Humming
 |
Description
Book Introduction
"A thin humming sound was heard from somewhere.
"A small, faint singing sound."
Presented by Choi Jeong-won, winner of the English Adult Novel Award and Teen Story King Award
A cool and beautiful eco-thriller
Choi Jeong-won, who won the Changbi x Kakao Page English Adult Novel Award for “The Night the Storm Chases” and the Biryongso Teen Story King Award for “We Are Leaving This Planet,” and has been widely loved by critics and young readers, has published her new full-length novel, “Humming” (Changbi Youth Literature 132).
"Humming" is the story of Yeo-un, who enters a sealed forest to carry out a secret mission in a world where millions of people in Seoul have turned into trees due to an unidentified virus.
The story, with its unique and sophisticated worldview and twist after twist, adds to the tension, and the shocking truth that is finally revealed leaves a deep aftertaste.
Meanwhile, the attitudes of the characters toward the man who turned into a tree leave many questions.
What exactly is humanity? How should we live after disaster? What are true memories and mourning? This is a precious work that satisfies the thrilling immersion of the thriller genre while also raising profound questions about humanity and society.
"A small, faint singing sound."
Presented by Choi Jeong-won, winner of the English Adult Novel Award and Teen Story King Award
A cool and beautiful eco-thriller
Choi Jeong-won, who won the Changbi x Kakao Page English Adult Novel Award for “The Night the Storm Chases” and the Biryongso Teen Story King Award for “We Are Leaving This Planet,” and has been widely loved by critics and young readers, has published her new full-length novel, “Humming” (Changbi Youth Literature 132).
"Humming" is the story of Yeo-un, who enters a sealed forest to carry out a secret mission in a world where millions of people in Seoul have turned into trees due to an unidentified virus.
The story, with its unique and sophisticated worldview and twist after twist, adds to the tension, and the shocking truth that is finally revealed leaves a deep aftertaste.
Meanwhile, the attitudes of the characters toward the man who turned into a tree leave many questions.
What exactly is humanity? How should we live after disaster? What are true memories and mourning? This is a precious work that satisfies the thrilling immersion of the thriller genre while also raising profound questions about humanity and society.
- You can preview some of the book's contents.
Preview
index
Part 1: People Who Locked Up the Forest, People Trapped in the Forest
Part 2: What to Watch for, What to Watch for
Part 3: The Moment Chosen, The Moment You Can Choose
Author's Note
Part 2: What to Watch for, What to Watch for
Part 3: The Moment Chosen, The Moment You Can Choose
Author's Note
Detailed image
Into the book
I told myself not to regret it.
Even though I've repeated this many times before, here we go again.
--- p.7
The countdown to human extinction began without warning on a sunny day in June nine years ago.
People cited nuclear war or an asteroid collision as scenarios of doom, believing in mutual restraint between nations, clever scientists, and brave astronauts, but 'it' struck people in a quieter, more insignificant, yet unstoppable way.
--- p.13
Jeong-in counted her fingers with a casual expression as if it was nothing, then shrugged her shoulders.
But I could feel the aftertaste.
No one can get used to loss.
This child has been living a life of losing, regaining, and losing again what he lost all at once at the age of twelve.
This child's daily life was one that Yeo-un could not even dare to imagine.
Can you understand this child's shadow?
I didn't know what to say.
Then Jeong-in asked cautiously.
He seemed a little nervous and was tugging at his school uniform tie for no reason.
“Now it’s your turn, sister.
"What kind of person was your sister's mother? If you could tell me, I might be able to find a way to find out more."
It was an eye that sparkled only with good intentions.
--- pp.91-92
“It doesn’t matter, since we’ve decided there are no survivors.”
"……what?"
"sonny.
“It’s already been nine years.”
It's only been nine years.
To those people, we are all dead people.
Everyone has forgotten us.
My uncle's voice slowly came back to life.
Jeong-in slowly raised her empty hand and moved her fingertips.
Team Leader Park followed the hand and looked around.
A ruined street, a forest of people nailed to the ground and turned into trees, and a horde of relentlessly approaching, mobile mutants.
“What are you talking about…? They’re all alive.
every."
--- pp.147-148
Like an ostrich burying its head in the sand before a lion, people have protected themselves by hiding and avoiding such fearful objects.
--- p.171
That's what other people said.
