Happy words in a sad world
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Description
Book Introduction
The most brilliant voice in Korean essays,
The culmination of Jeong Hye-yoon's essays, "Happy Words in a Sad World," has been published in a revised edition.
I believe that language can save us.
Where there are new thoughts, new words, and new stories
I believe that a new person is born
The revised edition of 『Happy Words in a Sad World』 by author Hye-yoon Jeong, which was published in 2021 and has been consistently loved, and was selected as a 'Book to Read Now' by 〈Book! Book! Book! Let's Read Books〉 (Kyobo Bookstore × MBC) in 2025, has been published.
Designer Oh Hye-jin, who won the Seoul International Book Fair's "Most Beautiful Book in Korea" award in 2023 and 2024, has redesigned the cover and text.
The design stands out for its restrained beauty in strong complementary color contrast, boldly yet delicately expressing the joyful words that rise like light in a sad world.
The culmination of Jeong Hye-yoon's essays, "Happy Words in a Sad World," has been published in a revised edition.
I believe that language can save us.
Where there are new thoughts, new words, and new stories
I believe that a new person is born
The revised edition of 『Happy Words in a Sad World』 by author Hye-yoon Jeong, which was published in 2021 and has been consistently loved, and was selected as a 'Book to Read Now' by 〈Book! Book! Book! Let's Read Books〉 (Kyobo Bookstore × MBC) in 2025, has been published.
Designer Oh Hye-jin, who won the Seoul International Book Fair's "Most Beautiful Book in Korea" award in 2023 and 2024, has redesigned the cover and text.
The design stands out for its restrained beauty in strong complementary color contrast, boldly yet delicately expressing the joyful words that rise like light in a sad world.
- You can preview some of the book's contents.
Preview
index
Prologue: Speaking of Yourself… 7
My words, my story
Freedom, promise, dignity… 31
Getting fatter… 55
Eye candy, zero weight… 73
Hakuna Matata… 99
Diary, storybook, cup… 119
The flowers have bloomed… 143
Moon, B95 … 161
Glass window… 183
Voices, names, us, experts in life… 217
My Words, Poetry and Destiny
Dolphin, Other Side, Still Beautiful… 251
Epilogue: For Our Good Ending… 275
My words, my story
Freedom, promise, dignity… 31
Getting fatter… 55
Eye candy, zero weight… 73
Hakuna Matata… 99
Diary, storybook, cup… 119
The flowers have bloomed… 143
Moon, B95 … 161
Glass window… 183
Voices, names, us, experts in life… 217
My Words, Poetry and Destiny
Dolphin, Other Side, Still Beautiful… 251
Epilogue: For Our Good Ending… 275
Detailed image
Into the book
I often asked myself this question.
"I'm alive, but what should I do with this life? What should I say?" Around that question, various thoughts rippled out like ripples.
At that time, Calvino's story also came to mind.
What makes an ordinary corner of the market special is that we meet someone other than ourselves, and if there is a place I haven't been yet, it means there is a story I haven't heard yet.
I believe that language can save us.
I believe that new people are born where there are new thoughts, new words, and new stories.
Human life has changed like that for thousands of years.
So, the fact that nothing new comes out of me, that's what I'm most sad about today.
So what should we do now?
--- p.11
The mystery of a story is that one story leads to another.
The mystery of the story becomes the mystery of life.
The opposite is also true.
Without the mystery of life, there is no story.
In a good story, there are always parts that cannot be explained by rigid cause and effect theories or even numbers.
This is the 'unique joy' that exists in every good story, and this is what Borges meant when he said that our duty in a language community is to find our words, that finding words gives us a talismanic power, and that finding words is healing.
--- pp.18-19
It's amazing that we could all be different people—divers, amateur ornithologists, bathhouse owners, ginseng merchants, cloud researchers—and yet we live as we are.
It's amazing that I exist, even though I might not exist.
We use the word 'reality' so easily, but the heaviest and most surprising 'reality' for each of us is that I am not someone else but 'me'.
The more I think about it, the more I realize that life is a series of surprises, yet our uniqueness continues to be erased into a single category, a single number.
But as the world erases our uniqueness, we must learn to listen to our own uniqueness, to something that 'lives' within us, perhaps still 'nameless'.
In this social climate, believing that others also have something unique, something we can be curious about, is almost a form of resistance and the highest form of respect.
--- pp.16-17
'They say that as time passes, sadness fades?'
No.
Sadness wasn't like that.
Sadness is not a word that disappears.
Sadness comes at any time, without warning, as it pleases.
It comes even if you close your eyes.
There are no eyelids that can stop sadness from coming.
Grief makes one go through rough nights exhausted.
Grief is a guest that demands that you take yourself seriously.
