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Author's Note

■ Welcome to “Eunsil Yoo’s World”
A sincere coming-of-age novel armed with comedy

The new young adult novel, "Pilgrimage House," by Eunsil Yoo, winner of the Korean Children's Book Award and IBBY Honor List, has been published by Biryongso.
Eun-sil Yoo is an author who rose to fame with the full-length children's book "My Teacher Lindgren," and has been loved by readers for her diverse works spanning various genres, including children's books, youth novels, and picture books, for the past 16 years.
In fairy tales such as 『The Boy with the Flag of All Nations』, 『The Last Event』, 『The Birth of Ilsoo』, 『Dream House』, 『Grandma Margo Who Came to Our House』, 『I'm Going to Be a Picky Eater Too』, 『The Healthy Lee Yu-jeong』, 『The Smell of Sunshine in My Hair』, and 『Our Neighborhood's Mija』, the author has built his own unique world by combining his sharp insight into reality with his characteristic humorous satire.
As a result, it was evaluated as a work that had all three elements: fun, emotion, and message.
Since then, he has expanded his genre to include young adult novels such as “The Outskirts,” which won the Kwon Jeong-saeng Literary Award, and “2 Meters and 48 Hours,” which contains a deep understanding of what it means to live with a sick body, and has fully demonstrated his true value.
In this new young adult novel, published after about three years, the author showcases his signature strengths: unique characters, humor, and a sharp, piercing message.
This could be said to be another achievement of 'Eun-sil Yoo's World', which has transcended the boundaries of children and adolescents and drawn support from all generations.


The comical and lively character settings and the commotion surrounding the pilgrimage house are both original and enjoyable.
It's a story about a slightly reckless Surim who, after his family goes bankrupt, moves into the villa 'Pilgrimage House' owned by his late maternal grandfather's ex-girlfriend.
Surim's family, suddenly ruined by her dishonest mother, her father who is used to living off of others, and her high school-aged sister who can only barely pour water into a cup of ramen and not boil it, moves into the Pilgrimage House they had always looked down on.
This was the beginning of Pilgrimage's grand plan to train them to "come out of the greenhouse and adapt to the world."
Can Surim's family truly grow into adults among the people living in the pilgrim house, all struggling to survive on their own?

Just like Shakespeare's play "A Midsummer Night's Dream," where the two people, blinded by the truth's eyes by the fairies' tricks, do not recognize each other, and only after a great commotion do they finally find their mates and return to their rightful places, the story of the Surim family's move into the pilgrimage house is full of comedic elements, but also contains a profound message.
These weighty yet heart-warming messages about what is true in life, what we should pursue to be happy, and what it means to become an adult offer warm comfort to those of us living in this confusing age.
The moment you open the cover, which features the four letters of the title, Sun. Pilgrimage. Ju. Taek, painted in white on a background reminiscent of a red brick villa, the reader is invited into the world of the pilgrimage house.


■ There has never been a combination like this before.
Even if I study a little less(?) and go through difficult times, I feel like I can somehow survive in this world.
Surim, a 16-year-old with outstanding life intelligence,
Pilgrimage, a 75-year-old master of life who says that non-biodegradable waste is the biggest worry in his life, has come together.


The main character is 16-year-old Surim.
And this is Ms. Pilgrimage, 75 years old and my late maternal grandfather's girlfriend.
Surim, who was left in the care of her maternal grandfather when she was young because her mother was not in good health, ends up growing up in the hands of the building owner, Kim Soon-rye (75 years old), who lives in room 402 of the same villa as her grandfather, also known as the 'Pilgrimage House'.
As he grows up, he becomes a close confidant of Pilgrimage and even shares his innermost thoughts with her.
Sesinsa Pilgrimage, who has amassed wealth by pushing the times throughout his life, is the owner of the building of Pilgrimage House, also known as 'Time Tower'.
But he's a bit of an eccentric building owner.
Pilgrimage, who changed his name from ‘pilgrimage’, meaning ‘gentle and polite’, to ‘pilgrimage’, meaning ‘pilgrim’, is an eccentric who wants to live the rest of his life as a ‘pilgrim traveling the planet’.
Pilgrimage, who says that non-biodegradable waste, humans who recklessly emit carbon dioxide, and money left over are the three biggest worries in life, is a senior and expert in life who has lived 60 years longer than Surim, and is a person who constantly looks back and reflects on himself.
The forest is also unique.
He was evaluated by his homeroom teacher as having excellent life intelligence, and eventually, his neighbors praised him as 'a child who is not too sensitive and seems like he can somehow survive in this world even if he goes through difficult times.'
In the teenage years, when we are often judged on things like studying, exams, grades, and appearance, this kind of evaluation can be the birth of a truly comical and charming character.

