Here are some books about some aspect of Korea that I enjoyed and can recommend to those interested.
Minhwa: Tales of Korean folk paintings
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is the least bit interested in Korean folk art because the book covers a broad spectrum of art styles, is beautifully illustrated, and written in clear, easy to understand English.
Handbook of Korean Art : Folk Painting
Packed full of great photos and simple explanations, this little book is a warehouse of Korean art.
Korea through Western Eyes
This is a book about the lives of some of the first foreigners to live in Korea. It’s highly entertaining. I think I read this book faster than any other book I’ve ever read.
BROTHER ONE CELL
This is a great book about an American who spent 3.5 years in Korean prisons for smuggling hash.
재미있는 우리 사찰의 벽화 이야기
This book, in English, would be called something like “Our Temple’s Interesting Wall Painting Stories”. It’s completely written in Korean, and so you’ll need to have at least an intermediate level of Korean reading skills to enjoy it. It contains a number of short stories that explain what is going on in the paintings you often encounter at Korean temples. I’ve begun translating the stories and putting them in the Buddhism category for this blog. It’s books like this one, that really speak to my interests, that make studying Korean so worthwhile.
Spirit Of The Mountains
This is the most comprehensive book about Korea’s mountain spirit tradition I have seen. It’s a big coffee table style book packed full of clear photographs of actual mountain spirit paintings from across Korea taken by David A Mason over his many years on the peninsula. The book is excellently organized and very readable overall as Mr. Mason explains quite well the many details that such paintings contain. If you are like me and are interested in the religious iconography of Korea, you will really enjoy this book.
Korean Temple Motifs
I’m happy to share with you this book about the deep meanings of Korean temple art and decorations. I had been wanting a book like this for some time. It covers just about everything. The only drawbacks to this book are the occasional grammatical errors, and the reference to ancient books, people, or sources from India, where Buddhism began, or China or even ancient Korea. I’m not an expert, so I just skimmed over the short parts that were too academic for me. Still, I was able to learn a great deal from this book and will likely use it as a reference in the future as I try to understand more of what I see on my visits to Korean temples.
A Field Guide To The Birds Of Korea
This book is the most worn out book in my collection. It has great illustrations and useful information for identifying birds in Korea. Without this book, I cannot call myself a bird enthusiast. If you want to know the name of the birds you see in Korea, this is the book you need to have. If I could, I would hug the authors for making it.