Review of the book "The Having" (from Korea)

Thesedays I feel like many Koreans love to read books,

although I see a lot of smombies('smartphone zombies') in commuter trains everyday.

Perhaps that's because I personally recently realize the importance of reading books,

and try to find some good books to read and share.

I'm living in Korea and not used to write in English.

The reason why I'm writing in English is,

I want to share about the book "The Having" with someone who lives in outside of Korea.

---

1. Is the book "The Having" really a big deal in Korea?

See the image below:

In June, the best selling book in Korea is "The Having".

However, it seems like the question was wrong.

The question should have been

"Is the book "The Having" really a big deal in the world?"

Because the publisher of the book emphasized that

this book was published in USA first and made a big hit in there.

I'm not sure whether this book was a big hit in USA,

because it has passed one and a half year since this book had been published in USA.

The only fact that I can check is the current ranking in Amazon.com.

(Ranked 66,088 in Amazon.com as of 18th July, 2020)

Ranked in 66,088th in Amazon.com. Disappointing

---

2. Is "Suh Yoon Lee" famous in Korea?

Suh Yoon and Jooyun are the co-authors of this book.

Suh Yoon is describes as a "the guru to the rich", and she teaches right ways to getting rich to Jooyun.

Jooyun, who were a director of a multinational consulting company, interviews Suh Yoon by chance.

As I mentioned above, Suh Yoon is described as a "the guru" with mysterious power.

When reading this book, someone who is not familiar of Korean culture and society might think that

Suh Yoon is so famous that every Korean should know her.

But, I'd never heard of her name before I read this book.

Then there're two possibilities.

One, I'm not qualified to know her name.

Only someone who can pay huge amount of money is allowed to know her name.

Two, in fact, she is not so famous.

I think the latter is much more reliable assumption.

(I searched her name in Korea's best searching portal several times, but cannot find good information about her)

---

3. Why this book made big success?

When I finished reading this book, there were conflicting feelings in my mind.

"I know almost every concept this book tells. It was a waste of time and money"

"The lessons I learned from other books were true."

I read the book "The Secret (by Rhonda Byrne)" four times

after I finished reading the book "The Miracle Morning (by Hal Elrod)".

What I learned from "The Secret" was not that different from what "The Having" tells.

And personally, "The Secret" was more helpful than "The Having".

Then why this book made big success?

I would say the answer is "Jooyun", the co-author of this book.

Jooyun Hong is an award-winning former journalist with 10 years of experience writing for prominent Korean publications. She has an MBA in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and worked as Director of External Relations at McKinsey & Company. https://www.amazon.com/-/ko/Jooyun-Hong/e/B07MD2DZXL?ref_=dbs_p_pbk_r00_abau_000000

Wharton School MBA! and Director of McKinsey! and 10 years of experience as a journalist.

I cannot find a better marketer.

I think it was she who decided to publish this book in USA first.

It was she who described Suh Yoon as a mystrious character with full of Orientalism which fascinates westerners.

I found an article she wrote 10 years ago.

news.joins.com/article/4563257(Korean)

한 해가 다른 한국 위상