Park Sang-young, a writer who has drawn global attention, releases his first essay in three years.

A sea of ​​laughter and tears flowing
100% Pure Park Sang-young Style Travel Sentences

Recommended by Lee Geum-hee, Kim Ina, and Bong Tae-gyu!

Park Sang-young, a novelist and essayist who has been attracting attention not only in Korea but also around the world with his novel "Love in the City" being nominated for the Booker International Prize and the Dublin Literary Prize, presents a new essay after three years.
It seems like it would be a story about the daily life of a successful novelist, but surprisingly, it is a story about burnout and rest.
In his first essay, "I'll Go to Sleep Hungry Tonight," he garnered much sympathy for his honest and candid confession of the joys and sorrows of office work and the inevitable hunger of life. What prompted him to decide this time, "I'll just lie down and do nothing tomorrow"? Why did he, who "doesn't particularly enjoy traveling," have to abandon his room, his only safe haven, even in the midst of exhaustion?

This book is a collection, edited, and expanded version of the writings of author Park Sang-young, published in various media over the past few years since his debut, on the themes of rest and travel.
From his first backpacking trip to Europe, which was like escaping from his life in Seoul, which was different from his expectations, to New York, where he left after an accident, to life on Gapado, the southernmost island of Jeju, to his challenge on a travel variety show, it is full of stories about travel, people, work, and rest.
A world where not only ‘work’ but even ‘rest’ doesn’t go as planned.
We invite you to a full-scale denunciation of life that cannot be endured without 'forcing commas', presented with Park Sang-young's unique humor and wit.

Perhaps, for me, travel isn't a synonym or synonym for "rest," but rather another stimulus that allows me to forget the worries of everyday life, or perhaps an act closer to greater pain. Like acupuncture, which pierces the affected area and makes me forget pain, it could be a process that pierces the midst of everyday life, allowing me to experience that even the chaotic routine is, in fact, worth living.
After writing it down, I think it's a very perverted idea (as expected of a masochistic Korean people), but... ... I think this is also a truth close to me.
Perhaps it's only natural that I have a hard time enjoying 100% pure relaxation while traveling.
So I made up my mind.
I will completely discard perfection.
---From the "Prologue"

That night, something unusual began to happen to my body.
As expected, I couldn't fall asleep because of someone's snoring, and I felt a sharp pain in my stomach, as if a knife was stabbing me. I let out a short groan and got up from my seat without realizing it.
Y, who was startled by my groans, also woke up.
I told Y.
“Have you ever had appendicitis?”
"no."
“I think I have appendicitis.
“My stomach hurts so bad.”
“Surely not, right?
“I heard it was so bad that I couldn’t stand it.”
“It’s the first time in my life that I’ve felt this pain.
Miss, what should I do?
“I don’t even have travel insurance… … .”
“Why is insurance suddenly coming up?”
Even as I felt a splitting pain in my stomach, I thought about Scotland's murderous cost of living and medical expenses, and about the travel insurance that cost a mere ten thousand won.
---From "Insurance for Clumsy Travelers"

For the first time in my life, I fell into a slump.
I didn't want to write anything.
It seemed like I had poured everything I wanted to write and could write into the three previous books.
Plus I lost my smile.
It wasn't until I lost my smile that I realized it.
The fact that my laughter was not a genuine laugh, but rather a desperate struggle that came from the black tears of a sad clown.
I realized that nothing I wrote was funny anymore, and even my desire to make anyone laugh had faded.
‘Why am I not funny these days?’ (…) Nevertheless, I had to rest.
I had to quickly stop thinking, quickly rest, quickly gather my thoughts, and quickly write the next book.
I had a book deal pending, a serial to write, and my first novel (a very well-written, entertaining, and artistically appealing novel) to write.
But I had no idea how to do it.
---From "Slump and Steepness"

While I was boiling noodles in a large pot and frantically frying vegetables in a frying pan, someone came into the kitchen.
At times like that, I reminded myself that I was only wearing shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt.
If I were on land, I wouldn't be able to do something as disrespectful as exposing my armpits in front of others, but isn't this a steep island?
Located a ten-minute boat ride from Jeju Island, this southernmost island in the Korean Peninsula, wouldn't its natural beauty be enough to lightly embrace my bare armpit? With this absurd thought, I confidently prepared a wok, as if I were the chef of a high-end Chinese restaurant.
And he made a fantastic pasta that doesn't exist anywhere on earth and devoured it all by himself.

---From "Gapado Morning Scenery"