The things we call life
 |
Description
Book Introduction
The ultimate humanities bestseller that ignites the flame of poetry in our hearts.
Special edition of "What We Call Life" released
Incheon, Busan, Jeju, Gyeongnam, Cheonan, and Gumi selected as 'Book of the Year'
Surpassing 4 Million Views! The Star of Sebashi's Comforting and Inspiring Lecture
The most universal comfort of poetry to those who still find life difficult
A special re-cover edition of "What We Call Life," which immediately became a bestseller in the humanities and liberal arts and touched the hearts of countless readers, has been published.
The cover of this special edition of Recover features the painting “Long Golden Day” by artist Alice Dalton Brown.
In the preface to the book, author Professor Jeong Jae-chan says, “Poetry is like a glass window.
Because it allows us to see the outside scenery that we cannot see through closed doors.
But glass windows are both a channel of communication and a wall of isolation.
“It is up to you, the readers, to open the door, step out into the street, and feel the breath of the wind for yourself,” he said.
If poetry is like a glass window, wouldn't the colorful landscapes of life viewed through the poetry's story as stepping stones sparkle like the rainbow in a painting?
Just as the breeze blowing through the glass window brings fresh air, the cover design of this book embodies the message of injecting new vitality into our lives through the glass window.
This special edition of the book, printed with Professor Jeong Jae-chan's handwritten message, will also be a great gift for readers.
Published in February 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was just beginning, "This Thing We Call Life" provided an opportunity for those huddled together in their rooms during the pandemic to reflect on their lives.
This is proven by the passionate comments from readers who fill the bookstore pages, such as, “A book that allows you to experience the many flavors of life in various ways,” “Thank you for reading poetry and making me feel less lonely,” and “A book that silently gives strength when life is difficult.”
It received national attention when it was selected as the book of the year in six regions: Incheon, Busan, Jeju, Gyeongnam, Cheonan, and Gumi, and the author also gave active lectures across the country, burning his poetic heart in every corner of the country.
Sebashi's lecture, titled "When You Get Old, You Should Do This Instead of Love," has surpassed 4 million views on YouTube and continues to provide people with the comfort and inspiration of poetry.
If you're wondering, "Life is truly difficult," as you navigate a reconnected society and people after the pandemic, listen to Professor Jeong Jae-chan's story.
As you read these poems, which convey the most universal comfort in the most beautiful language, you will gain the necessary knowledge to face the things we call life: work, family, health, learning, love, relationships, and possessions.
Special edition of "What We Call Life" released
Incheon, Busan, Jeju, Gyeongnam, Cheonan, and Gumi selected as 'Book of the Year'
Surpassing 4 Million Views! The Star of Sebashi's Comforting and Inspiring Lecture
The most universal comfort of poetry to those who still find life difficult
A special re-cover edition of "What We Call Life," which immediately became a bestseller in the humanities and liberal arts and touched the hearts of countless readers, has been published.
The cover of this special edition of Recover features the painting “Long Golden Day” by artist Alice Dalton Brown.
In the preface to the book, author Professor Jeong Jae-chan says, “Poetry is like a glass window.
Because it allows us to see the outside scenery that we cannot see through closed doors.
But glass windows are both a channel of communication and a wall of isolation.
“It is up to you, the readers, to open the door, step out into the street, and feel the breath of the wind for yourself,” he said.
If poetry is like a glass window, wouldn't the colorful landscapes of life viewed through the poetry's story as stepping stones sparkle like the rainbow in a painting?
Just as the breeze blowing through the glass window brings fresh air, the cover design of this book embodies the message of injecting new vitality into our lives through the glass window.
This special edition of the book, printed with Professor Jeong Jae-chan's handwritten message, will also be a great gift for readers.
Published in February 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was just beginning, "This Thing We Call Life" provided an opportunity for those huddled together in their rooms during the pandemic to reflect on their lives.
This is proven by the passionate comments from readers who fill the bookstore pages, such as, “A book that allows you to experience the many flavors of life in various ways,” “Thank you for reading poetry and making me feel less lonely,” and “A book that silently gives strength when life is difficult.”