But what can I do? This sadness is the legacy I received from my daughter.
If sadness doesn't disappear on its own, it has to flow away somewhere like tears.
--- p.105
Life must go on, the world must change, and we must learn to love.
We will continue to talk.
About lives at risk.
About the world that makes you want to live and love.
Breaking through the darkness that each of us wanted to hide.
And if we listen better, speak better, and understand each other better, there will surely be comfort and beauty in this world.
--- p.247
Most of us are tossed about alone on the dark waves, not knowing what we want.
So 'Other Side' can be a word for all of us.
Because you don't know what you want, you have to see other aspects of reality, see other people, and hear other stories to be able to live a different life than the one you have now.
It is a powerfully liberating moment in a person's life to realize, 'Ah, this is what I want!'
--- p.267
Although we often don't take it seriously, the world is made of stories.
I would be happy if I could always be empowered by the best stories, and if I could live warmly, deeply, boldly, and delicately, while fighting against various pressures with the best stories.
I would be happy if I could live in reality, but keep something in my heart and change part of reality.
I would be happy if each of us could become the 'voice of the problem solver' in this problematic reality.
It would be wonderful if the best of our many selves became our future.
"I'm alive, but what should I do with this life? What should I say?" Around that question, various thoughts rippled out like ripples.
At that time, Calvino's story also came to mind.
What makes an ordinary corner of the market special is that we meet someone other than ourselves, and if there is a place I haven't been yet, it means there is a story I haven't heard yet.
I believe that language can save us.
I believe that new people are born where there are new thoughts, new words, and new stories.
Human life has changed like that for thousands of years.
So, the fact that nothing new comes out of me, that's what I'm most sad about today.
So what should we do now?
--- p.11
The mystery of a story is that one story leads to another.
The mystery of the story becomes the mystery of life.
The opposite is also true.
Without the mystery of life, there is no story.
In a good story, there are always parts that cannot be explained by rigid cause and effect theories or even numbers.
This is the 'unique joy' that exists in every good story, and this is what Borges meant when he said that our duty in a language community is to find our words, that finding words gives us a talismanic power, and that finding words is healing.
--- pp.18-19
It's amazing that we could all be different people—divers, amateur ornithologists, bathhouse owners, ginseng merchants, cloud researchers—and yet we live as we are.
It's amazing that I exist, even though I might not exist.
We use the word 'reality' so easily, but the heaviest and most surprising 'reality' for each of us is that I am not someone else but 'me'.
The more I think about it, the more I realize that life is a series of surprises, yet our uniqueness continues to be erased into a single category, a single number.
But as the world erases our uniqueness, we must learn to listen to our own uniqueness, to something that 'lives' within us, perhaps still 'nameless'.
In this social climate, believing that others also have something unique, something we can be curious about, is almost a form of resistance and the highest form of respect.
--- pp.16-17
'They say that as time passes, sadness fades?'
No.
Sadness wasn't like that.
Sadness is not a word that disappears.
Sadness comes at any time, without warning, as it pleases.
It comes even if you close your eyes.
There are no eyelids that can stop sadness from coming.
Grief makes one go through rough nights exhausted.
Grief is a guest that demands that you take yourself seriously.
But what can I do? This sadness is the legacy I received from my daughter.
If sadness doesn't disappear on its own, it has to flow away somewhere like tears.
--- p.105
Life must go on, the world must change, and we must learn to love.
We will continue to talk.
About lives at risk.
About the world that makes you want to live and love.
Breaking through the darkness that each of us wanted to hide.
And if we listen better, speak better, and understand each other better, there will surely be comfort and beauty in this world.
--- p.247
Most of us are tossed about alone on the dark waves, not knowing what we want.
So 'Other Side' can be a word for all of us.
Because you don't know what you want, you have to see other aspects of reality, see other people, and hear other stories to be able to live a different life than the one you have now.
It is a powerfully liberating moment in a person's life to realize, 'Ah, this is what I want!'
--- p.267
Although we often don't take it seriously, the world is made of stories.
I would be happy if I could always be empowered by the best stories, and if I could live warmly, deeply, boldly, and delicately, while fighting against various pressures with the best stories.
I would be happy if I could live in reality, but keep something in my heart and change part of reality.
I would be happy if each of us could become the 'voice of the problem solver' in this problematic reality.
It would be wonderful if the best of our many selves became our future.
--- p.279
Publisher's Review
The miracle of joyful words that rise like light in a sad world
- What are the words that keep you alive?
Writer Jeong Hye-yoon has been listening to other people's voices for a long time, having worked as a radio producer for several decades.
I believe that discovering human language is the same as discovering human destiny, and I have recorded the words of those who, in the midst of a rough life, did not give up hope and joy and created their own life stories.
