Everlasting Flower: A History of Korea 2nd ed. Edition, Kindle Edition

I can appreciate that Pratt is trying to compress a lot of material into a general survey that covers a couple thousand years. The attempt to accomplish such a thing in 300 pages--and on a topic so remote to Western readers--is bound to leave something out, and in this case, what gets left out is any thematic depth which might serve to make the material relatable to Westerners. I like learning and so I got something out of the book, and a dedicated reader can surely learn something useful. Yet Korea still feels remote to me, and that's too bad.A virtue of the book are the stand-alone essays that are interspersed into the chapters and which highlight particular pieces of art or elements of Korean culture. They do add some color and relatability. But somehow I think it was a mistake not to integrate them into the regular narrative, as any other historian might have done.Specific complaints: (1) Pratt's ruthless economy refuses to have anything to do with biographical sketches which might serve to humanize the topic; (2) Way too many sentences begin with long dependent clauses that leave you despairing of ever finding a subject, or with structures that separate the subject and verb with details of questionable value; (3) and finally, Pratt is the kind of historian who regards it as a great virtue to remain aloof from making any judgment between the fundamental political alternatives which so obviously present themselves throughout Korean history. Here stands the historian, who having dedicated a large chunk of his life to researching Korean material, refuses to provide the ignorant masses with any guidance concerning those fundamental alternatives. Sadae or Juche, Communism or Chaebol, Pratt is equally factual and equally critical of it all. Equally distant. What mysterious spirit guides him in his non-critical choice for critical non-choice? God only knows, and I doubt Pratt knows either.

This book is definitely not a beginner book. Not for teens. And not a good book for the Texas UIL social studies competition which is why we bought it. I feel bad for all the kids who are going to try to read it. Like a very dry, difficult reading textbook.

We only bought this book because if UIL. My son who loves history and reading can not get through this book. TX UIL made a bad decision in using this particular book for teenagers. As an adult I'm even having a hard time reading it without falling asleep or getting sidetracked. It has a lot of information but just not very engaging for the reader.

The book was quite a dense summary of Korean history, a topic I had little to no knowledge about. A good introduction.

Great introduction to Korean history for someone with a casual interest. Got me hooked!

Informative

This book is very well written but it is a bad place for beginners to start. The author clearly expects the reader to have a working knowledge of East Asian history and culture. This was my first book on East Asian history and I was frequently confused by the many vague references to Chinese and Japanese history. I had to get online and look up about 20 different people or events in Japan or China that were used by the author, but were not explained at all. Every facet of Korea is 'similar to' something from China or Japan that I've never heard of. Korean art, for example, is described by saying 'Like Chinese art, except for these three little differing details.' For someone who hasn't studied Chinese art, this is not very illuminating. Now the ONLY thing I know about Korean art is those three little details. It would have been great if I had studied Japan and China and just wanted to know how Korea fit in with the rest of Eastern Asia, but this book is not for East Asian beginners.

Perfect