It received national attention when it was selected as the book of the year in six regions: Incheon, Busan, Jeju, Gyeongnam, Cheonan, and Gumi, and the author also gave active lectures across the country, burning his poetic heart in every corner of the country.
Sebashi's lecture, titled "When You Get Old, You Should Do This Instead of Love," has surpassed 4 million views on YouTube and continues to provide people with the comfort and inspiration of poetry.
If you're wondering, "Life is truly difficult," as you navigate a reconnected society and people after the pandemic, listen to Professor Jeong Jae-chan's story.
As you read these poems, which convey the most universal comfort in the most beautiful language, you will gain the necessary knowledge to face the things we call life: work, family, health, learning, love, relationships, and possessions.
- You can preview some of the book's contents.
Preview
index
Chapter 1...
Making a living
When making a living becomes sad
A morning that makes me want to resign
Even if it's a small job
The karma that saves me and saves you
On the Nobility of Earning a Living
Labor_When salt melts into tears
I envy Bejjangi's guts
Earning salt with tears
For all the Hephaestus of the world
Is your job your dream?
Work is life, life is life
Chapter 2...
care
Child_I grew up taking care of you
Mother to daughter, daughter to mother
The Blessing of Conception, the Pain of Parenting
The child does not come with an instruction manual.
Let go of my hand for you
Clipping the toenails of parents and mothers
I don't have a mother
If mom comes back again
Now I want you
Please take care of my mom
Chapter 3...
health
How to eat well and live well
How are you feeling?
Between gluttony and fasting
The dining table of life
Eating, feeding
Mind_A mind that doesn't do what it wants
Everyone has a basement
From the depths of my heart
Allow sorrow to be sorrowful
Life is long and short
Chapter 4...
learning
Education_Teaching children
Do you want Mark Zuckerberg?
Serendipity within us
Observation, the power to awaken the wonders of life
If you like it, you can't stop it
Raising an Amateur Studyer
Study_Adults, now is the time to really study
Opening an old notebook
The road made me
The perfect age to study
The last big study
Chapter 5...
love
Passionate_Living for love, dying for love
Love song to listen to again
Discover, tame, and become darkness
The hotter it gets, the more silence and patience you need.
As much as I think of you
Depth gained by being worn by the wind
Marriage is like that
Love in an Age of Uncertainty
Like hot ice
Dreaming of the stars with you
Chapter 6...
relationship
Insider_I want to be one of them too
When I look like I'm the only one left behind
Where does empathy come from?
A night of worrying about celebrities
Ripley or Persona
How to Love Your Lies
Outsider_ There is a way outside
When you envy a natural person
A sleepless night in Cheongsan
The power of solitude
The twists and turns of life
For the living soul
Chapter 7...
possession
What I have_How much more do I need to fill it up?
The value of silver and ten jeon
Earn, spend, exist
Leave, throw away, disappear
I came to the planet called Earth naked
What Lost_What Loss Taught Us
What's on your bucket list?
Before the blue days are gone
Memento Mori, Carpe Diem
Attitude toward accepting loss
References
Recommendation
Making a living
When making a living becomes sad
A morning that makes me want to resign
Even if it's a small job
The karma that saves me and saves you
On the Nobility of Earning a Living
Labor_When salt melts into tears
I envy Bejjangi's guts
Earning salt with tears
For all the Hephaestus of the world
Is your job your dream?
Work is life, life is life
Chapter 2...
care
Child_I grew up taking care of you
Mother to daughter, daughter to mother
The Blessing of Conception, the Pain of Parenting
The child does not come with an instruction manual.
Let go of my hand for you
Clipping the toenails of parents and mothers
I don't have a mother
If mom comes back again
Now I want you
Please take care of my mom
Chapter 3...
health
How to eat well and live well
How are you feeling?
Between gluttony and fasting
The dining table of life
Eating, feeding
Mind_A mind that doesn't do what it wants
Everyone has a basement
From the depths of my heart
Allow sorrow to be sorrowful
Life is long and short
Chapter 4...
learning
Education_Teaching children
Do you want Mark Zuckerberg?
