Perfect Life
 |
Description
Book Introduction
“I thought the final words were already decided. So, what I'm saying is that it's not your fault… … ” Jo Hae-jin, winner of the Daesan Literary Award, Lee Hyo-seok Literary Award, and Shin Dong-yup Literary Award A warm novel that embraces our imperfect lives. Following the Shin Dong-yup Literary Award, Young Writer Award, Lee Hyo-seok Literary Award, Kim Yong-ik Novel Literary Award, and Baek Shin-ae Literary Award, author Jo Hae-jin, who won the Daesan Literary Award in 2019, has published a new novel, "A Perfect Life." This is the eleventh work in Changbi's young light novel series [Novel Q]. The story of Yunju, who suddenly quit her job and headed to Jeju Island, Shijing, who rented Yunju's room and traveled around Korea while living in Jeju Island, and Mijeong, who gave up her dreams and moved to Jeju Island to break down her beliefs into smaller pieces, continues like a series of affectionate letters exchanged. This novel, through the characters who willingly give up their "room" and make space for others who only briefly pass through their lives, and who are connected "inevitably, yet in a subtle, shadow-like way" (Preface by Choi Jin-young), gives us a strong and warm hope that in a world that is imperfectly shaky, we can become each other's "witnesses of 'being alive'" (the author's words). |
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Preview
index
Part 1 January and February 2020
Yunju
Shijing
TBD
Yunju
Shijing
TBD
Yunju
Shijing
Part 2 April and May 2021
TBD
Letters
Preface | Choi Jin-young
Author's Note
Yunju
Shijing
TBD
Yunju
Shijing
TBD
Yunju
Shijing
Part 2 April and May 2021
TBD
Letters
Preface | Choi Jin-young
Author's Note
Into the book
Since becoming an adult, Shijing had never visited the homes of friends or colleagues, and rarely invited them to his own home.
Except for Euncheol, no one knew how the smell that permeated Shijing's space was different from that of others.
The only one who knew everything about Shijing's sleeping position, her face when she woke up from a bad dream, her unusual habits, her vulnerable posture, what she did when she was more depressed or lonely than usual, and how she endured the even intervals of the clock's hands—whether six years ago or now—was Euncheol.
--- pp.24-25
I felt sorry, but at the same time, I couldn't deny the desire to hide safely behind that feeling of regret.
Does Moon-young know that some regrets are convenient?
There is also a sense of guilt that builds a wall around complex emotions toward someone, blocking out self-doubt, self-loathing, and feelings of inferiority.
--- pp.33-34
A life built on the love and hard work of seizing opportunities when they came, receiving money in return for that labor… … It seemed ordinary, but to maintain that ordinariness, she was always busy, running around with her feet tapping, but in this world, the fact that such a life could be laughed at at any moment made Yunju helpless.
--- p.54
Since meeting Euncheol, Shijing has learned that love can be complete just by sitting across the table from each other, sharing the food they cooked together, touching each other's bodies, and falling asleep, without any desire or passion.
I thought that just that, just the experience of love, would be enough.
I thought that if I loved just once, just once, that memory would serve as a shield and I would live with less hurt and less brokenness, but when that love ended, life became a much more boring play than if I had never experienced love.
--- pp.72-73
I was curious too.
Is it possible to protect oneself by not having beliefs that cannot be sure of their end in the first place?
Mijung was genuinely curious as to why, the more she worried, struggled, and devoted herself, the more her life became a mess.
--- pp.85-86
A long story will begin.
Yunju soon sat down across from Mijeong, and she thought that no matter what order the story was told, the final words were already decided.
So, that statement that it wasn't your fault... ... Now that I think about it, that was a sentence I didn't have time to write down when I wrote the note to Shijing.
Yunju will finally hear those words from no one but herself.
For the time being, Yunju wanted to believe that she could live without fear by relying on those words, and that was enough for now.
Mijeong on the other side was staring blankly at Yunju, as if she was already ready to listen.
