Part 1: Things That Can't Be Done With Just Your Heart

When anger wells up in your chest
The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum, The Indignation, The Iliad 13

Books to Read Before Writing a Resignation Letter
The Moon and Sixpence, The Metamorphosis, Les Misérables 26

If your bank account balance is at rock bottom
Madame Bovary, Crime and Punishment, Volume 32

Why doesn't this happen to me?
『Peace in the World』 『Jude the Nameless』 『The Fifth Child』 38

Do you need courage? About the three types of courage
All Pretty Words, In the Middle of the Storm, Melancholy and Dreams, Vol. 49


Part 2 Don't tell me it's okay

On days when your self-esteem is shattered
Snow Country, Hamlet, Thus Spoke Zarathustra 65

I have a hard time getting along with people.
Bartleby the Scrivener, Don Quixote, 72

I don't think this is the right way
Faust, Waiting for Godot, 81

What if I don't want to do anything?
Slaughterhouse-Five, Homage to Catalonia, Vol. 91

It's Friday and I don't have any plans.
『Human End Report』 『Flood』 『Mad Adam』 103


The fact that the three parts are connected

When you want to badmouth a man
No Longer Human, Milkman, The Great Gatsby 115

So that your next relationship doesn't fail
The Sorrows of Young Werther The Unbearable Lightness of Being 126

A book to read before going to battle
The Battle of the Wild Beasts at Evening, The Apology, The Brothers Karamazov, 133

To you who is planning to run away from home
The Catcher in the Rye, Old Goriot, The Stranger 145

A person who reads books during the holidays
The Analects, A Room of One's Own, Full House 153


Part 4: I read it even if nothing special happens

If you feel like time is wasted
The Remains of the Day, Night Flight, Elegant Universe 165

I'll take it with me when I go on a long trip.
The Wanderers, The Certainty of Mathematics, 187

Lying on a sunbed
"You're an Animal, Viskovitz!" "Rashomon" 205

Books to read during the rainy season
Do you like Brahms...? Rainy Season 211

Recommended for insomnia
Samguk Yusa, Arabian Nights, or One Thousand and One Nights, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance 216


Part 5: There have been many mistakes so far.

If you're stranded in a snowstorm, this book is for you.
"The Feeling of Running Through the White Snow," "The Story of Mr. Sommer," "The Last Great Thing to Do," 231

Want to start fresh? Then,
"Meet Me on the Rooftop" 247

Author's Note 255
Reference Book 261
Permission to quote 267

You who are tired of your anxious and frustrating daily life
Classic reading therapy you can start right now!

The most enjoyable reading essay I've ever read.
Such examples are very welcome.
_Jang Gang-myeong (novelist)

Only someone who firmly believes that a brilliant light arises within us when we read can write a book like this.
_Jeong Se-rang (novelist)

Whether it's a book you've read before or one you only know by name, I hope her introduction will help you endure and persevere through these turbulent times and plagues.
As I read certain sentences that will be imprinted on my mind with her help right now. _Byeon Young-joo (film director)


A reading essay by Lee Su-eun, an editor, translator, and writer who has worked as a veteran foreign literature editor for over 20 years and introduced world-renowned masters such as Orhan Pamuk and Jonathan Safran Foer to Korea, has been published by Minumsa.
The author, who is both an editor and an avid reader, has carefully selected 52 books from among the countless books he has read throughout his life and has introduced them with humorous and witty sentences and structure to make them accessible to readers.



■ People who make books, buy books, and read books more than anyone else

What kind of person is an editor?
A person who makes books.
1) A person who comes up with a planning idea, recruits an author who fits the idea or discovers a manuscript written by the author, 2) proofreads and edits the manuscript, 3) works with a designer to create a cover that matches the content of the book, and does everything necessary to compile it into a complete book.
Therefore, editors are people who, by fate, cannot help but love books and read a lot.


Editors are known for buying a lot of books.
Every year, an online bookstore provides statistics on the books they buy, and on average, editors' book purchases are easily in the top 5% in their area.
When a new book is published, editors share a joke.
“Isn’t this something we’re just buying for ourselves?” It’s common for moving companies to be terrified when they see books on the bookshelf every time they give a moving estimate, and to worry that they might get crushed to death by books in the event of an earthquake.


However, it is not common for editors to actually read all the books they have purchased.
There is even a joke that says, “I just bought the book, I have to read it.”
But among the many bookworm editors out there, if I were to pick the one who actually 'reads' a lot of the books they buy, the first person that comes to mind is Lee Su-eun.



■ When your love life is a disaster, when your bank account balance is at rock bottom, when you want to resign
We urgently need this book!

Having worked as an editor for over 20 years, creating hundreds of books and bridging the gap between books and readers, author Lee Su-eun understands readers' feelings better than anyone else.
It's not easy to buy a book, but actually opening the bookshelf and starting to read is a tiring and difficult task for us busy and tired modern people.
So the author proposes:
At certain moments in your daily life, when your heart is filled with resentment, when you want to quit and run away from work, when your relationship has fallen apart, when you want to give up everything and start over, when you really don't want to do anything, why not try opening 'this book'?


Feeling like throwing in the towel? Then listen to the story of a man who actually did it and set out to pursue his dream (Somerset Maugham's "The Moon and Sixpence").
But why do you feel like resigning? Have you forgotten yourself, lived so devotedly that you've become something you're not? (Kafka's "The Metamorphosis") If you truly want to resign, now is your chance.
Let's check whether my determination is strong and meaningful as I read this vast and great book (Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables").

Of course, you don't have to read the book the author recommends only when you're really in that situation.
It's comforting to know that there's a book out there that can give me comfort and strength when situations like this arise.
If you've ever considered reading a difficult act, a painful task requiring determination and motivation, the author's witty and humorous guidance will help you relax and face the book.



■ From Homer's 'Iliad' to Jeong Se-rang's 'Meet Me on the Rooftop'
Reading therapy tailored to your situation and type!

The 52 books the author introduces are truly diverse and important, ranging from the ancient classic Homer's "Iliad" to masterpieces and science fiction novels spanning the 19th and 20th centuries, to recent Booker Prize winner "The Milkman" and Nobel Prize winner "The Wanderers."
Not only literature, but also science books like The Elegant Universe and The Certainty of Mathematics, and seemingly hard books like The Analects and The Arabian Nights, reveal the unexpected "usefulness" and "beauty."


There are countless classic phrases that serve as sturdy anchors to hold us back when life gets tough and tiring, but the barrier to entry is so high.
Moreover, while there are many books that attempt to stimulate interest in reading classics in a friendly language, reading essays that thoroughly delve into the essence of the text and are faithfully structured are surprisingly rare.
Lee Su-eun's "Excuse Me, But This Book Is Urgent" not only introduces "classics whose titles alone make you cringe in such a delightful way" (novelist Jang Kang-myeong), but also "functions as an arrow pointing in an unexpected direction, showing you where to find that fateful book you absolutely need" (novelist Jeong Se-rang).
Now, let's work together to create 'times that can endure and persevere through this era of chaos and plague' (film director Byun Young-joo) in the direction the author points out.