Book Review: Korean Patterns

Book Review: Korean Patterns

Author: Paul S. Crane

Date: 1967, 1978

Publisher: Kwangjin Publishing Company

ISBN: none

Length: 177 pages text, plus index

Illustrations: some black-and-white cartoons

Quote: “In this discussion of attitudes and behavior patterns, it must be understood as one of the rules of the game that one is speaking in the composite...there are many exceptions.”

First, the warning: Don’t make the mistake I made when I bought Korean Patterns. Looking at the cover, I thought it would have to be at least partly about Korean art patterns, like the lovely mandala on the cover. It was one of those stuff-a-bag or dime-a-dozen library sales so I didn't lose much, but I was disappointed. The text contains not another word about the kind of patterns I was looking for. It’s more fun to read than most books classified as sociology, but sociology is what it is. And it’s old.

How useful is the text? Consider the date. This is now a history book—interesting background reading. There’s a list of official holidays, a table of the traditional year-naming system, a chart explaining the hangul alphabet, a list of proverbs, and other interesting tidbits. The sort of cultural patterns Paul Crane observed have been broken up, in Korea and elsewhere, by technological progress and global communication. Comparing Crane’s observations with more recent ones might be good for some interesting conversations, though.

Recommended to those interested in the history of Korea.