[Korean Novel] 전우치 (Jeon Woo Chi)

People who know me well will know that my all time favorite Korean movie is Oldboy, but my most rewatched movie is the 2009 전우치 Jeon Woochi / The Taoist Wizard.

During my latest gmarket haul, I was just randomly searching 전우치, in hope of a movie novel or somethinggg. There wasn’t a movie novel, but I found a set of 3 novels titled 전우치. And I’m like, ‘okay~ I’ll get it. I assume that I won’t dislike it since I love Jeon Woochi’.

And..

It turns out to be my all time favorite book right now!!!

Seriously, I love the writing style and  the whole book is soo engaging. Every little movement and background is narrated and it makes me feel that I can see the scene unfold and it’s like watching a movie. The in depth description doesn’t come off as off-putting or cumbersome, and you feel that you are sucked into the story, from page 1. Well, you do have to survive through a few pages of the 읽기 전에 (kinda like background), which basically is a condensed version of history. o.O

Actually I was totally in love with the book just by reading the cover. I’m not kidding.

LOVE LOVE LOVE!!

I loveeee the sageuk tone. Actually I don’t really watch sageuks lol. The first (and only) time I came across sageukspeak is actually in 해품달 (moon embraces the sun) and just a few eps in, I can understand it 😀 Somehow it feels familiar and not at all alien. o.O This book is FULL OF sageukspeak and I lovee it!!! hahaha. Reading that cover is enough to make me super super super happy and excited. ><;; I’m now around 70 pages into the book.

Come to think of it, the Jeon Woochi movie really did well in conveying that ‘playful’ tone that is in the book too. It’s not a serious political sageuk but it’s just.. ‘playful’. If you watch the movie and see Kang Dong Won’s performance, you will get what I mean. ^^ Go watch the movie.

Okay, back to the book. Actually the book and the movie is very different. It’s just based on the same character. In fact, in book one, Jeon Woochi hasn’t even appeared and I’m reading about this young boy called 실권. Perhaps he will grow up to become Jeon Woochi? I don’t know. I’m enjoying the narrative as it is now.

I’m learning loads from the book now! Because of its minute description down to the smallest detail, I’m learning a lot of descriptive phrases, as well as onomatopoeic words. Which I’m super happy about, since I’m weak in that. I usually read news articles and non fiction, and those words simply aren’t that often used in those contexts. 😀 And I’m learning a lot about the historical aspect of Korea too, as well as the vocabulary in that context.

To all those pragmatists out there, please don’t ask me why I am reading about something that is ‘useless’, instead of say concentrating on brushing up my business Korean or all those economic terms. I believe in learning EVERYTHING about the language, so yeah, I read everything. And I don’t do things because it’s pragmatic. I do them because I truly enjoy and love it. Nowadays, I’m carrying the book with me to school and naturally, I’ve been attracting loads of crap comments.

Right now, I’m in a historical novel phrase, so I’ll be trying to learn loads. I’ve always been interested in Korean history too, particularly the 조선 dynasty and the 세종대왕 period. King Sejong is my favorite king – okay, not that I know a lot about Korean history at this point of time.

I’m super happy that this book is damn thick and there is THREE BOOKS in the series. hahaha would be such a waste if the story ended so fast. D:

If the story continues to be so good throughout the 3 books, I’ll be a happy reader ^^

ISBN: 978-89-8097-190-9 (3 book set)

Cover price: 10,000won per book

This book is suitable for Koreans and advanced learners. ^^