Surim and Pilgrimage lead the story with perfect harmony.
Although grandmothers have appeared in many children's and young adult literature, it is rare for them to appear without the fence of a blood-related family.
Rather than simply calling her the grandmother next door, she is called a 'close confidant' who is closer than family and who teaches her the secrets of life. She shows a more developed side of herself than the previous grandmother who was correct and strong.
The grandmother who wants to become a pilgrim in her own life is the charm of this work itself.



■ I hate borders, I hate borders.

Beyond the boundaries of space, academic background, and numbers.


The work deeply touches upon all the problematic aspects of modern society.
The world, divided into the Pilgrimage House and the Wonder Grandium, may seem dichotomous at first glance, but in reality, we all harbor both sides of this divide, exploring other worlds with our own.
We live in a world of envy, yearning for apartments, yearning for good schools, and yearning to drive fancier cars.
What's truly frightening is that all of this is exactly what we are now.
My mother, who has a habit of using the word "honestly" twice in a row, is not honest, my mother says that even height is capital, and my father, who is no less, are sometimes like us.
Dad and mom are educated.
I am an adult who has never been independent in my entire life, although my school grade and apartment are the standards of the world.
Surim's parents, who are polite to each other but speak rudely to others, are characters who embody the desires of our hearts.


“To be honest, it’s true that the villa village kids aren’t well managed.

To be honest, as a parent, I'm worried about hanging out with kids from the villa village."

Not only adults, but even high school students say that the smell of freshly dry-cleaned clothes is the best.
To Surim, they are 'less grown up' characters who bet on who is younger.
But instead of just scolding them, the story suggests a way to live a 'better' and 'better' life by putting forward Mr. Pilgrimage.
The enlightenment of Pilgrim, who changed his name to Pilgrim, who goes on a pilgrimage to the stars, is passed on solely to Surim, who is Pilgrim's closest confidant.


“I want to become a pilgrim too.
Even if you can't become a pilgrim,
“I don’t want to be a tourist in my life.”

Crossing the line between right and wrong, Pilgrimage and Surim lead their family step by step into the reality of Pilgrimage House.
The method is by no means abstract or vain.
Instead of grandeur, Mr. Pilgrimage talks about the value of trying to live on one's own, even if only a little.
A small consideration for others is the beginning of all efforts.
The moment you recognize that line, the boundary is no longer a boundary.



■ Ruler, its deep meaning

There is one very symbolic object that appears in the pilgrimage house.
It's a ruler.
Let's give something that even grandfather cherished.
An object that shows everything precisely and numerically.
It may seem like a trivial thing, but this story tells us that life isn't just a wonderful thing made of magic.
When the world is all about chasing after the great, the strength to build our lives ultimately comes from the precious daily routine of living each day with our feet firmly planted on the ground.
Just like Pil-seong, who prepares a haenyeo meal in no time despite the hardships, great fantasies are also created from ordinary daily life.
Surim, with confidence, realizes its beauty early on.
And put it into practice with confidence.


“The good adults around us try to live on their own.
“While helping others.”

The bricks of the pilgrimage house are solid, and the hearts of the people living in the world are just as tough.
But just as the lights on the electric poles in dark alleys can sometimes be as strong as a lighthouse in the vast ocean, if there are people who make an effort, starting with small things, to live a better life, that will be a step closer to happiness.
As Surim found out.


“Mr. Pilgrimage, you know.
“If I have children later, I want to raise them to be people who are happy to have been born.”
"why?"
“Because I’m happy to have been born, because I’m grateful to be a human, I’ll feel uncomfortable with things like awkward and uneasy exhilaration.
I'm going to try to be truly happy.
“Like me now.”

Just as a difficult task like moving begins when a tape measure that was rolled up is pulled, the path of pilgrimage begins with the mindset of wanting to live a little better every day.



■ How great would it be if this book could ‘melt away a tired body and mind’?

At meetings with readers, I often get asked, “Of all the characters you’ve written, what’s your favorite name?”
I couldn't pinpoint a 'favorite name'.
Now you can do it.
My favorite name is 'Kim Soon-rye'.
I like the freedom that comes with the name 'pilgrimage'.
Pilgrimage is a beautiful name that allows us to view the difficulties we face in life as "experiences" rather than "failures," to not feel like we have to struggle for wealth and fame, and to look toward "the shining and high place" even in "places of suffering and sin."
I took out a name I had cherished for a long time and wrote ‘Pilgrimage House.’
I feel sorry for the young pilgrims who are struggling together on this planet that has been ruined by the older generation.
The sight of adults trying to differentiate people by the price or brand of their home is so shameful that it makes one want to cover the eyes and ears of young pilgrims.

I hope that pilgrimage houses can become places like albergues for young pilgrims.
If I could be remembered as a small village on the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, like an albergue that melted my weary body and mind, I would be more than happy.
_ From the author's words