--- pp.101-102
Shijing, you know what? When I first moved into this apartment, a painting I saw at an art gallery a few years ago came to mind.
It was a landscape painting of a person walking alone through a wheat field. Even though the painting only showed the back of the person walking, I felt like I saw his face.
Shijing, don't be alone too much.
Don't assume the end of your life in advance.
Actually, that's something I really wanted to tell you.
Except for Euncheol, no one knew how the smell that permeated Shijing's space was different from that of others.
The only one who knew everything about Shijing's sleeping position, her face when she woke up from a bad dream, her unusual habits, her vulnerable posture, what she did when she was more depressed or lonely than usual, and how she endured the even intervals of the clock's hands—whether six years ago or now—was Euncheol.
--- pp.24-25
I felt sorry, but at the same time, I couldn't deny the desire to hide safely behind that feeling of regret.
Does Moon-young know that some regrets are convenient?
There is also a sense of guilt that builds a wall around complex emotions toward someone, blocking out self-doubt, self-loathing, and feelings of inferiority.
--- pp.33-34
A life built on the love and hard work of seizing opportunities when they came, receiving money in return for that labor… … It seemed ordinary, but to maintain that ordinariness, she was always busy, running around with her feet tapping, but in this world, the fact that such a life could be laughed at at any moment made Yunju helpless.
--- p.54
Since meeting Euncheol, Shijing has learned that love can be complete just by sitting across the table from each other, sharing the food they cooked together, touching each other's bodies, and falling asleep, without any desire or passion.
I thought that just that, just the experience of love, would be enough.
I thought that if I loved just once, just once, that memory would serve as a shield and I would live with less hurt and less brokenness, but when that love ended, life became a much more boring play than if I had never experienced love.
--- pp.72-73
I was curious too.
Is it possible to protect oneself by not having beliefs that cannot be sure of their end in the first place?
Mijung was genuinely curious as to why, the more she worried, struggled, and devoted herself, the more her life became a mess.
--- pp.85-86
A long story will begin.
Yunju soon sat down across from Mijeong, and she thought that no matter what order the story was told, the final words were already decided.
So, that statement that it wasn't your fault... ... Now that I think about it, that was a sentence I didn't have time to write down when I wrote the note to Shijing.
Yunju will finally hear those words from no one but herself.
For the time being, Yunju wanted to believe that she could live without fear by relying on those words, and that was enough for now.
Mijeong on the other side was staring blankly at Yunju, as if she was already ready to listen.
--- pp.101-102
Shijing, you know what? When I first moved into this apartment, a painting I saw at an art gallery a few years ago came to mind.
It was a landscape painting of a person walking alone through a wheat field. Even though the painting only showed the back of the person walking, I felt like I saw his face.
Shijing, don't be alone too much.
Don't assume the end of your life in advance.
Actually, that's something I really wanted to tell you.
--- pp.111-112
Publisher's Review
In an unfamiliar space, among unfamiliar people
The 'truth' that we finally encounter
Yun-ju, who had been living each day like a drifting ship after running away from the place of work after suffering an unbearable insult, confesses to Mi-jeong, who calls her after a year, that she is “unemployed and wandering the streets.”
At Mijung's suggestion, "Come visit Jeju Island while you're at it," Yunju readily decides to go to Jeju Island.
Jeju is a place I had planned a trip to with my ex-lover, Seonwoo, ten years ago, but never got to go.
Although her planned stay in Jeju was not very long, Yunju registered her room on a rental site.
Practical problems will bring Yunju back to Seoul, but he decides to rent out his room to someone else, “with the feeling that he never wants to go back to Seoul again.”
Si-Jing, who found Yun-Ju's room on the website, sends her an email containing intimate words that are difficult to share between renters and tenants.
Yeongdeungpo, where Yunju's room is located, is the hometown of Euncheol, who was Sijeong's lover.