Serendipity within us
Observation, the power to awaken the wonders of life
If you like it, you can't stop it
Raising an Amateur Studyer
Study_Adults, now is the time to really study
Opening an old notebook
The road made me
The perfect age to study
The last big study
Chapter 5...
love
Passionate_Living for love, dying for love
Love song to listen to again
Discover, tame, and become darkness
The hotter it gets, the more silence and patience you need.
As much as I think of you
Depth gained by being worn by the wind
Marriage is like that
Love in an Age of Uncertainty
Like hot ice
Dreaming of the stars with you
Chapter 6...
relationship
Insider_I want to be one of them too
When I look like I'm the only one left behind
Where does empathy come from?
A night of worrying about celebrities
Ripley or Persona
How to Love Your Lies
Outsider_ There is a way outside
When you envy a natural person
A sleepless night in Cheongsan
The power of solitude
The twists and turns of life
For the living soul
Chapter 7...
possession
What I have_How much more do I need to fill it up?
The value of silver and ten jeon
Earn, spend, exist
Leave, throw away, disappear
I came to the planet called Earth naked
What Lost_What Loss Taught Us
What's on your bucket list?
Before the blue days are gone
Memento Mori, Carpe Diem
Attitude toward accepting loss
References
Recommendation
Detailed image
Into the book
Eating meals without missing any of the three meals, and working hard and sweating all day to earn those meals.
Isn't it something that should be compared to that holy monk who solemnly observes the nature of karma, rather than a tedious sorrow?
Knowing their calling, they feed each other, put out fires, perform surgeries, and cover foreheads until they die, trying to keep each other alive.
I hope that we who live like that will be filled with poetry, beauty, romance, and even love.
---From "Chapter 1, "Making a Living," "Occupation"
Even when children become adults, they are still children.
I live pretending to be strong, but there are times when I miss my mother's embrace, want to go into her arms and be comforted like a baby, and want to tell my mother all about the unfair things I've experienced in my life that I've never been able to tell anyone, and just cry my eyes out.
As I get older, there's no one I can talk to so confidently.
If my mother had been here, she would have probably taken my side unconditionally.
Without getting into the details, without saying anything, you would have just said, “Oh my, my baby~” and wiped my tears and snot with your hand.
If only my mother in heaven could come on vacation.
---From "Chapter 2, Care, 'Parents'"
Resolution means breaking away from what is familiar.
But my body has too much inertia.
Traces of the long years are carefully etched into every corner of the body.
We are too easy-going to fight and overcome it.
There's nothing else to fight about, so why are you fighting with yourself?
---From Chapter 3, “Health”: “Body”
Those who do not tolerate depression in those who are depressed because they need to be depressed, those who scold others for being depressed over trivial things as if it were a virtue, those who attribute the cause and solution of a problem to the person concerned, saying that everything in the world depends on the mind, and those utilitarian people who needlessly make those around them depressed - all of these people make depression worse by hiding it.
---From Chapter 3, “Health”: “Mind”
And then, when the cherries finally ripen, the longing becomes bearable.
Anyway, time passes, and with that time, anyone can bear fruit.
That's what ripening is.
You will become quite well-off, learn to look back, and be grateful for the past.
Cherries are like that too.
We can all become like that, even if we are not big, or great, or even if we are not constellations in the night sky.
This is why we must pay tribute to all the cherries that have endured a long time to ripen.
---From Chapter 4, “Learning”: “Study”
I can't tell which tree is older.
This is because, unlike us, age is not engraved on the outer wrinkles of the forehead, but rather on the inside.
(…) A person who only engraves time on the inside, and whose thoughts are still filled with green hope, so that next year will be even more lush.
I hope I get that old.
---From Chapter 4, “Learning”: “Study”
I don't really believe in the phrase 'emptying your mind'.
My mind just doesn't seem to empty.
The heart, the soul, is filled.
How much good, how precious, how lovely will it be filled with?
A life filled with such things cannot but be happy.
---From Chapter 5, “Love,” “Passionate Love”
But it is not a flower, it is weathered.