"Joyful Words in a Sad World" is a story in which these words quietly shine.
A fisherman who takes the promise he made to himself as a lifelong friend, a grandmother who listens to his stories with such enthusiasm that her ears “get hungry” in her later years, a fisherman with a keen eye for detail, a vegetable vendor who mentors the rice cake shop owner, a father who lost his son in the Sewol ferry disaster, a younger brother who lost his older brother in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a survivor of the Columbine shootings… … .
Their lives are not the same.
The trajectory of your life, your current position, and the trials that lie ahead.
But they are in the same world.
They knew what was important to them and enjoyed the pleasure of saying exactly what they wanted to say.
"Joyful Words in a Sad World" is a story about words that keep people alive in poverty, depression, sorrow, and terrible disasters, a story about recovery and rebirth, a story about the moment when one's life takes shape.
One person's good story becomes the story of us all.
- The moment life takes shape
Several years ago, writer Jeong Hye-yoon planned a radio program.
Speaking about yourself.
Anyone can appear, but there is one strict rule that all participants must follow.
The rule is that you can only speak about yourself using certain words.
For example, you should not say the name of the person who is most important in your life, your loved one.
And vegetarians cannot use the word 'vegetarian', and bookstore owners cannot use the word 'bookstore'.
That is, words without which one cannot express oneself are forbidden.
So why did the writer plan this program?
Finding the words to describe yourself may seem easy, but it is never easy.
Finding your own words requires a change of heart.
If you see yourself the way you always do and talk the way you always do, it's hard to find the words, and even if you do, it's hard to figure out how to say them.
A change of heart takes time, and speaking properly takes practice.
But once we look for it, we can each find our own unique joy within the story.
If Borges said, “Our duty in a linguistic community is to find our words,” the author says:
Finding words gives you a talismanic power, and finding words is the way to recovery.
“Language and stories have always preceded the creation of new worlds.
So, living stories from the hearts of the living are essential to keeping us all alive.
One person's good story becomes the story of us all.
A good story is 'gently' imprinted and remains deep within us, changing our self.
“Of all the softnesses in the world, the most incredibly soft is human change.”
- What are the words that keep you alive?
Writer Jeong Hye-yoon has been listening to other people's voices for a long time, having worked as a radio producer for several decades.
I believe that discovering human language is the same as discovering human destiny, and I have recorded the words of those who, in the midst of a rough life, did not give up hope and joy and created their own life stories.
"Joyful Words in a Sad World" is a story in which these words quietly shine.
A fisherman who takes the promise he made to himself as a lifelong friend, a grandmother who listens to his stories with such enthusiasm that her ears “get hungry” in her later years, a fisherman with a keen eye for detail, a vegetable vendor who mentors the rice cake shop owner, a father who lost his son in the Sewol ferry disaster, a younger brother who lost his older brother in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a survivor of the Columbine shootings… … .
Their lives are not the same.
The trajectory of your life, your current position, and the trials that lie ahead.
But they are in the same world.
They knew what was important to them and enjoyed the pleasure of saying exactly what they wanted to say.
"Joyful Words in a Sad World" is a story about words that keep people alive in poverty, depression, sorrow, and terrible disasters, a story about recovery and rebirth, a story about the moment when one's life takes shape.
One person's good story becomes the story of us all.
- The moment life takes shape
Several years ago, writer Jeong Hye-yoon planned a radio program.
Speaking about yourself.
Anyone can appear, but there is one strict rule that all participants must follow.
The rule is that you can only speak about yourself using certain words.
For example, you should not say the name of the person who is most important in your life, your loved one.
And vegetarians cannot use the word 'vegetarian', and bookstore owners cannot use the word 'bookstore'.
That is, words without which one cannot express oneself are forbidden.
So why did the writer plan this program?
Finding the words to describe yourself may seem easy, but it is never easy.
Finding your own words requires a change of heart.
If you see yourself the way you always do and talk the way you always do, it's hard to find the words, and even if you do, it's hard to figure out how to say them.
A change of heart takes time, and speaking properly takes practice.
But once we look for it, we can each find our own unique joy within the story.
If Borges said, “Our duty in a linguistic community is to find our words,” the author says:
Finding words gives you a talismanic power, and finding words is the way to recovery.
“Language and stories have always preceded the creation of new worlds.
So, living stories from the hearts of the living are essential to keeping us all alive.
One person's good story becomes the story of us all.
A good story is 'gently' imprinted and remains deep within us, changing our self.
“Of all the softnesses in the world, the most incredibly soft is human change.”
GOODS SPECIFICS
- Date of issue: October 30, 2025
- Page count, weight, size: 280 pages | 318g | 125*210*16mm
- ISBN13: 9791199405813
- ISBN10: 1199405817
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