A HOLE GETS BIGGER WHENEVER YOU WORK ON IT

A collection attempts to spread Korean culture through a series of proverbs.

In this third installment of a series, Moo-jung delves into 5,000 years of Korean history as it’s reflected in the country’s rich heritage of proverb literature. The volume presents 100 Korean proverbs, one per chapter, accompanied by the author’s own explanations of their nuances and applications to the modern world. “If there is one unique feature in Korean old sayings, it would be gentleness, often with humor derived from the everyday lives of average citizens,” readers are told. “They are as if the sharp edges have been worn down through continuous use over many years.” Each of these proverbs is presented in English and Korean, and it quickly becomes apparent that Moo-jung’s expansions on the pieces will be far more personal than historical. His personality comes through in every explanatory segment. Many readers will find that this tactic fills the book with unexpected twists, perhaps the foremost of which is the author’s eagerness to reference contemporary American politics. He tells his readers up front, for instance, that he won’t be ignoring the presidency of Donald Trump, who “has provided an immeasurable amount of priceless examples of how one should not lead the nation and its citizens.” These conceptual swerves keep the volume intriguing throughout. The proverb “Young beggars are more troublesome than the older ones” prompts a long discussion of the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. “My beans are bigger than yours” leads to an exploration of different forms of government and a digression about Bernie Sanders. Moo-jung’s animus against Trump crops up, for instance, in the useless workplace meetings the author has endured over the years and quickly moves to the former president’s negligent mishandling of his own briefings. The author’s narrative voice is friendly and crisply forceful—it gives what might otherwise have been a very didactic book an unpredictably conversational feel that will keep readers both interested and guessing.

This compendium of Korean proverbs delivers a captivating string of contemporary observations.