better teach ourselves, and if you haven’t been to Korea you won’t know this stuff, but Daniel Tudor really went all in with this book. He literally just handed you gold in a book! Take it, treasure and study ~

With some beautiful pictures.

Although its a pretty book, its not all pretty, it does look at the  bad points of Korea, for example their suicide issue, which I think as foreigners or rather for me who is non-Asian, I don’t understand their mindset and why their suicide rates are so high but this book does look at those points in a broad sense for us all to understand it better.

Thinking about old Korea?

I have heard that in a lot of places around the world the Hallyu wave is a big thing (yes. it does not exist here) – and that’s great its good for Korean culture and music to be spread (drama, music, celebs, language) but I never see so much about old Korea, the hanboks, the architecture, the traditional homes (Hanok), Minhwa (folk paintings) all the stuff I really want to know before being hyper over a new boy band and a cool app. I was so glad when I was reading through the book and all this stuff was there. Feels complete.

Ever wonder about the different parts of Korea?

Okay, so I read a lot of random stuff on Korea, its my hobby honestly, and I have come across different misconceptions about Koreans and their “clubbing” culture and the no-go zones of Korea. Red-light district you name it, I’ve read it! But I had never heard of Traditional Korean Clubs!? WHAT? To me the idea is just so cool, and I like that even the weirdest things that are not typically explored are written in this book.

I just basically think this book is a super invaluable addition to anyone who wants to know more about Korea, and the way Korean culture ticks. Its amazing.

Yes. There is apparently a SCIENCE to Kpop and just for this chapter I would buy the book ^^ you will be so surprised that this is truly a science. And a keenly developed one too <3 which is awesome actually. But creepy lol.

You can never have too many drama recommendations? 🙂

I was surprised that I hadn’t watched most of them ._. but this is a fun guide just to have as a Kdrama girl/guy :3

~V=(° °)=V~

So of course I love this book, and I’m really happy I got a chance to read it, but I will just list some pros and cons! ^^

Pros :-

• Beautifully illustrated ~ makes for a fun read if you are someone who is easily bored with large chunks of text.
• Nice paper. I am a sucker for glossy paper and although this doesn’t have glossy paper its such nice paper, thick and sturdy
• Paperback! Yes.
• Very in-depth content.
• Compact size

Cons :-

• This isn’t really a con but there was only Romanization of Korean words used. If someone who can’t read Hangul wants to read the book then this feature is perfect.
• Nothing else <3

I seriously recommend this book to anyone wanting to know more about Korea. Its fun to read, and pretty much covers a variety of Korean culture issues, and the differences that we otherwise don’t notice. What essentially makes Korea the Korea we all want to know more about.

You can buy it here

I hope you enjoyed the review. And I will be reviewing more book in the future yay :3 hehe.

xoxo.