From the gaze,
Author's Note

2020 Book of the Year (Yes24, Kyobo Book Centre, Aladdin, Chosun Ilbo, Kyunghyang Shinmun, Munhwa Ilbo)

If we were to talk about the literary works that garnered the most attention in the publishing world in 2020, we couldn't leave out "From the Gaze."
"From the Gaze," immediately rose to the top of the overall bestseller lists at major bookstores upon its publication, and brought a breath of fresh air to the cultural world by presenting a hopeful outlook on matriarchal society through the unique figure of Ms. Shim Si-seon, who will remain in literary history.
A single sentence from the novel was quoted on KBS News in relation to a specific incident, causing a huge social impact, demonstrating the power of literary works as another language representing reality.
Author Jeong Se-rang, who had a busy year as the original author and screenwriter of Netflix's hit drama [The School Nurse Files] directed by Lee Kyung-mi and starring Jung Yu-mi and Nam Joo-hyuk, has proven herself to be the most beloved author in the public and literary world, with her work [From the Gaze] selected as the book of the year in various surveys.

“This novel is, above all, a 21st-century love story dedicated to the women who lived through the 20th century.”
The upright warmth that Korean literature has reached: Jeong Se-rang's latest full-length novel.

From science fiction novels built with a unique voice and worldview to stories firmly grounded in the realities of our time, Jeong Se-rang has always presented us with new surprises through her wide-ranging works.
『From the Gaze,』 is a masterpiece that took five years from conception to completion, and is the first full-length novel published in four years since 『Fifty People』, which won the Hankook Ilbo Literary Award.
『From the Gaze』 was serialized in the webzine [Weekly Literature Village] for three months, and is also the first novel published after the serialization in [Weekly Literature Village].


I love all of Jeong Se-rang's writing, but if I had to pick my favorite, it would be "From the Gaze."
_Kim Hana (author)

Have you ever seen a person who so thoroughly penetrates modern Korean history, yet never loses his lightheartedness or uprightness?
_Park Sang-young (novelist)

It offers a refreshing glimpse into what families might look like when a woman, not subsumed by patriarchy, becomes the head of the household.
_Kim Bo-ra (film director)

"From the Gaze," which begins with the somewhat absurd premise of a family living in Korea and the United States traveling to Hawaii for a one-time ancestral rite, moves forward through the tragedies of modern history, the violence inflicted on women in this era, and the absurdity of the world.
Shim Si-seon was an artist, writer, and adult ahead of his time.
The members of this unique family, created through her two marriages, each grow in their own way, honoring her memory in Hawaii.
As Jeong Se-rang stated in her “Author’s Note,” “This novel is, above all, a 21st-century love dedicated to the women who lived through the 20th century,” “From the Gaze,” is a work that stems from a straightforward and warm gaze toward the women of an era.
Ten years after his debut, he has never once disappointed us, crossing genres and telling stories in various ways. Now, he has returned to us as a writer who not only writes lovely novels but also practices love.

“We will hold a ceremony in Hawaii.”

Host | Mr. Shim Si-seon, you're the only one who's strongly opposed to ancestral rites.
So, will you still refuse to perform ancestral rites after your death?
Shim Si-seon | Of course, what's the point of breaking a leg to mourn the dead? It's a custom that needs to disappear.
Kim Haeng-rae | It's not easy to say something like, "I drank some water outside."
You shouldn't look down on traditional culture and ridicule it so much.
Sim Si-seon | If only the form remains and the heart disappears, it will only be suffering.
And only women.
I told my eldest daughter never to think about performing ancestral rites after I die.
Host | Oh, to your daughter? You have a son, right?
Shim Si-seon | Third… …? Him? What about him?
After I die, my eldest daughter will take care of all the big and small matters.
Kim Haeng-rae | You are very selective in your words and actions.
Shim Si-seon | Later people will decide which of your thoughts will last longer, mine or yours.
Pages 9-10

A woman who knew better than anyone else the violence of this world and yet knew how to empathize with the weak.
On the 10th anniversary of the death of Mrs. Shim Si-seon, who often stirred controversy with her upright yet gentle, and sometimes radically progressive remarks, her family decided to hold a one-time memorial service.
That too in Hawaii, where she spent her youth.


“We will hold a memorial service at eight o’clock in the evening on the anniversary.
Since it's the tenth anniversary, I'll only be doing it once, so I won't be doing anything tedious like setting up a table for ancestral rites.
Each of us decided to collect the moments that made us happy while traveling in Hawaii, the moments that left an impression on us that made us think, "I was alive to see this."
“It’s good to share an object that symbolizes that moment, or it’s good to share the experience itself rather than an object.” _Page 83

They prepare special sacrifices there.
The method is for each person to freely collect the most meaningful moments there.
Each connected to Simsi-seon in a different way, they travel to Hawaii with their own memories of her.
They are people who know how to exchange light jokes, be considerate of each other, and quietly observe beautiful things, but they also carry a little bit of pain and wounds. On a trip to honor Shim Si-seon, they look into themselves while searching for things and memories to give her as gifts.

“I loved them because they were weak people who would have been eliminated in the wild.
That softness.
Purity.
Sadness.
“Weakness.”

"From the Gaze" is a story centered on three generations of women, starting with Shim Si-seon, who did not obey in the face of the violence and oppression of the times, and continuing through her maternal line.
Shim Si-seon, who left in search of a new life after experiencing the tragedy of the Korean War, Shi-seon's daughters Myeong-hye and Myeong-eun, who lived through the end of the 20th century, and her granddaughters Hwa-su and Woo-yoon, who are living in the 21st century.
The lives of women that emerge from Sim Si-seon show us a possible new era.
Hwasoo, who was cowering in fear of the terrorist attack committed by the president of a partner company, seeks words to explain the distorted and polluted side of the world.
Haerim gets bullied for getting angry at a friend's racist remark, but he doesn't regret it or give in.
Kyung-ah wants to inspire women who follow her by showing that there are women who can endure even with average qualities.
Just like Shim Si-seon did.


Now I am older than those women, and I will never be able to cook, so even if a young man comes to visit, I will have nothing to feed him.
I thought I would naturally develop a knack for cooking as I got older, but that wasn't the case.
I feel like nothing comes naturally, and I hope I've done my part for the youth.
It would be meaningful if the next generation could learn from my failures and wanderings, like falling fruits, and wander less.
Page 299

The characters that Jeong Se-rang summons hope for a world where humans can live in harmony with other beings as ordinary beings.
Here are Nanjeong, who says that sensor lights should be installed so that people don't accidentally step on black cats, Haerim, who is angry at the reality that birds are dying for humans' aesthetic sense, and people who worry that the cotton in flower necklaces could kill turtles.
“There are people who remember other people’s mistakes and people who remember their own mistakes.
The saying “the latter is much better” is perfect to describe them.
People who remember primarily their own mistakes are keenly aware of their responsibility as human beings and are keenly aware of crises and dangers to avoid repeating the same mistakes.
Watching the back of Jisoo going to wash the birds after hearing the news of the sinking of the oil tanker, we can sense that the world pointed to by Jeong Se-rang's delicate sensibility is not so far away.

Mrs. Shim Si-seon and her family are strong enough to speak out against absurdity and irrationality, yet they have the vulnerability to perceive the world with sensitivity and sensitivity.
Weakness keenly senses the world's gaps, and those in the gaps gain a voice by sharing their strong hearts.
In Jeong Se-rang's world, goodness is used as strength.
Good will will drive strong action and create an imagination of a world where no being is left behind.
All that remains for us is to accept the imagination of goodness that Jeong Se-rang offers.