[One Sip of a Book] First-time Voting Mom and Third-time Voting Daughter... The Beginning of Family Conflict Was the Presidential Election

Editor's NoteSome sentences encapsulate the entire content of a book, while others instantly resonate with the reader, creating a connection with the book. We excerpt and introduce such meaningful sentences from books.

The novel deals with how our chaotic politics after the 20th presidential election changed the daily life of an ordinary family of four. The story of a family of four?mother and father who share the same religious views but have different political colors, daughter, and son?follows Spring - Jeonghee (mother), Summer - Hamin (daughter), Autumn - Dongmin (son), Winter - Younghan (father), and back to Spring - Jeonghee (mother). Through the five seasonal stories written from each family member's perspective, it realistically and humorously portrays the current state of South Korea. It covers the tensions between the mother who voted for candidate number 1 and the daughter who voted for number 3, as well as the political, career, and gender identity conflicts between the father who voted for number 1 and the son who voted for number 2.

In front of the restaurant, when Hamin said she had somewhere else to go with Dongmin and left, leaving only the couple behind, Jeonghee muttered, “With a family of four this divided, how can the president manage? Running the country in an orderly way is just impossible.” Jeonghee watched the siblings’ backs as they walked away. Would she only see Dongmin during Chuseok now? Looking back quietly, Dongmin hadn’t even glanced at his father today nor exchanged words with him. - p.24~25

Sometimes a new headache pushes out an old one. Occasionally, a different issue frees me from another psychological issue. You could call it the metabolism of issues. It was an intense spring. The daughter delivered a strong punch to Jeonghee’s temple, yet at the same time gave her slightly exciting moments of freedom. Thanks to that, she could momentarily forget that Yoon was president. - p.73

Younghan sat in despair in front of his son, who was dozing with his head bowed. Everything was broken and collapsed. His chest felt barren and his vision was hazy. Younghan wanted to cry. He thought a light conversation over one evening would bring back the warm days with his son. But the rare frank talk revealed that the gap between him and his son was not a small crack but a deep valley. The cellphone incident was just a minor mishap. Younghan’s shoulders sagged. The pandemic of hatred had widened the distance between them too much. Could they cross this? Could this gap be filled? Even if not now, could it be bridged over time? Suddenly, he lost all respect for this society. - p.250

“There must be an acacia tree somewhere.”

The tree is invisible, but the scent lingers much longer.

“Spring is really nice.”

“Yeah, spring is nice.”

When winter passes, spring comes and brings acacia blossoms from the dead earth. Jeonghee wants to become cheerful again, like when she was in middle school. - p.332

And Spring | Written by Chosunhee | Hankyoreh Publishing | 340 pages | 16,800 KRW