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Hotel Story
€22,00
Hotel Story
Description
Book Introduction
A word from MD
The ending always leaves a lingering feeling
Im Kyeong-seon's first short story collection in four years.
The story of people who meet their own ends at the Graph Hotel, which is naturally reminiscent of an omnibus film.
How will we protect ourselves when the Graff Hotel eventually closes and we lose something precious?
Stories that make you wonder whether to hold on to the lingering feelings left behind by the ending or let go.
November 18, 2022. Novel/Poetry PD Lee Na-young
A novel that remembers the end of an era!

Like the foretold end of a historic hotel, this is the story of people experiencing the end of a period in their lives with their whole bodies and minds.

A film director who stays in a hotel for a month and adapts someone else's script ("A Month in a Hotel"), a secretive couple who take advantage of a daytime room service offered due to poor sales ("Like a French Novel"), a highly educated hotel maid whose own safe world is in danger of being taken away ("Housekeeping"), a doorman who heals the wounds after a midsummer night's dreamlike love ("Night Shift"), a comedian who learns about the function of money and human relationships in a beautiful hotel piano bar ("The Uninvited").


“Unexpected changes in the environment can bring about complex and contradictory emotions.
Amidst a range of emotions—obsession and loss, anger and helplessness, anxiety and resoluteness—we either collapse or confront them head-on, endure them or let them go.
“No matter what choices I make or what situations I face, I now know that there is beauty in every struggle.” / From the author’s note

What should I hold on to and what should I let go of?

How long should we resist and when should we accept?

What kind of time are we living in now?

The protagonists at the crossroads of change ask themselves:
Just like us who are living in these very confusing times.
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Into the book
On days like that, when I washed my face with cold water and looked in the mirror, I suddenly thought to myself that I had lived too long.
Rather than a complaint seeking someone's attention or comfort, it was an acceptance that one had experienced enough of life's joys and sorrows.
It seemed unlikely that I would achieve more or hit rock bottom than I had already in the rest of my life.
The waves will usually be this calm.

--- p.31

If we are all destined to be put on a conveyor belt, to pass through our own 'time' and be discarded, then isn't it possible that no one can be free from the feeling of being one?

--- p.36

"That's not the sound of a full stomach.
People are naturally more anxious and fearful when things are going well."
--- p.44

While working at the hotel, Jeong-Hyeon was always amazed by the various secretions produced by humans.
How many different colors and viscosities do human body fluids have, how many different thicknesses, lengths, and degrees of curl do body hair have.

--- p.83

“You have to run away from me.”
“What on earth does that mean?”
“It means you have to protect yourself from me.”
--- p.134

“Sometimes… young people seem so arrogant because they have nothing but their youth.”
--- p.135

“Hey, how many times do I have to tell you this?
All human relationships in the world are transactions.
The human species is one that always expects something in return for something given.
“There is no such thing as unconditional favor.”
--- p.176
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Publisher's Review
The value of something that exists in its own unique form without change -

Author Lim Kyeong-seon, who has captured the poignant stories of her contemporaries in works such as “The Name That Calls Quietly” and “The Person Who Stays by Your Side,” has returned with the short story collection “Hotel Story.”


As the global pandemic continues, an era will end and the times we knew will never return.
In this situation, the 'Graph Hotel', the setting of the novel, is a place that has existed silently even in the flow of time.
But in the end, the Graff Hotel, too, closes its doors, leaving behind its dazzling glory of a time. Like the foretold end of a historic hotel, this novel contains the stories of people who experience the end of a period in their lives with their whole bodies and minds.


How can I live as my true self?

Author Lim Kyeong-seon, who has delicately reflected on the ambiguous and complex aspects of human nature, calmly portrays the people of the 2040 generation who face moments of change, choice, and discovery.

After staying in a hotel for a month and being forced to adapt someone else's script, film director Doo-ri ("Living in a Hotel for a Month") realizes that his prime is passing.
I try to be spontaneous, but I often wonder, 'What am I doing here?'
A man ("Like a French Novel") goes to a hotel to meet a woman who has been offered a daytime night plan due to poor sales, and tries his best to please the woman he loves, but suddenly realizes that what he thought he knew may actually be an illusion.
Jeong-hyeon ("Housekeeping"), a highly educated maid who voluntarily became one, feels a sense of crisis when she hears that the hotel will close at the end of the year, as if her own safe world will be taken away.
Dong-ju ("Night Shift"), a hotel doorman who is still recovering from the pain of a breakup after a midsummer night's dream-like love, tells of his reckless adventures trying to prove his love to a writer he knows.
Comedian Sang-woo ("The Uninvited"), who learns about the function of money and human relationships at the beautiful piano bar of the Graff Hotel, is precariously shaken between his longing for an unfamiliar world and the comfort of familiar human relationships.


How did they endure and survive while losing something precious, or witnessing something that had to change?
These short stories, which are indifferent and dry but contain emotions swirling underneath, are reminiscent of the lonely yet lingering paintings of the artist Edward Hopper.

A place of fascination, a hotel-

Author Lim Kyeong-seon has been naturally familiar with the space called ‘hotel’ since childhood.
From shabby hostels in small European towns with creaky wooden floors to luxury hotels in big cities, bed and breakfasts (B&Bs) and guesthouses with the owner's personality, and even hot spring ryokans, he has experienced a variety of places and based on this experience, he created 'Graph Hotel', which encapsulates the various characteristics of his favorite accommodations.
A hotel with a history that has endured the vicissitudes of time, a stubborn taste, a preference for style and leisure over efficiency, human hospitality over manual operation, and above all, a swimming pool under the shade of lush trees.


The sad news of the demolition of the Millennium Hilton Seoul Hotel, which will close on December 31st of this year after 40 years of history at the foot of Namsan Mountain in Seoul, also served as a significant motivation for writing this new work.
A place that is vibrant and alive 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, a place where diverse people come and go, a place where employees from all departments are organically connected, an extraordinary place that provides both comfort and excitement - a 'hotel' is a fascinating place that creates stories that will remain for a long time to come.
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GOODS SPECIFICS
- Publication date: November 16, 2022
- Page count, weight, size: 212 pages | 320g | 130*205*16mm
- ISBN13: 9791197346538
- ISBN10: 1197346538

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