It's irreversible.
I can't even tell.
Let's all quickly send them off, remember them, forget them, and start anew.
Everyone thinks so.
I felt dizzy and nauseous at the same time as the remaining medicine left me.
“Other people’s work is so easy.
It looks so simple from afar, right? But it's not so simple up close.
Everyone, sometimes we move even on windless days.
The sound of leaves rustling sometimes sounds like a voice.
My older sister sings too.
You guys don't know!”
--- pp.215-216
Perhaps, I feel like I can understand.
A sense of betrayal towards the world that, as has always been the case in the face of disaster, only mourns briefly like a fad, then quickly brushes it aside and forces us to quickly forget the sadness with the words, "Still."
The sense of detachment from the world I felt as I watched pharmaceutical advertisements and photos of sun-drenched resorts interspersed with posts about family and friends, updated every second.
--- p.283
That was the moment.
A thin humming sound was heard from somewhere.
A song so faint and small that I thought I had misheard it on the wind.
Yeo-woon opened her eyes wide.
A low humming that seemed to break off and continue on is overlapped by another humming that is one note higher.
another.
And more.
Even though I've repeated this many times before, here we go again.
--- p.7
The countdown to human extinction began without warning on a sunny day in June nine years ago.
People cited nuclear war or an asteroid collision as scenarios of doom, believing in mutual restraint between nations, clever scientists, and brave astronauts, but 'it' struck people in a quieter, more insignificant, yet unstoppable way.
--- p.13
Jeong-in counted her fingers with a casual expression as if it was nothing, then shrugged her shoulders.
But I could feel the aftertaste.
No one can get used to loss.
This child has been living a life of losing, regaining, and losing again what he lost all at once at the age of twelve.
This child's daily life was one that Yeo-un could not even dare to imagine.
Can you understand this child's shadow?
I didn't know what to say.
Then Jeong-in asked cautiously.
He seemed a little nervous and was tugging at his school uniform tie for no reason.
“Now it’s your turn, sister.
"What kind of person was your sister's mother? If you could tell me, I might be able to find a way to find out more."
It was an eye that sparkled only with good intentions.
--- pp.91-92
“It doesn’t matter, since we’ve decided there are no survivors.”
"……what?"
"sonny.
“It’s already been nine years.”
It's only been nine years.
To those people, we are all dead people.
Everyone has forgotten us.
My uncle's voice slowly came back to life.
Jeong-in slowly raised her empty hand and moved her fingertips.
Team Leader Park followed the hand and looked around.
A ruined street, a forest of people nailed to the ground and turned into trees, and a horde of relentlessly approaching, mobile mutants.
“What are you talking about…? They’re all alive.
every."
--- pp.147-148
Like an ostrich burying its head in the sand before a lion, people have protected themselves by hiding and avoiding such fearful objects.
--- p.171
That's what other people said.
It's irreversible.
I can't even tell.
Let's all quickly send them off, remember them, forget them, and start anew.
Everyone thinks so.
I felt dizzy and nauseous at the same time as the remaining medicine left me.
“Other people’s work is so easy.
It looks so simple from afar, right? But it's not so simple up close.
Everyone, sometimes we move even on windless days.
The sound of leaves rustling sometimes sounds like a voice.
My older sister sings too.
You guys don't know!”
--- pp.215-216
Perhaps, I feel like I can understand.
A sense of betrayal towards the world that, as has always been the case in the face of disaster, only mourns briefly like a fad, then quickly brushes it aside and forces us to quickly forget the sadness with the words, "Still."
The sense of detachment from the world I felt as I watched pharmaceutical advertisements and photos of sun-drenched resorts interspersed with posts about family and friends, updated every second.
--- p.283
That was the moment.
A thin humming sound was heard from somewhere.
A song so faint and small that I thought I had misheard it on the wind.
Yeo-woon opened her eyes wide.
A low humming that seemed to break off and continue on is overlapped by another humming that is one note higher.
another.
And more.
--- p.292
Publisher's Review
One day, millions of people in Seoul turned into trees.
A breathtaking journey through a secret, abandoned forest.
In the near future, an unidentified virus spreads across Seoul, instantly turning people into trees.
People who have hastily escaped from Seoul build a wall to blockade the virus-infested city.