These are petroglyphs carved over a long period of time.
Although it is not a flashy and prominent petroglyph on the outside, but just a petroglyph carved only on the inside, and so it seems like there is nothing much to show off as they hold nothing in their hands, thanks to the depth of love that was obtained by being eroded by the wind, they can look at each other with longing and sorrow, with a pile of wild flowers as their scenery.
---From "Chapter 5, "Love," "Accompaniment"
Excessive honesty hinders growth.
If I honestly despair only of my present 'flaws' and 'clumsiness', I cannot become sand or a star.
What is truly honest is to believe and love all of my current selves, all of my dreams of the future, all of my countless alter egos, all of my countless personas.
---From "Chapter 6, "Relationships," "Insider"
Ignore all excuses like being busy with work, having a prior engagement, or not having time, and at that very moment when you think of a dazzlingly blue day, put everything aside for a moment and miss the person you miss so much.
I miss you so dazzlingly and long to see you. No, the more I miss you, the sadder and sadder I become, but the more I miss you, the more I want to call out to you, the dazzling you.
Isn't it something that should be compared to that holy monk who solemnly observes the nature of karma, rather than a tedious sorrow?
Knowing their calling, they feed each other, put out fires, perform surgeries, and cover foreheads until they die, trying to keep each other alive.
I hope that we who live like that will be filled with poetry, beauty, romance, and even love.
---From "Chapter 1, "Making a Living," "Occupation"
Even when children become adults, they are still children.
I live pretending to be strong, but there are times when I miss my mother's embrace, want to go into her arms and be comforted like a baby, and want to tell my mother all about the unfair things I've experienced in my life that I've never been able to tell anyone, and just cry my eyes out.
As I get older, there's no one I can talk to so confidently.
If my mother had been here, she would have probably taken my side unconditionally.
Without getting into the details, without saying anything, you would have just said, “Oh my, my baby~” and wiped my tears and snot with your hand.
If only my mother in heaven could come on vacation.
---From "Chapter 2, Care, 'Parents'"
Resolution means breaking away from what is familiar.
But my body has too much inertia.
Traces of the long years are carefully etched into every corner of the body.
We are too easy-going to fight and overcome it.
There's nothing else to fight about, so why are you fighting with yourself?
---From Chapter 3, “Health”: “Body”
Those who do not tolerate depression in those who are depressed because they need to be depressed, those who scold others for being depressed over trivial things as if it were a virtue, those who attribute the cause and solution of a problem to the person concerned, saying that everything in the world depends on the mind, and those utilitarian people who needlessly make those around them depressed - all of these people make depression worse by hiding it.
---From Chapter 3, “Health”: “Mind”
And then, when the cherries finally ripen, the longing becomes bearable.
Anyway, time passes, and with that time, anyone can bear fruit.
That's what ripening is.
You will become quite well-off, learn to look back, and be grateful for the past.
Cherries are like that too.
We can all become like that, even if we are not big, or great, or even if we are not constellations in the night sky.
This is why we must pay tribute to all the cherries that have endured a long time to ripen.
---From Chapter 4, “Learning”: “Study”
I can't tell which tree is older.
This is because, unlike us, age is not engraved on the outer wrinkles of the forehead, but rather on the inside.
(…) A person who only engraves time on the inside, and whose thoughts are still filled with green hope, so that next year will be even more lush.
I hope I get that old.
---From Chapter 4, “Learning”: “Study”
I don't really believe in the phrase 'emptying your mind'.
My mind just doesn't seem to empty.
The heart, the soul, is filled.
How much good, how precious, how lovely will it be filled with?
A life filled with such things cannot but be happy.
---From Chapter 5, “Love,” “Passionate Love”
But it is not a flower, it is weathered.
These are petroglyphs carved over a long period of time.
Although it is not a flashy and prominent petroglyph on the outside, but just a petroglyph carved only on the inside, and so it seems like there is nothing much to show off as they hold nothing in their hands, thanks to the depth of love that was obtained by being eroded by the wind, they can look at each other with longing and sorrow, with a pile of wild flowers as their scenery.
