Books, music, manga

[tarigwaemir]

Lowell House, on the Feast of St. Bede

I thought I would be leaving today, but apparently there was a miscommunication somewhere, and my parents aren't arriving until tomorrow. So I had an extra day of lounging around and reading Five Hundred Years After, which is rather nice (I especially appreciate the Louis XVI parallels). Went to Yenching and checked out a Korean translation of The Three Kingdoms, which looks daunting although perhaps more closely translated (there's Chinese characters given in parentheses all over the place, and all the poems are given in both original and translated form). I already anticipate having a difficult time reading it, but at least I'm relatively sure I picked a good translation since even I recognized the translator's name as having some status. I just forget whether he was famous for his literary works or criticism. I also borrowed the first volume of Jin Yong's The Deer and the Cauldron translated into English. According to my roommate, wu xia novels are the equivalent of trashy romance novels in China, but not being Chinese, I don't particularly care. ^_^ Besides, I know my father adores Korean martial arts series, and his tastes overlap pretty well with mine, even if he scoffs at my preference for SF/F. (So hypocritical!)

I had planned to also borrow 홍길통젼 (The Tale of Hong Kiltong), which is probably the most famous novel in classical Korean literature. It's basically the Korean version of Robin Hood, but its author, 호균, wrote it as a critique of Yi Choseon society, and it's supposed to be quite incisive. My mother once suggested that I read a manhwa series (one of those educational ones for children) based on the story to improve my Korean (back in high school, about three or four years ago), but I didn't get past the first two pages because I'd been too impatient. But I really do want to read the novel if only to really know the details of the story, other than "Oh, 홍길통, the Korean Robin Hood," because it's referenced pretty frequently. Anyway, I looked for it at Yenching and found it in the sub-basement--a level that is extremely difficult to find since one has to go down this narrow spiral staircase, little more than a pole really, all the way at the end of the Korean section in the basement. I took one look at the first page and knew that I wouldn't be able to read it. At least Yi Munyeol's translation of The Three Kingdoms is feasible if I'm stubborn enough and have a good set of dictionaries next to me. The original 홍길통전 would require years and years of further study before I'd be able to tackle it with any confidence. I think I'll look for a retelling instead.

The June theme for fst is "no English language songs", and I've been wondering whether I should post up the Wa! FST that I'd signed up for several months ago. It's nearly finished, and once again, it's all K-pop. But see, I chose the most sugary, girly pop music I could find because Wa! is sugary and girly, with the exception of Ye-myeong who is cynical and likes to snark. I liked Wa! because in spite of its obvious plot devices, it's actually more about pursuing a vocation rather than convoluted romantic relationships. He-ra's obstinate desire to become a scenario writer, Pil-lip's gradual development from passive idol to committed actor, etc. Nonetheless, I can't really claim that the theme was explored on a deep level. Anyway, what was my point? Oh right, anyway, the Wa! FST is currently a bunch of cheerful pop songs that individually aren't so bad but in combination just may end up driving you up the wall. (I don't know for sure since I haven't listened to it as a whole yet.)

Actually I want to try making an all-opera FST one day. But what would be an appropriate series? The premise I had in mind was "if the characters in this series were all opera buffs, what aria would they recall in this or that emotional climax?" but clearly that won't work for just any series. Maybe Evangelion?

This afternoon, on MG's recommendation, I was reading Glass Mask from MangaSync, and wow, it's excellent. The manga is about Kitajima Maya, a plain, uninteresting girl with a hidden talent for acting and a veritable passion for theater. She comes to the attention of Tsukikage-sensei, who was once a famous actress herself before an accident destroyed her face. Tsukikage has to decide who she will permit to play "the Crimson Goddess", a role so notoriously difficult that the playwright claimed only Tsukikage portrayed it properly, thus giving her exclusive rights to the role after his death. Tsukikage takes Maya away from home and family to train her personally. Maya has little experience but plenty of raw talent and an almost fanatic obsession with the art of acting. She becomes a cataclysm on the stage, drawing more and more attention as she faces up to rivals like Himekawa Ayumi. Ayumi is the daughter of one of the most acclaimed actresses of the day and has been trained for the stage since the day she was born. The obvious rival dynamic results, but what is peculiarly fascinating about Glass Mask is the intensity with which both girls immerse themselves in their roles. Glass Mask says that acting is an erasure, the complete obliteration of the original self in the assumed persona, the art of becoming and being the other. Maya, for example, when preparing for the role of an extra in a movie where she would appear in only a single scene, practices walking up the stairs with one leg tied up over and over again in order to understand how a person with a paralyzed leg would move and feel. The nuances of motion, of expression, of speech are painstakingly created for each role. The immense amount of craft and artistry that both girls invest is mindboggling, frightening. Do real actors go to such degrees of sheer dedication, I wonder? In any case, I must say, it's the best shoujo I've read in a while. I remember seeing Korean translations of it for sale in a Flushing bookstore; I just may buy some volumes to see how the story goes if I can't wait for the next scanslation.

Yours &c.

Comments

[solidark.livejournal.com]

A FST for Wa!? Heh, I say go for it! ^_^. I didn't read too much of it yet but I haven't found a girl's manhwa (is there an expression that says something like shôjo manga in Korean?) that I don't like.

[schwimmerin.livejournal.com]

If I had anything to make an FST about, I could totally fulfill the non-English-language song requirement ^_^ teehee. Have a safe trip home and a super summer!