Nine years after the lockdown, Yeo-un, a researcher at the National Disaster Research Institute, can't take her eyes off the walled city of Seoul.
Because on that day nine years ago, I ran away with my aunt, leaving my mother behind in Seoul.
Then one day, a mysterious email arrives to Yeo-woon with unfamiliar instructions.
To resolve the issue of the 'Umbrella', a wide-area quarantine device installed in Seoul, you are asked to enter the barrier and deliver a memory chip.
Yeo-un hesitates for a moment about the dangerous mission, but soon decides to overcome the barrier, lured by the lure of high pay and the thought of possibly seeing her mother.
Yeo-woon returns to Seoul after 9 years with the artificial intelligence robot 'R' that she met in a secret place.
The quiet forest scenery created by people who turned into trees just as they were trying to run away approaches us with a chilling feeling.
As Yeo-woon moves cautiously while wearing a gas mask, a strange-looking creature suddenly appears in front of him.
Yeo-woon tightly closes her eyes at the sight of a monster approaching her, swaying and wearing torn clothes, looking like a tree.
What on earth happened in locked-down Seoul? Who remained in a city thought to be uninhabitable?
People who became trees and people who are becoming trees
What is the boundary between human and non-human?
Yeo-un knew that everyone left in Seoul had turned to trees in the disaster nine years ago, but there were survivors there.
Eighteen-year-old Jeong-in, who is immune to viruses and does not turn into a tree.
Jeong-in has been living in locked-down Seoul, taking care of her uncle and grandmother who are slowly turning into trees.
Uncle tried to get his uninfected lover to leave, but the managers outside the wall said it was just a long incubation period and chased him away with a flamethrower.
One day, while living in isolation from the world, Jeong-in witnesses suspicious people from outside starting a forest fire.
For what purpose did they come to Seoul, which had been under blockade for nine years, and set it on fire?
The millions of people in Seoul, who have been turned into trees, are treated as virtually dead by those outside the walls.
However, Jeong-in takes care of her older brothers and sisters who have become trees at school, providing them with sunlight and water.
Sometimes the sound of leaves rustling sounds like my brother and sister singing.
Meanwhile, the moving monster that Yeo-woon encountered appears to be either a human or a tree.
By moving between people who have become trees and those who have not, and between trees and humans, the novel questions the boundary between human and non-human and shakes up that dichotomy.
Those living in the aftermath of the disaster
Asking what true memory and mourning are
Like an ostrich burying its head in the sand before a lion, people have protected themselves by hiding and avoiding such fearful objects.
(Page 171)
With R's help, Yeo-un barely survives the monster and arrives at a school while carrying out her mission.
And there he meets Jeong-in, who lives there taking care of her older brother and sister who have turned into trees.
Jeong-in asks Yeo-woon why the forest fire happened, but Yeo-woon doesn't know why.
Jeong-in, who was wary of Yeo-woon, an outsider, soon feels pity and empathy when she hears that she lost her mother in a disaster.
Jeong-in invites Yeo-woon to her house for dinner, and the two arrive at the house where her uncle and grandmother are.
However, Jeong-in opens the door and enters the house, letting out a sharp scream.
What on earth is going on? What secrets and conspiracies lie hidden in Seoul, which has been under lockdown for nine years?
Both Yeo-un and Jeong-in have endured difficult times, having lost close family members in tragic disasters.
Nine years ago, millions of people in Seoul died in a disaster, but after a brief moment of mourning, people surrounded the scene with a wall, blocking it from their view.
The novel shows an attitude of quickly erasing and forgetting the disaster and its victims, and talks about what true memory and mourning are, and how we should live after a disaster.
Humming, which touches on the points we must ponder amidst a cool tension, will appeal to readers as a uniquely appealing work.
From the author's words
My goal is always the same.
We invite you to a world of crazy adventure where the worries of everyday life will be forgotten, even if only for a moment.
And we will return it safely.
It would be great if you could take home a souvenir of your own along the way.
And if you ever come back to it again, if you enjoyed it enough to recommend it to someone else, there would be no greater happiness for a writer than that.
This time too, I tried my best to achieve that goal.
A breathtaking journey through a secret, abandoned forest.
In the near future, an unidentified virus spreads across Seoul, instantly turning people into trees.
People who have hastily escaped from Seoul build a wall to blockade the virus-infested city.