---From "Chapter 5, "Love," "Accompaniment"
Excessive honesty hinders growth.
If I honestly despair only of my present 'flaws' and 'clumsiness', I cannot become sand or a star.
What is truly honest is to believe and love all of my current selves, all of my dreams of the future, all of my countless alter egos, all of my countless personas.
---From "Chapter 6, "Relationships," "Insider"
Ignore all excuses like being busy with work, having a prior engagement, or not having time, and at that very moment when you think of a dazzlingly blue day, put everything aside for a moment and miss the person you miss so much.
I miss you so dazzlingly and long to see you. No, the more I miss you, the sadder and sadder I become, but the more I miss you, the more I want to call out to you, the dazzling you.
---From Chapter 7, “Possession,” “Lost Things”
Publisher's Review
A renowned lecture by Professor Jae-chan Jeong, a "poetry sommelier" who sings about life through poetry.
Special edition of "What We Call Life" released
A special re-cover edition of "What We Call Life," which has captured the hearts of countless readers and established itself as a bestseller in the humanities, has been published.
This special edition cover, featuring Alice Dalton Brown's painting "Long Golden Day," captures the poetic spirit of life's colorful stories with a profoundly emotional impact.
We hope to share our love of poetry with more readers by including a printed copy of Professor Jeong Jae-chan's handwritten message.
1.
A beautiful poetry lecture for everyone who seeks the language of their own life.
“Every moment of our lives is poetry.”
The entire process of life, from going through the gates of school and employment, to earning a living and caring for one's family, to accepting aging and death, is literally like a sea of suffering.
As we navigate life's harsh challenges, the shining words within us—love, freedom, nobility—fading away, and only the numbers we hold in our hands, like our resumes and our actual annual salary, illuminate our lives in a shabby light. What can we do to fill our lives more? Professor Jeong Jae-chan quietly reflects on this question.
If not poetry, then how can we speak of our lives?
Professor Jeong Jae-chan's humanities essay, "What We Call Life," contains fourteen poetry lectures that will guide all those in this era, weary of the weight of life, to find their own language for life.
This book shares wisdom about the things we call life, such as earning a living, caring for others, learning, love, health, and relationships, through over 60 poems.
Because poetry is another life that contains insight and reflection on life, or rather, it is another life that condenses life itself.
“This book is far from providing answers to life or promising success.
Sometimes you just have to nod, smile faintly, or even shed a tear. Sometimes you have to calm yourself down, and sometimes you have to let go of your feelings peacefully.
“The philosophy of life heard in poetry is, therefore, quite good.” - From “Starting”
2.
From Park Mok-wol, Lee Seong-bok, and Hwang Dong-gyu to BTS, listen to the delicate words of life in over 60 poems.
“Isn't the power of poetry to revive the most precious things in life?”
Just like Oedipus's fate before the Sphinx, there are always countless challenges waiting at the gateways of life.
But life is worth living because we don't know the answer.
In this book, Professor Jeong Jae-chan becomes a poetry sommelier and, instead of offering a set answer or consolation, delivers a heartwarming poem that makes you nod and reflect on the taste of life.
Because I believe that what always gets us back on our feet when we're tired is not nice-sounding slogans or fancy statistics, but the small hopes we hold in our hearts, the love we have for someone, and the immeasurable passion and longing.
"What We Call Life" is a beautiful book of life theories created by gathering those heartwarming moments of poetry.
“Contemplation and reflection on life, the heart-rending passion and the wounds in each joint, the wisdom and comfort found while flying high and crawling low—thanks to these, poets have always been positioned at the right place on life’s path.” - From “Starting”
In this book, Professor Jeong Jae-chan uses a calm and composed tone, humorous but never frivolous, so that readers feel as if they are listening to a lecture directly, and kindly guides readers through the landscape of life's path guided by poetry.
The fourteen poetry lectures he presents are filled with rich content, including not only over 60 exquisite poems by Park Mok-wol, Shin Kyeong-rim, Lee Seong-bok, Hwang Dong-gyu, Moon Jeong-hee, Na Hee-deok, and Kim Jong-sam, but also humanities, movies, and popular culture such as pop music.