Eun-cheol, who had suddenly left her side, seemed to be somewhere in Yeongdeungpo, laughing and chatting, talking about Hong Kong, a place filled with memories of their time together. So, Si-jing was determined not to miss Yun-ju's room in Yeongdeungpo, relying on the "slim chance of coincidence."
Meanwhile, Mi-jeong, who invited Yun-ju to her place of residence, lives as an activist opposing the construction of the new Jeju airport.
Mijung was a person with a strong belief in doing the right thing for society.
When that belief began to crack, Mijung left everything behind and came down to Jeju to “take steps to divide her beliefs into smaller pieces.”
The novel begins with the characters fleeing the solidity on which their lives were based.
Yunju, Shijing, and Mijeong leave the life they once lived and stay in 'another person's room', where they willingly attempt to shatter the love and faith that were so enormous and beautiful that they became painful.
Unable to accept the separation from Euncheol, who suddenly left one day, Shijing had to live “in the present within the past” for a long time.
Even during her short business trip to Seoul, Shijing wandered around Yeongdeungpo, searching for Euncheol, and while spending time in Yunju's room, she was finally able to sort out her feelings for Euncheol.
Mi-jeong, whose father may have been a Vietnam War veteran and may have pointed a gun and knife at civilians, constantly questioned whether she could become a lawyer who made judgments based on a firm belief in right and wrong.
The inner conflict that grows in the process makes Mi-jeong run away to Jeju Island, and during her stay in Jeju Island, she practices letting go of the things she wanted to protect “at all times” and becoming lighter.
Yunju, who had always struggled but endured so much, was devastated by the fact that her life could so easily be ridiculed by others. While living with Mijung in Jeju and exchanging letters with Si-jing, she was finally able to reconcile with herself.
In this way, the characters in the novel finally come face to face with the “truth that they had pretended not to know through deception or lies in their familiar daily lives” (Preface).
When 'unfamiliar spaces' and 'unfamiliar people' disrupt familiarity, we do not miss the honesty that finally reveals itself.
“We are all travelers,
“I am just a guest staying on this planet for a short time.”
Can life be perfect?
Can we say that a life lived with beautiful love and strong beliefs is perfect?
I'll have to ask again before that.
Does life have to be perfect?
Yun-ju, who went to see her ex-lover Seon-woo, suddenly recalls something as she looks at his face from afar, lost in “defenseless happiness.”
Was he ever that happy when Yoon-ju and Seon-woo were lovers?
Soon, Yunju stops asking questions.
Because Seonwoo realized that he was “just going through an inevitable process in his life.”
And Yunju knows.
That there must be a certain process that one must go through in one's life.
Just like the unexpected scenes we often encounter while traveling, our lives are also filled with countless scenes that come and go and then re-interlock.
We will each go on our own journey, sometimes remembering scenes from our lives beautifully and sometimes storing them in the “realm of oblivion.”
“Sometimes we meet and then drift apart, sometimes we walk without even realizing that we have drifted apart, only to realize too late that we are alone, sometimes we drift apart but hope to meet again by chance, sometimes we walk side by side for a long time while trying not to drift apart,” deeply engraving in our minds that “there is no such thing as perfection in that process” (Preface).
When you sometimes sit down and catch your breath, when you want to live perfectly but feel frustrated that you can't, this novel will be there by your side, saying, "It's okay."
It will open the door and let you stay inside, and also give you the strength to leave again.
Author Jo Hae-jin, who has consistently created a space for 'the side' in his past works, turns his gaze to others in this novel and creates a space for someone.
The characters in "A Perfect Life" each experienced the pain of their times and the realities of their time, such as the issue of irregular employment, the construction of the new Jeju airport and other overdevelopment issues, the Hong Kong protests, the Vietnam War, and the Sewol Ferry Disaster, and they still live within them.
The novel calmly depicts the wounds each character bears throughout their lives, and talks about things that remain intact despite this.
