[Lee Geun-hyung's Odok Odok] It's Okay If You Are Not Like Me

Essay by Artist Jo Hyun: 'A Night Reading Luk?cs'

The writer says that writing might be "an act of slowly brewing one's own scars like a witch's potion."
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Happiness comes from meeting someone with similar tastes, but I do not reject others

Affection for Luk?cs, tastes in food, movies, and music introduced in kind language

In the beginning, there was a column called "Two Soy Sauce Dishes." It was neither based on a survey nor academic research, but I am confident that no other column has been talked about by more people over the past decade. Starting from the reason that a Chinese restaurant gave one soy sauce dish for two people, extending all the way to the last wish at Auschwitz, this column well demonstrated how a person's world can infinitely expand in a petty way (quoting the author's own words). In modern terms, it could be called the "multiverse of pettiness." The charm of this column lies in the fact that, unlike similar columns that make readers stop halfway with a "What the heck is this nonsense?" reaction, it compels readers to finish it.

The essay "A Night Reading Luk?cs" by writer Jo Hyun is a book that stands exactly at the opposite end. It shows how far a person's quaint kindness can extend, while introducing their tastes in a way that does not cause discomfort to others.

The author describes themselves as a "slightly" dichotomist. "People who like Stephen King and those who don't, people who have seen UFOs and those who haven't, people who know philosopher Berkeley and those who don't, or people who have read H.P. Lovecraft and those who haven't..." They categorize people in this way. And they say they apply this when meeting someone.

"If there is a possibility that the person shows intimacy toward what I like inside them, I become very happy. Because I can introduce to them something else I am deeply immersed in. It's like arranging a blind date."

In this process, the author always values the mindset of not feeling pity for those who are on the opposite side or who do not know. For example, not knowing Stephen King does not mean dragging them into a prison of the mind. The author disarms the aversion toward the name Georg Luk?cs?which, like Walter Benjamin, caused shivers during liberal arts classes?and extols his beauty. It is the multiverse of kindness itself.

The author says that writing might be "an act of slowly boiling one's own scars like a witch's potion." Reading through the memories of their childhood, food preferences, obsession with books, and the music and movies that inspired them on every page, one does not feel persuaded or swayed by their tastes, but rather feels the desire to share one's own tastes with them.

If someone asks me what my life movie is, I would pick Ridley Scott's 1982 film Blade Runner. Of course, it is an excellent film and naturally ranks among my top 3 or 4 life movies.

But my number one has never changed since I first saw it: Stephen Chow's 1995 films A Chinese Odyssey: Part One ? Pandora's Box and A Chinese Odyssey: Part Two ? Cinderella. I have never found another movie that surpasses the beauty of the heroine or the lingering feeling when the ending song "A Lifetime of Love" plays.

However, I guess I was embarrassed to say this movie was the best in most settings (I was somewhat a film studies enthusiast). After spending a night reading Luk?cs with Jo Hyun, I will now muster the courage to say it. Honestly, I had been hiding my true tastes out of concern for others' eyes. "Hey, you too?"

A Night Reading Luk?cs / Jo Hyun / Fox Corner / 17,000 KRW