The former has come up a few times in my previous entries. I bought it off What the Book?, an Incheon-based, foreigner-run bookstore specializing in English-language literature. Order more than 25,000 won's worth of stuff and they'll ship it to you, anywhere in Korea, for free.
(Let me tell you, this website was a godsend. I heard about it a couple months after getting to Korea, when the homesickness and awkwardness had only begun to pass, and the listlessness had begun to set in. I must thank my former coworker Patricia for cluing me in. I placed my first order with the week, and was enjoying fresh literature within a couple of business days. That was a pleasure I had not sampled since before college! I didn't realize how much I'd missed reading for the fun of it. I've placed several orders since then and never had occasion to regret spending the money, or the extra worry sending home a bunch of newly-acquired books is going to cause. I've posted a link down there to the right.)
Anyway, on to 50 Great Short Stories. As I've previously mentioned, it's a compendium of fifty of the so-called "greatest" short stories in Western literature. I say "so-called" not because I disbelieve the claim ("so-called" has acquired such a negative connotation these days, hasn't it?), but because it's another person and not myself who has labeled them so. Milton Crane, the editor, did all the compiling. He sent away to his writer friends, however, to ask their input. The result is a collection of stories based on the discretion of one editor and the opinions of perhaps a dozen published writers and people with some recognizable form of literary expertise.
I won't list all those stories here. That would spoil the surprise! I will say that the list unsurprisingly includes some unsurprisingly popular and well-known authors: Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, James Joyce, Edith Wharton, Joseph Conrad, Rudyard Kipling, Robert Louis Stevenson and H.G. Wells among them. I have read Hemingway's story and Kipling's; the rest of those sagacious authors lie in wait towards the rear of the book. However, I have been reading some excellent stuff by some authors I've never heard of, which is the main reason I'm writing this. I must admit, the full import of some of these stories escapes me; I like to think I'm educated and erudite enough to immediately grasp the point or purpose or underlying meaning of any piece of writing, but sadly it appears that I've been fooling myself. The Three-Day Blow by Ernest Hemingway seems to end without resolution; I failed to grasp the subtle argumentation present in V.S. Pritchett's The Saint; the significance of Graven Image, by John O'Hara, was lost on me.
However, the majority of the works are accessible and (better yet) understandable to me. Putois by Anatole France was excellent. It concerns a little lie told by a woman about her nonexistent gardener that spirals out of control until the entire community is convinced of his existence...with surprising consequences. E.M. Forster's The Other Side of the Hedge was filled with comprehensible and highly relevant symbolism about industry and business and the rat race, and the utter futility and silliness of it all in the face of man's true Paradise. A.V. Laider by Max Beerbohm and The Man Higher Up by O. Henry had surprising and thrilling twists at the end; and William Saroyan's The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse was a downright enjoyable read with a humorous conclusion. There have been more than a few moments where I've felt real kinship with either the characters or the writers. I've understood their motives, empathized with their positions and points of view, and my reactions have been nearly cathartic.
At all times, however, I've enjoyed reading. The thrill of learning is not lost on me; with every word I absorb I am building my own private store of knowledge and worldliness, and I wouldn't trade that for kingdoms. If you're still not convinced that this book is worth your time, consider this: I'm pretty well read. I'm woefully behind on my ancient Greek philosophy and I haven't read every Shakespeare play in existence (yet), but I've been around the literary circles, been in a few book clubs, and even kept some of the books I read in college (Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky is an example; it's depressing as hell but incisive and engaging). That having been said, the only one of these stories that I've ever read before is Edgar Allan Poe's The Masque of the Red Death. That, incidentally, is a good story, and one of the shortest Poe ever wrote, I'll warrant.
The upshot is that 50 Great Short Stories is a treasure trove of intriguing, challenging, thought-provoking and evocative storytelling that will satisfy any reader's tastes (at some point or other). As Crane writes at the beginning of the book:
"What makes a great short story? The sudden unforgettable revelation of character; the vision of a world through another's eyes; the glimpse of truth; the capture of a moment in time. All this the short story, at its best, is uniquely capable of conveying, for in its very shortness lies its greatest strength."I think that sums it up aptly. Those stories that I've described above support Crane's poetic claims. But don't take my word for it. As always, I invite you to judge for yourself.
The second item I'd like to discuss with you, in a much more geeky vein, is that manga (Japanese comic book) I mentioned. It's called One Piece. Yes, that's in English. The Japanese use English words a lot, from what I know of their media; and I know the Koreans do too. The Koreans in particular have borrowed "skate" (seukaeteu), "ski," (seuki), "bus," (beoseu), "computer," (kompyuta), "modem," (just like it sounds) and "television" (telibijeon) from English, plus a slew of others. It's rather flattering.
Continuing on with One Piece: the premise might seem utterly alien and strange to you, but I find it intoxicating. It takes place in an alternate world made up almost entirely of ocean, with a narrow strip of continent encircling the globe top-to-bottom on both sides. This world is set in the past (sort of); the most common firearms are still old flintlock muskets and black powder weapons. Sailing ships are the primary method of transportation. There are some anachronisms, though, like steam trains and cyborgs. (Trust me, some might consider that to be a detriment to the story, but it truly isn't. In terms of this story, that which does not make sense only makes it sweeter.)