It is designed to allow you to savor the flavors of life in various ways, such as learning the meaning of love through old songs like Lee Moon-sae's "Old Love" and famous works like "The Little Prince" and Alain de Botton, looking deep into your inner self through popular culture that has become a syndrome like BTS's "Intro: Persona" and the movie "Parasite," and reconsidering the value of solitude through the Goryeo song "Cheongsanbyeolgok" and the TV program "I Am a Natural Person."
The depth of this book is enhanced by the literary scholar's depth and insight, as well as the delicate poetic language with which even everyday moments are depicted.
3.
Seven themes and fourteen prisms,
A timely reminder in an age where communication and comfort are essential.
This book is a device for delving deeper into the ironic and complex nature of our lives, leading to fourteen life journeys, two courses each covering seven themes.
Earning a living, caring, learning, love, relationships, health, and possessions are each divided into occupation and labor, childcare and parental care, education and study, passion and companionship, insider and outsider, body and mind, and what is possessed and what is lost, and are examined in depth.
In this structure, the work of making a living (Chapter 1, “Earning a Living”) is not limited to that of a Roman soldier who sweats and gives away the salt of his body in exchange for receiving salt, but is compared to Hephaestus in mythology who, despite this, enjoys the joy of “labor.”
By reading Choi Ji-in's "Irregular," a poem that explores the feelings of a young, irregular worker, and "Heavy and Weak," which depicts the difficult life of a father in his 40s, together, we can transcend the countless conflicts between generations and classes in reality and finally find a clue to empathy, healing, and true understanding.
It also talks about the natural order of life, where we give and receive care, divided into the side of 'children' who help their parents grow through birth and upbringing, and the side of 'parents' who have grown old enough to have to take care of them in the meantime.
In this way, the prism-like structure of this book provides a time of contemplation, allowing us to savor the depth of life that cannot be defined in a single word.
Even amidst the world's rife words of conflict, hatred, and competition, we still love passionately, build families, care for one another, and work hard and sweat all day to earn a living.
This book proposes that we encounter poetry as a language of the times, a space for communication where we can feel and empathize with each other, from ourselves and our family, whom we cannot help but love despite our numerous flaws, to nameless strangers.
I hope that through this book, you will encounter the language and poetry of life that you have forgotten or that will bring about new resolutions.
Special edition of "What We Call Life" released
A special re-cover edition of "What We Call Life," which has captured the hearts of countless readers and established itself as a bestseller in the humanities, has been published.
This special edition cover, featuring Alice Dalton Brown's painting "Long Golden Day," captures the poetic spirit of life's colorful stories with a profoundly emotional impact.
We hope to share our love of poetry with more readers by including a printed copy of Professor Jeong Jae-chan's handwritten message.
1.
A beautiful poetry lecture for everyone who seeks the language of their own life.
“Every moment of our lives is poetry.”
The entire process of life, from going through the gates of school and employment, to earning a living and caring for one's family, to accepting aging and death, is literally like a sea of suffering.
As we navigate life's harsh challenges, the shining words within us—love, freedom, nobility—fading away, and only the numbers we hold in our hands, like our resumes and our actual annual salary, illuminate our lives in a shabby light. What can we do to fill our lives more? Professor Jeong Jae-chan quietly reflects on this question.
If not poetry, then how can we speak of our lives?
Professor Jeong Jae-chan's humanities essay, "What We Call Life," contains fourteen poetry lectures that will guide all those in this era, weary of the weight of life, to find their own language for life.
This book shares wisdom about the things we call life, such as earning a living, caring for others, learning, love, health, and relationships, through over 60 poems.
Because poetry is another life that contains insight and reflection on life, or rather, it is another life that condenses life itself.
“This book is far from providing answers to life or promising success.
Sometimes you just have to nod, smile faintly, or even shed a tear. Sometimes you have to calm yourself down, and sometimes you have to let go of your feelings peacefully.
“The philosophy of life heard in poetry is, therefore, quite good.” - From “Starting”
2.