Nine years after the lockdown, Yeo-un, a researcher at the National Disaster Research Institute, can't take her eyes off the walled city of Seoul.
Because on that day nine years ago, I ran away with my aunt, leaving my mother behind in Seoul.
Then one day, a mysterious email arrives to Yeo-woon with unfamiliar instructions.
To resolve the issue of the 'Umbrella', a wide-area quarantine device installed in Seoul, you are asked to enter the barrier and deliver a memory chip.
Yeo-un hesitates for a moment about the dangerous mission, but soon decides to overcome the barrier, lured by the lure of high pay and the thought of possibly seeing her mother.
Yeo-woon returns to Seoul after 9 years with the artificial intelligence robot 'R' that she met in a secret place.
The quiet forest scenery created by people who turned into trees just as they were trying to run away approaches us with a chilling feeling.
As Yeo-woon moves cautiously while wearing a gas mask, a strange-looking creature suddenly appears in front of him.
Yeo-woon tightly closes her eyes at the sight of a monster approaching her, swaying and wearing torn clothes, looking like a tree.
What on earth happened in locked-down Seoul? Who remained in a city thought to be uninhabitable?
People who became trees and people who are becoming trees
What is the boundary between human and non-human?
Yeo-un knew that everyone left in Seoul had turned to trees in the disaster nine years ago, but there were survivors there.
Eighteen-year-old Jeong-in, who is immune to viruses and does not turn into a tree.
Jeong-in has been living in locked-down Seoul, taking care of her uncle and grandmother who are slowly turning into trees.
Uncle tried to get his uninfected lover to leave, but the managers outside the wall said it was just a long incubation period and chased him away with a flamethrower.
One day, while living in isolation from the world, Jeong-in witnesses suspicious people from outside starting a forest fire.
For what purpose did they come to Seoul, which had been under blockade for nine years, and set it on fire?
The millions of people in Seoul, who have been turned into trees, are treated as virtually dead by those outside the walls.
However, Jeong-in takes care of her older brothers and sisters who have become trees at school, providing them with sunlight and water.
Sometimes the sound of leaves rustling sounds like my brother and sister singing.
Meanwhile, the moving monster that Yeo-woon encountered appears to be either a human or a tree.
By moving between people who have become trees and those who have not, and between trees and humans, the novel questions the boundary between human and non-human and shakes up that dichotomy.
Those living in the aftermath of the disaster
Asking what true memory and mourning are
Like an ostrich burying its head in the sand before a lion, people have protected themselves by hiding and avoiding such fearful objects.
(Page 171)
With R's help, Yeo-un barely survives the monster and arrives at a school while carrying out her mission.
And there he meets Jeong-in, who lives there taking care of her older brother and sister who have turned into trees.
Jeong-in asks Yeo-woon why the forest fire happened, but Yeo-woon doesn't know why.
Jeong-in, who was wary of Yeo-woon, an outsider, soon feels pity and empathy when she hears that she lost her mother in a disaster.
Jeong-in invites Yeo-woon to her house for dinner, and the two arrive at the house where her uncle and grandmother are.
However, Jeong-in opens the door and enters the house, letting out a sharp scream.
What on earth is going on? What secrets and conspiracies lie hidden in Seoul, which has been under lockdown for nine years?
Both Yeo-un and Jeong-in have endured difficult times, having lost close family members in tragic disasters.
Nine years ago, millions of people in Seoul died in a disaster, but after a brief moment of mourning, people surrounded the scene with a wall, blocking it from their view.
The novel shows an attitude of quickly erasing and forgetting the disaster and its victims, and talks about what true memory and mourning are, and how we should live after a disaster.
Humming, which touches on the points we must ponder amidst a cool tension, will appeal to readers as a uniquely appealing work.
From the author's words
My goal is always the same.
We invite you to a world of crazy adventure where the worries of everyday life will be forgotten, even if only for a moment.
And we will return it safely.
It would be great if you could take home a souvenir of your own along the way.
And if you ever come back to it again, if you enjoyed it enough to recommend it to someone else, there would be no greater happiness for a writer than that.
This time too, I tried my best to achieve that goal.
GOODS SPECIFICS
- Date of issue: January 10, 2025
- Page count, weight, size: 316 pages | 330g | 140*210*15mm
- ISBN13: 9788936457327
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카테고리
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