“With the belief that even if the revolution ends, the methods of the revolution remain.”
Following the author's words that "a belief that does not care for others or oneself can become an empty obsession," we can step into the place of others that Jo Hae-jin has prepared.
Perhaps, by imagining what he can see for the first time in that place, the faces of those who can quietly lean on his shoulders in the midst of “this life where I don’t know when it began and I’m not sure where it’s going,” he can now begin the work of making his own place.
Author's Note
I wanted to write stories about people who, the more they follow their beliefs and are sincere in their love, the more they get hurt and wander.
I've always wondered why the beauty contained in words like faith and love sometimes makes our hearts poorer.
(…)
Life can't be perfect, and it doesn't need to be.
That imperfection leads to another step towards perfection through dedication, frustration, and hope, through being hurt, through being broken, through being shaken without being able to judge right from wrong… … There is a belief that even when a revolution ends, the methods of the revolution remain.
I believe that beliefs that don't care about others or oneself can easily become empty obsessions, and I know that while love leaves behind memories, those memories can also bring about even greater loneliness.
I would like to share "A Perfect Life" with Yunju, Si-jing, and Mi-jeong, who live through all these imperfections, and with readers outside the novel who are thrown into similarly determined lives.
In the midst of this life, where we cannot tell when it began and where it is going, I hope that we can be witnesses of our 'aliveness' to one another.
September 2021
Jo Hae-jin
The 'truth' that we finally encounter
Yun-ju, who had been living each day like a drifting ship after running away from the place of work after suffering an unbearable insult, confesses to Mi-jeong, who calls her after a year, that she is “unemployed and wandering the streets.”
At Mijung's suggestion, "Come visit Jeju Island while you're at it," Yunju readily decides to go to Jeju Island.
Jeju is a place I had planned a trip to with my ex-lover, Seonwoo, ten years ago, but never got to go.
Although her planned stay in Jeju was not very long, Yunju registered her room on a rental site.
Practical problems will bring Yunju back to Seoul, but he decides to rent out his room to someone else, “with the feeling that he never wants to go back to Seoul again.”
Si-Jing, who found Yun-Ju's room on the website, sends her an email containing intimate words that are difficult to share between renters and tenants.
Yeongdeungpo, where Yunju's room is located, is the hometown of Euncheol, who was Sijeong's lover.
Eun-cheol, who had suddenly left her side, seemed to be somewhere in Yeongdeungpo, laughing and chatting, talking about Hong Kong, a place filled with memories of their time together. So, Si-jing was determined not to miss Yun-ju's room in Yeongdeungpo, relying on the "slim chance of coincidence."
Meanwhile, Mi-jeong, who invited Yun-ju to her place of residence, lives as an activist opposing the construction of the new Jeju airport.
Mijung was a person with a strong belief in doing the right thing for society.
When that belief began to crack, Mijung left everything behind and came down to Jeju to “take steps to divide her beliefs into smaller pieces.”
The novel begins with the characters fleeing the solidity on which their lives were based.
Yunju, Shijing, and Mijeong leave the life they once lived and stay in 'another person's room', where they willingly attempt to shatter the love and faith that were so enormous and beautiful that they became painful.
Unable to accept the separation from Euncheol, who suddenly left one day, Shijing had to live “in the present within the past” for a long time.
Even during her short business trip to Seoul, Shijing wandered around Yeongdeungpo, searching for Euncheol, and while spending time in Yunju's room, she was finally able to sort out her feelings for Euncheol.
Mi-jeong, whose father may have been a Vietnam War veteran and may have pointed a gun and knife at civilians, constantly questioned whether she could become a lawyer who made judgments based on a firm belief in right and wrong.
The inner conflict that grows in the process makes Mi-jeong run away to Jeju Island, and during her stay in Jeju Island, she practices letting go of the things she wanted to protect “at all times” and becoming lighter.
