★★Opening of the Open One Series "Open"★★
"Open": A Window of Thought That Breaks Through the Cracks of Everyday Life

We are pleased to present to readers the new "Open" series from Yeollimwon, which introduces the refined writing and thoughts of masters.
We collect and compile fascinating traces of thought across genres, including essays, poetry, novels, and letters, and present them in a book with elegant translation and a bright, compact design.

'Open' is a window of thought that opens a gap in everyday life, and a small door leading to an infinite forest.
The new verb '悅다', derived from the name of 'Yeollimwon (悅林苑),' a 'forest of happy books,' also means to walk through the joy of endlessly extending thoughts.
It invites readers into that open space.

“Despite all the pain, I still
“I’m in love with this crazy world.”

I loved life even in pain
An anthology filled with Hesse's intense thoughts

Hermann Hesse, who left behind monumental masterpieces of world literature such as 『Demian』 『Siddhartha』 and 『The Glass Bead Game』, stands tall as a giant of German literature.
A collection of his writings, "Falling in Love with a Crazy World," which captures the essence of his thoughts, was published by Yeollimwon.
This is the first book in the new series 'Open' presented by Yeollimwon.

“Despite all the pain, I am still in love with this crazy world.” As in the line from Hesse’s poem included in this book, Hesse wanted to love everything in this world even while enduring all the violence and barbarism the world inflicted on him.
Hesse's regenerative power, which loved life even in suffering and saw crises as opportunities for growth, is expressed in many ways in his literature, and can be found in his poetry, novels, essays, and even countless replies to readers' letters.
This book is a collection of Hesse's writings that well express his power and worldview, and introduces a selection of famous sentences that contain the essence of his thoughts, drawn from the realities of life.

Volker Michels, the German editor who wrote the preface to this book, is an authority in this field who published the first complete works of Hesse and spent his life researching and editing numerous works of Hesse. He states in the preface that it is these writings that have transcended national borders and generations and made Hesse the iconic he is today.
The translation was done by Jongdae Park, who has translated numerous German classics including Hesse's representative works such as 'Demian' and 'Beneath the Wheel', as well as works by Kafka, Musil, Freud, and Büchner.

“I believe you are on the right path.”

Struggling to live as 'oneself' and no one else
Comforting words for these unique and precious individuals.

Hesse was a writer who valued and encouraged the uniqueness of individuals more than anyone else.
He regarded every individual in the world, each and every person, as a unique and peculiar being in itself, and as “the point where the phenomena of the world do not repeat themselves in the same way, but only intersect once” (Demian).
Because of this, he fiercely resisted all attempts by society to eradicate individuality and standardize it, and constantly urged people to protect their own personal and unique sphere against external pressures to standardize.

In a letter to a young man unsure of his own path, he states, “It is inevitable that a young man, in the midst of his growth, will appear crazy in the eyes of others as he has a strong desire to become a unique individual and thus deviates strongly from the average and everyday life.” He advises, “Protect yourself against the world so that the ideals and dreams within you do not wither.”
Another article states that “the way to go on the right path” is to “realize oneself without judging oneself or trying to change oneself, but rather to get as close as possible to the image of life that is prefigured within us in the form of a premonition.”
There is no such thing as a “standard of living.”
Because “life gives each of us a unique mission.”
Although the process of following that mission is not easy, he says that is why “his life” is “always difficult but also beautiful.”

And more than anyone else, Hesse himself tried to live that way.
The reason Hesse's works can deeply move the hearts of many people even today is because his life itself is faithfully reflected in his writing.
In his introduction, Volker Michels singles out Hesse's rare virtue as a writer above all else: his "human nobility," saying, "He lived what he said as a writer.
He said, “I refused to compromise with the world and lived in pain until the end of my life.”
“His life and work seem like an equation that falls into place without a remainder until the very end.” Hesse was a writer whose life and writing were inseparable.
The reason his life was painful was because he was a person who constantly tried to live according to his beliefs in the world and to maintain his uniqueness as a writer.
This book contains the vivid voice of Hesse, who, despite being hurt and suffering because of it, struggled to love and move forward with such a life.
I hope that the encouragement and comfort these records provide will reach readers vividly.