{"title":"Minsoo Kang","description":"\u003cp\u003eMinsoo Kang’s works traverse the fascinating crossroads of \u003cem\u003etechnology\u003c\/em\u003e and narrative, inviting readers into imaginative explorations of human and machine coexistence. Titles such as \u003cem\u003eSublime Dreams of Living Machines\u003c\/em\u003e blend thoughtful reflections on engineering with vivid storytelling, offering a nuanced perspective on modern innovation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn addition to his engaging technical insights, Kang’s fiction delves into complex histories and untold stories, as seen in \u003cem\u003eThe Melancholy of Untold History\u003c\/em\u003e. His writing balances intellectual depth with evocative prose, appealing to those curious about the interplay between the past, technology, and human experience.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-melancholy-of-untold-history-by-minsoo-kang-9780063337558","title":"The Melancholy of Untold History","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA beautifully crafted, enriching saga inspired by East Asian mythology, \u003cem\u003eThe Melancholy of Untold History\u003c\/em\u003e is Minsoo Kang’s debut novel, steeped in history like R.F. Kuang’s \u003cem\u003eBabel\u003c\/em\u003e, epic in scope like Anthony Doerr’s \u003cem\u003eCloud Cuckoo Land\u003c\/em\u003e, and lyrically exciting like David Mitchell’s \u003cem\u003eCloud Atlas\u003c\/em\u003e, interweaving four complex yet entertaining stories as they shape and create a nation’s literary narrative through the themes of love and grief.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA history professor mourning his wife. His young protégé’s search for a path forward. Four witty mountain gods with much to say and not enough time to listen. A gifted storyteller bringing a world into being out of thin air...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFamous for his dispelling of the national myth, the Historian understands the power of narrative. He has inspired another young professor to search for her own truths, while trying to understand the way fiction creates fact and how sometimes the past can only be understood by filling in holes with a new narrative. Which is exactly what he needs when his wife passes away to parse meaning out of a world that no longer makes sense.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTogether the protégé and the Historian find comfort in each other. Yet they know their time together is fleeting, as time usually is. Only the gods have an abundance of time, and yet—the two discover—even that might not be so clear cut. Part of their homeland’s myth tells of four gods who squabbled and argued and destroyed and rebuilt time and again.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOr did they?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBecause, of course, even the gods need mouthpieces on earth. And the one the Historian knows of—the elusive Storyteller—may have just been spinning tales for his own amusement and, ultimately, revenge. By fabricating the exploits of the gods, he could have set a course for certain events to unfold and a particular story to survive today.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSpanning 3,000 years and multiple voices—with tales within tales woven expertly together—\u003cem\u003eThe Melancholy of Untold History\u003c\/em\u003e reveals a people and its individuals who seek to confront the hardships of life through storytelling. Mixing the East Asian mythos with a postmodern approach to standard sci-fi\/fantasy narrative tropes, Minsoo Kang has created a challenging, beautiful, sad, humorous, and ultimately unforgettable novel of love, grief, and myth-making.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Arotahi Agency","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46745403916524,"sku":"9780063337558","price":37.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/14579683482210.jpg?v=1755768625"},{"product_id":"sublime-dreams-of-living-machines-by-minsoo-kang-9780674049352","title":"Sublime Dreams of Living Machines","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the dawn of European civilisation to the twentieth century, the automaton—better known today as the robot—has captured the Western imagination and provided a vital lens into the nature of humanity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHistorian \u003cstrong\u003eMinsoo Kang\u003c\/strong\u003e argues that to properly understand the human-as-machine and the human-as-fundamentally-different-from-machine, we must trace the origins of these ideas and examine how they were transformed by intellectual, cultural, and artistic appearances of the automaton throughout the history of the West.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eKang tracks the first appearance of the automaton in ancient myths through the medieval and Renaissance periods, marks the proliferation of the automaton as a central intellectual concept in the Scientific Revolution and the subsequent backlash during the Enlightenment, and details appearances in Romantic literature and the introduction of the living machine in the Industrial Age. He concludes with a reflection on the destructive confrontation between humanity and machinery in the modern era and the reverberations of the humanity-machinery theme today.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSublime Dreams of Living Machines\u003c\/em\u003e is an ambitious historical exploration and, at heart, an attempt to fully elucidate the rich and varied ways we have utilised our most uncanny creations to explore essential questions about ourselves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47598663205100,"sku":"9780674049352","price":114.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780674049352-sublime-dreams-of-living-machines.jpg?v=1777968826"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.pro\/collections\/minsoo-kang.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}