About 22 years before the story begins, Gold Roger, the King of the Pirates, who attained an incredible fortune on the high seas, was publicly executed. Before he died he revealed to the world that his gigantic treasure, the One Piece, worth more than any other of the world's valuables put together, was hidden somewhere at the end of the Grand Line, the most hazardous ocean in the world, a perilous, storm-churned stretch of water straddling the Equator. In doing so, Roger touched off a great era of piracy; thousands upon thousands of men and ships took to pirating and set out for the Grand Line in search of One Piece. Whoever finds it will attain fortune beyond their dreams and the coveted title of King of the Pirates.
And unto this comes Monkey D. Luffy twenty-two years later. He's a 17-year-old boy who dreams of becoming the next Pirate King. Known for his monkey-like grin and his trademark straw hat, Luffy is a dreamer, a happy-go-lucky kind of guy, slightly absent-minded at times, but fierce and unstoppable in battle.
And there are battles aplenty. He meets his first one after the small rowboat he set out in was sucked into a whirlpool and he wound up on the island hideout of the dreaded pirate captain Lady Alvida, a colossal woman armed with an iron club and a bloodthirsty crew. But Luffy's got some advantages that come in dang handy: unbreakable will and superhuman strength (put into him by his grandfather, not to mention ten years of physical training before he set out on his quest).
Oh yeah, and Luffy happens to be made of rubber.
As it turns out, in the One Piece world, there are these magical fruits called Devil's Fruit that grant incredible powers to whoever eats them. There are dozens of varieties, and all you have to do is take a bite of one to gain abilities beyond most people's wildest imaginations. There's just one catch. You lose your ability to swim. Obtaining those powers carries with it a price: if you fall into water you'll sink like a stone.
Luffy accidentally ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi (Rubber Rubber Fruit) when he was just a kid, and his hero, the pirate captain "Red-Haired" Shanks was using his village for a base. Shanks wasn't like most scallywags sailing the high seas; he didn't pillage or plunder the village, just stopped by for a drink and to buy supplies. Everybody in town loved him, especially Luffy, who was dreaming of all things piratical even at that young age. Shanks eventually set off again with his crew, refusing to take a too-young Luffy with him, angering Luffy into swearing that someday he'd gather a crew superior to Shanks's and become the King of the Pirates. At that, Shanks entrusted Luffy with his precious straw hat, and made him promise to return it to him someday when he'd fulfilled his vow.
Long story short, Luffy's out to become the Pirate King or bust, and he's got the power to stretch like rubber. Combined with his already superhuman strength, he's a formidable opponent indeed, and his foes almost always make the mistake of badly underestimating him, only to be sent flying by a rubbery, long-distance punch a few pages later.
As if that wasn't good enough, Luffy starts to acquire some pretty crazy crewmates, too: Roronoa Zoro, a former bounty hunter who fights with three swords (two in each hand, one between his teeth); Usopp, a long-nosed kid notorious for never telling the truth, who happens to be dynamite with a slingshot; Nami, an orange-haired, thieving femme fatale and a prodigal navigator; and Sanji, a blond-haired, tux-wearing chef who's so skilled in martial arts he can smash boulders to pebbles and render sea monsters unconscious with a kick.
I've never been much into comics (Hellboy was my first love, but I took a peek at a few more whenever I was in Barnes & Noble), but this is the most addicting premise, lovable cast and awe-inspiring fight-based action I've ever seen. The dynamic is wonderful, the comedy side-splitting, the adventure high, the villains villainous and the visuals gorgeous, even if the manga itself is in black and white. (I've gotten into it 'cause I started watching the anime, the TV adaption of the comic; now I've progressed into the comics themselves, and I'm expecting Volumes 4-7 in the mail before the week's out.) And all that's wrapped up in one enjoyably piratey package: honor, loyalty, friendship, dreams, and love of adventure are powerful, omnipresent themes, darn inspiring.
I sound like I'm being over-effusive, but I'm really not. The writer of the manga, Eiichiro Oda, is a genius. Not only does he create very real characters and a cohesive world, but he keeps coming up with convoluted, intricate and original arcs for the story to progress through. One arc tells about how the crew saves a kingdom from a coup after they agree to transport the kingdom's princess incognito; in another, the gang and their ship ride a geyser up to an ocean in the sky above the clouds (complete with islands and towns) and defeat the god-like entity dwelling there; in yet another, one of their crew mates is kidnapped. The crew braves tidal waves, storms and heavy opposition to make their way to the island where she's being held captive. The island just happens to be the home base of the Marines, roughly analogous to the navy; their job is to catch pirates. The Straw Hats completely destroy the island and battle CP9, a devilish government agency filled with sadistic assassins (most of whom have Devil Fruit powers). The fights, action and adventure are non-stop; really gets the blood up and the heart pounding.
One Piece is one of the most impressive and bewitching fantasy worlds I've ever had the pleasure to submerge myself in. It's what inspired me to take a crack at writing my own comic book, in fact. But don't take my word for it...
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