Beginning_Forty, What is Ambition?

Part 1: Reading to Meet Myself
A Princess' Dignity _ 『A Little Princess』 Sarah
How Elegance Becomes a Weapon for Life _ Yoko, "Freezing Point"
Living as a Writer _ 『Little Women』 Jo
The Source of My Independence _ Maya from "Glass Mask"
Mourning the Deleted Girlhood _ A plot poem from the 'Plot Poem' series
Soulmate _ Anne of Green Gables

Part 2: Reading Between Work and People
If we read Anne and lose Anne _ 『Anne of Green Gables』 by Shin Ji-sik
About the tears of a working woman _ Scarlett from Gone with the Wind
Public Me, Private Me _ 『And I Said Nothing』 Jeon Hye-rin
Such attraction, such passion, such trembling, Midori _ 『The Age of Loss』 Midori
Remember, I am a woman who knows how to be crazy in love - Catherine from Wuthering Heights
I feel so small sometimes _ If only we weren't so small and lonely Astrid Lindgren

Part 3: Reading a Book that Taught Us Dignity
Country Girl's Pride _ Kate from "Elegant Lover"
A Hesitant Person's Coming of Age _ Michelle Obama, "Becoming"
The Queen Without a Corset _ Marie Antoinette, Victim of Adventures
My sister next to me _ "Don't worry, everything will be okay" Mariko
Women in Solidarity with Women Fighting _ Ginsburg's Words and Notorious RBG
A Woman Living Alone's Wannabe _ 《The Complete Works of Agatha Christie》 Miss Marple
We Are Not Fake Goldflies _ 『The Discovery of Learning』 Tara Westover

In conclusion_Finding hope in despair_ 『Polyanna's Joyful Play』 Pollyanna

● Forty, to live my life my way

“The saddest thing about approaching my forties was that I had no choice but to accept the aging of my body.
His white hair increased significantly, and his physical strength deteriorated noticeably.

And most of all, I lost confidence in myself.”
_From the section “Public Me and Private Me” (page 139)

The author of this book, Aram Kwak, gained sympathy from many readers by candidly revealing the anxiety of a working woman facing her thirties through her first book, "Drawings to Her," published in 2008, and became a bestselling author with her first book.
Aram Kwak, who had been working for 6 years, is now in her 19th year.
And she became the first female head of the publishing team within the company.
Has the author diligently walked the path of self-development to reach the position of "first"? Can the author teach us "how to succeed in the workplace"? Perhaps he can share with us the dreams and ambitions he harbors.
But Kwak A-ram says this.
“I have never had any ambition.
“I just think it’s important to earn a living with my own hands and not rely on others, and that’s how I go about my daily work life.”
Author Kwak A-ram says that her ambition is not social success, but to live her own life, and that she has been seeking her own methods to achieve this.
“Separating my at-work self from my after-work self, so that I can say goodbye to the company with a light heart, whether the company abandons me or I leave.” Also, “smoothly practicing the virtue of self-cultivation, which was usually given only to men in Confucian society.” This is the attitude of Kwak A-ram, a single woman in her 40s and in her 19th year of working life, toward her life.

● A story that awakens the attitude and dignity you already possess

Don't let your heart freeze.
No matter what hardships come, I will not become ugly to the core.

Maintain as much elegance and dignity as possible.

This is what I learned from the women in the books I read as a child.
_From 〈Starting〉 (page 7)

There are moments of humiliation that we often encounter in our social lives.
Because I'm a woman, because I'm young, because I have a low position, because I don't have money... I worry about what to say and what to do in those moments.
'I should have told you this back then.' 'If I were to become a team leader, I would never do what you did.' Sometimes, determination and direct methodology are necessary.
We might also practice our speech regularly to successfully defend ourselves against the moments of contempt that come our way unexpectedly.

But while those methods may yield short-term results, you can't be sure if they're truly the person you want to be.
This book is a reading diary written by an author who has the same heart as you, and it talks about your heart through 20 books, from books he read in his childhood to books that were recently published.

“Even though I was bullied by my adoptive mother, I thought, ‘No matter what happens, I will not become twisted.
Yoko from "Freezing Point" decides, "I don't want to dirty my heart by blaming people for something like that," and even after her father goes bankrupt and passes away, she is thrown out into a rat-infested attic and becomes a kitchen maid, but says, "Even if the sky splits in two, this one thing will never change."
“My role model was Sarah from ‘A Little Princess,’ who thought, ‘If I were a princess, I could be a princess at heart even if I wore tattered rags.’”
_From 〈Starting〉 (page 7)

If you want to compete with the experiences and history you have accumulated rather than the same humiliation in a moment of humiliation, the author says to think of a moment of dignity.
This book awakens the dignity that is imprinted on us through books we read at least once in our childhood.
The unwavering attitude of the protagonists is introduced through 『A Little Princess』, 『Anne of Green Gables』, and 『Little Women』.
It's a story and a sentence we know.
We already have the experience of dignity.
But this book brings back that experience.
The latest edition also examines the dignity of adults.
Tara Westover in "The Discovery of Learning" and Michelle Obama in "Becoming" are examples.

The author of this book, Aram Kwak, says:
“Twenty books, twenty women.
They built my past, they shaped my present, and they will build my future.” His story is our story too.
The twenty books and women introduced by Kwak A-ram are alive in our experiences and history.
Through the sentences he introduces in this book and the stories he honestly writes, you will be able to begin to tell your own story.
If you face the world with that story, that is your dignity.