What else I've been reading in June 2026
Plus an entire dictionary of film, Korea's compressed modernity, and more
This is one in a series of monthly posts that round up the (mostly non-city-related) books and essays that also figure into my reading life.
Books
Chang Kyung-sup, The Logic of Compressed Modernity (2022): If you can get past the academic repetitiveness and jargon (including words that contain parentheses), this is a reasonable overview of how speed-running history has made Korea the way it is today, for better or worse.
W. Somerset Maugham, The Razor’s Edge (1944): I’d been curious to read this for decades because of the Bill Murray movie, but I came away less fascinated by the central enlightenment-seeker than by the social-climbing uncle or the fictionalized Maugham who provides the narration.
David Thomson, The New Biographical Dictionary of Film (2014): Read it daily over a few years. Thomson’s broad knowledge of “foreign” film (especially French and Japanese) reflects his generation. Few human types appeal to me less than actresses, but he seems to love them all.
Essays
“It’s precisely because there are no plagiarism laws that the surrounding area is such a free-for-all. Without the barriers of legislation, the brawl spills out of control.”
“Whether starting a glossy magazine was a good idea for John or not, you could see why running his own publication suited him. He was going to be in the public eye, so why not do it on his own terms?”
“역설적으로 나는 일본의 우키요에라는 명칭을 부러워하기도 했다. 우키요에(浮世繪). 풍속화의 명칭을 이렇듯 시적(詩的)이고 쉬운 표현으로 상징할 수 있는가. 浮世. 구름같이 떠도는 세상. 이렇듯 덧없는 세상을 살아갈 바에는 차라리 즐기면서 살자는 것.”
“Few non-styles are as effortlessly recognizable as the halting cadence of a piece on the fifth round of ‘rigorous’ edits in Google Docs, a trial that a usage error outlasts invariably as the signature of the little magazine in English.”
“In an atmosphere in which pop stars are constantly in our faces as a way to be seen and heard amidst all the pop-culture noise, Prince also felt like the last rock star who knew the value of mystique."
“Quant à la décentralisation, elle s’est fait longtemps attendre. Le nom « Centre Beaubourg » ou « Centre Georges-Pompidou » l’indique assez : on avait là une nouvelle manifestation du « centralisme parisien ».”
“Those of us who do not know what life is all about are sad about it and envious of those who think they do, envious and defensive against that envy, as we always are with our shadows.”
“Now we are all American tourists. The people who come here want to hang out in a Pinterest fever dream. That tastelessness that was so easy to call American is now everybody’s. It belongs to the class that has the money to build.”
“누구는 그를 한국 현대건축의 개척자라 부르고, 누구는 민주투사를 고문한 ‘지옥의 기계’를 설계한 건축가라 기억한다. 누군가는 공간사옥의 아름다움에 감탄하고, 누군가는 부여박물관의 지붕을 보며 일본 신사를 떠올린다.”
“Without tension, without ambiguity, without ACTUAL ESOTERICISM, there is no truly good taste.”
“Instead of refusing to grow up, we merely fail to; instead of retreating to open waters, we keep clicking and posting.”
“もし我々が我々独自の物理学を有し、化学を有していたならば、それに基づく技術や工業もまた自ら別様の発展を遂げ、日用百般の機械でも、薬品でも、工藝品でも、もっと我々の国民性に合致するような物が生れてはいなかったであろうか。”