Yunju, who had always struggled but endured so much, was devastated by the fact that her life could so easily be ridiculed by others. While living with Mijung in Jeju and exchanging letters with Si-jing, she was finally able to reconcile with herself.
In this way, the characters in the novel finally come face to face with the “truth that they had pretended not to know through deception or lies in their familiar daily lives” (Preface).
When 'unfamiliar spaces' and 'unfamiliar people' disrupt familiarity, we do not miss the honesty that finally reveals itself.
“We are all travelers,
“I am just a guest staying on this planet for a short time.”
Can life be perfect?
Can we say that a life lived with beautiful love and strong beliefs is perfect?
I'll have to ask again before that.
Does life have to be perfect?
Yun-ju, who went to see her ex-lover Seon-woo, suddenly recalls something as she looks at his face from afar, lost in “defenseless happiness.”
Was he ever that happy when Yoon-ju and Seon-woo were lovers?
Soon, Yunju stops asking questions.
Because Seonwoo realized that he was “just going through an inevitable process in his life.”
And Yunju knows.
That there must be a certain process that one must go through in one's life.
Just like the unexpected scenes we often encounter while traveling, our lives are also filled with countless scenes that come and go and then re-interlock.
We will each go on our own journey, sometimes remembering scenes from our lives beautifully and sometimes storing them in the “realm of oblivion.”
“Sometimes we meet and then drift apart, sometimes we walk without even realizing that we have drifted apart, only to realize too late that we are alone, sometimes we drift apart but hope to meet again by chance, sometimes we walk side by side for a long time while trying not to drift apart,” deeply engraving in our minds that “there is no such thing as perfection in that process” (Preface).
When you sometimes sit down and catch your breath, when you want to live perfectly but feel frustrated that you can't, this novel will be there by your side, saying, "It's okay."
It will open the door and let you stay inside, and also give you the strength to leave again.
Author Jo Hae-jin, who has consistently created a space for 'the side' in his past works, turns his gaze to others in this novel and creates a space for someone.
The characters in "A Perfect Life" each experienced the pain of their times and the realities of their time, such as the issue of irregular employment, the construction of the new Jeju airport and other overdevelopment issues, the Hong Kong protests, the Vietnam War, and the Sewol Ferry Disaster, and they still live within them.
The novel calmly depicts the wounds each character bears throughout their lives, and talks about things that remain intact despite this.
“With the belief that even if the revolution ends, the methods of the revolution remain.”
Following the author's words that "a belief that does not care for others or oneself can become an empty obsession," we can step into the place of others that Jo Hae-jin has prepared.
Perhaps, by imagining what he can see for the first time in that place, the faces of those who can quietly lean on his shoulders in the midst of “this life where I don’t know when it began and I’m not sure where it’s going,” he can now begin the work of making his own place.
Author's Note
I wanted to write stories about people who, the more they follow their beliefs and are sincere in their love, the more they get hurt and wander.
I've always wondered why the beauty contained in words like faith and love sometimes makes our hearts poorer.
(…)
Life can't be perfect, and it doesn't need to be.
That imperfection leads to another step towards perfection through dedication, frustration, and hope, through being hurt, through being broken, through being shaken without being able to judge right from wrong… … There is a belief that even when a revolution ends, the methods of the revolution remain.
I believe that beliefs that don't care about others or oneself can easily become empty obsessions, and I know that while love leaves behind memories, those memories can also bring about even greater loneliness.
I would like to share "A Perfect Life" with Yunju, Si-jing, and Mi-jeong, who live through all these imperfections, and with readers outside the novel who are thrown into similarly determined lives.
In the midst of this life, where we cannot tell when it began and where it is going, I hope that we can be witnesses of our 'aliveness' to one another.
September 2021
Jo Hae-jin
GOODS SPECIFICS
- Publication date: September 15, 2021
- Format: Hardcover book binding method guide
- Page count, weight, size: 176 pages | 288g | 128*194*17mm
- ISBN13: 9788936438487
- ISBN10: 8936438484
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