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City Girl Reads #2: Seoul’s Fascinating Past

29 April 2020 in BOOKS

Feature photo above by Zequn Gui on Unsplash

City Girl Reads #2 – Seoul’s Historic Walks in Sketches
by Janghee Lee (translated by David Carruth)

Genres: Travel literature, History 
Year: 2018

There’s no better time than now (with all the time spent at home) to catch up with our books right? :)

I chanced upon this book during one of my many just popping by the bookstore to window shop trips and when the library got a copy, I ran to the library branch near my office during lunch to grab it! I knew from the first chapter that I was going to love this book and I was right! I’ve added it to my list of favourite books. :) 

Note: This book was originally published in Korean, I read the translated English edition.

As you can tell from the title and the book cover, this book is filled with sketches of Seoul – all personal sketches done by the author himself. Every single page of the book has a sketch or more, ranging from large views of Seoul to the little design details in the arches of a historical palace building. To accompany his sketches, Lee’s book tells the stories of Seoul’s historical grand past, sharing stories that have been told, untold and some which may have been forgotten.

Lee has clearly dedicated a lot of time and passion in his sketches, his research and his exploration to discover these past stories and places of Seoul, which are not always talked about in contrast to the beautiful and trendy city it is today. I learned so much about South Korea’s past, about all that it’s been through, about how much things have been destroyed and rebuilt, about the people and their lives and their stories.

This is a long read, but not a dry history book at all. I admire Lee’s passion for his home and he’s a wonderful storyteller as well. If you’re interested in reading about the stories that existed before today’s Seoul came to be, I can’t recommend this book enough!

FYI: For Singapore friends, I borrowed this book from NLB, spotted it at Kinokuniya bookstore (Ngee Ann City) and know that it’s also available online at Book Depository.

King Taejo must have walked here, filled with anticipation about the city he had chosen to be the capital of the Joseon Dynasty. As he stood on the peak, he must have dreamed of the future. But I doubt in his wildest dreams he ever guessed that the dense woods covering the land below would be transformed into such a stunning forest of buildings.

Standing in this spot, I couldn’t help but imagine the future of Seoul myself. But the Seoul I imagine is not a flashy city bristling with skyscrapers. What I dream of is a peaceful and profound historically rich city that has been restored, at least within the city walls, to the way it was before.

Seoul’s Historic Walks in Sketches by Janghee Lee (trans. David Carruth)

Bookish Links
– Follow my bookstagram here!
– Add this book to Goodreads
– Book’s webpage on publisher’s website
(I couldn’t find a website belonging to the author.)

⭐ Follow me on Instagram and Facebook for day-to-day updates and my bookstagram for bookish posts! ⭐

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HELLO, I’M KYLENE

HELLO, I’M KYLENE

I’m a Hong Kong born, Singapore raised city girl. I have lived, studied and worked in both cities and am currently based in sunny Singapore. Welcome to my personal blog, where I share my city adventures. :)
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I hope you're having a wonderful Christmas! 🌟 H I hope you're having a wonderful Christmas! 🌟 Here is my Christmas diary in 10 snapshots. 🎄 As always, the full version is on citygirlcitystories.com 😊 

It truly is the most wonderful time of the year and once again, I can't believe 2022 is wrapping up so soon! Merry Christmas & happy holidays! 🌠
🌟 November 2022 diary 🌟 Doraemon exhibition 🌟 November 2022 diary 🌟 Doraemon exhibition at the National Museum of SG, Starbucks Christmas cups are such joy, snapping Christmas things around Singapore and attending a fashion show for the first time! November was great and full in every way, here's to December slowing down! 🎄
🌻 October 2022 photo diary 🌻 SMU park, city 🌻 October 2022 photo diary 🌻 SMU park, city views & HK milk tea, Istana Open House, cookies at home, night views.
[Latergram from the i Light Singapore 2022 festiva [Latergram from the i Light Singapore 2022 festival]

Singapore celebrates our National Day tomorrow! 🇸🇬

Found some snapshots from this year's return of light festival i Light 2022 to share Singapore beautifully lit up at night! 🎆
🌞 Sunny weekend plans: wandering around the str 🌞 Sunny weekend plans: wandering around the streets of the Kampong Glam area, visiting the Malay Heritage Centre (free admission for all until end Oct 2022!) and trying a Swedish eatery on my list! 🕌🖼🧆
Today marks my 5th year anniversary of moving back Today marks my 5th year anniversary of moving back to Singapore! 💫 26 June 2017, I said goodbye to Hong Kong and still to this day, miss aspects of my life there. But Singapore has been great for me and is home now. 😊

5 years back in SG has let me start another new chapter and offered me plenty of new experiences and challenges. I've been through successes, failures and standstills. It hasn't been easy, that's for sure, but I'm happy to share that at this 5 year mark, I'm finally in a contented, balanced and happy place. 😊 It definitely took work, trial and error and heaps of God's blessings, but I'm here. 🌻

HK, you're always a special place to me, so hopefully, I'll get to see you again soon. 💖
🍀 February 2022 🌻 *Feb was such a full month 🍀 February 2022 🌻
*Feb was such a full month! It was also a month that marked the closing of one chapter and the beginning of another. 😊 Some of my favourite moments:
- Lovely drawings at @natmuseum_sg and wanting to buy so many of the related merch from the museum shop (I didn't!)
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- Pink skies 💗
- Attended a tour of the 'Mapping the World' exhibition at @nlb.singapore - fascinating and insightful! 

Other moments that couldn't fit in here: my first VR experience at the ArtScience Museum, shopping and gifts and more new books! 😄 Ending the month with a thankful heart.
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