From Park Mok-wol, Lee Seong-bok, and Hwang Dong-gyu to BTS, listen to the delicate words of life in over 60 poems.
“Isn't the power of poetry to revive the most precious things in life?”
Just like Oedipus's fate before the Sphinx, there are always countless challenges waiting at the gateways of life.
But life is worth living because we don't know the answer.
In this book, Professor Jeong Jae-chan becomes a poetry sommelier and, instead of offering a set answer or consolation, delivers a heartwarming poem that makes you nod and reflect on the taste of life.
Because I believe that what always gets us back on our feet when we're tired is not nice-sounding slogans or fancy statistics, but the small hopes we hold in our hearts, the love we have for someone, and the immeasurable passion and longing.
"What We Call Life" is a beautiful book of life theories created by gathering those heartwarming moments of poetry.
“Contemplation and reflection on life, the heart-rending passion and the wounds in each joint, the wisdom and comfort found while flying high and crawling low—thanks to these, poets have always been positioned at the right place on life’s path.” - From “Starting”
In this book, Professor Jeong Jae-chan uses a calm and composed tone, humorous but never frivolous, so that readers feel as if they are listening to a lecture directly, and kindly guides readers through the landscape of life's path guided by poetry.
The fourteen poetry lectures he presents are filled with rich content, including not only over 60 exquisite poems by Park Mok-wol, Shin Kyeong-rim, Lee Seong-bok, Hwang Dong-gyu, Moon Jeong-hee, Na Hee-deok, and Kim Jong-sam, but also humanities, movies, and popular culture such as pop music.
It is designed to allow you to savor the flavors of life in various ways, such as learning the meaning of love through old songs like Lee Moon-sae's "Old Love" and famous works like "The Little Prince" and Alain de Botton, looking deep into your inner self through popular culture that has become a syndrome like BTS's "Intro: Persona" and the movie "Parasite," and reconsidering the value of solitude through the Goryeo song "Cheongsanbyeolgok" and the TV program "I Am a Natural Person."
The depth of this book is enhanced by the literary scholar's depth and insight, as well as the delicate poetic language with which even everyday moments are depicted.
3.
Seven themes and fourteen prisms,
A timely reminder in an age where communication and comfort are essential.
This book is a device for delving deeper into the ironic and complex nature of our lives, leading to fourteen life journeys, two courses each covering seven themes.
Earning a living, caring, learning, love, relationships, health, and possessions are each divided into occupation and labor, childcare and parental care, education and study, passion and companionship, insider and outsider, body and mind, and what is possessed and what is lost, and are examined in depth.
In this structure, the work of making a living (Chapter 1, “Earning a Living”) is not limited to that of a Roman soldier who sweats and gives away the salt of his body in exchange for receiving salt, but is compared to Hephaestus in mythology who, despite this, enjoys the joy of “labor.”
By reading Choi Ji-in's "Irregular," a poem that explores the feelings of a young, irregular worker, and "Heavy and Weak," which depicts the difficult life of a father in his 40s, together, we can transcend the countless conflicts between generations and classes in reality and finally find a clue to empathy, healing, and true understanding.
It also talks about the natural order of life, where we give and receive care, divided into the side of 'children' who help their parents grow through birth and upbringing, and the side of 'parents' who have grown old enough to have to take care of them in the meantime.
In this way, the prism-like structure of this book provides a time of contemplation, allowing us to savor the depth of life that cannot be defined in a single word.
Even amidst the world's rife words of conflict, hatred, and competition, we still love passionately, build families, care for one another, and work hard and sweat all day to earn a living.
This book proposes that we encounter poetry as a language of the times, a space for communication where we can feel and empathize with each other, from ourselves and our family, whom we cannot help but love despite our numerous flaws, to nameless strangers.
I hope that through this book, you will encounter the language and poetry of life that you have forgotten or that will bring about new resolutions.
GOODS SPECIFICS
- Date of issue: June 5, 2023
- Page count, weight, size: 356 pages | 562g | 140*210*30mm
- ISBN13: 9791168340992
- ISBN10: 1168340993
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korean
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