[One Thousand Characters a Day] Author Kim Seol's 'Nan Saeng Cheo Jeom Reading Club' <2>

Editor's NoteThese days, the word "reading club" can be easily found everywhere. It might seem like a sudden trend whose origins are unknown, but the fact that people with the same hobby form small groups has long surpassed being just a fad and become a genuine trend. Why together, not alone? This is probably due to humans' instinct for storytelling. Everyone has their own story. That story only concludes when shared with others, and it is finally completed when it gains others' empathy. Word count: 1023 characters.

In fact, it is difficult to find any book enjoyable if you read it with a light, pastime mindset. Finding enjoyment in a book is similar to embarking on an adventure. It is like taking a leap of courage and diving in, just like bungee jumping.

Before that, there is something you need to understand. You must accept that the medium called a book is fundamentally far from being entertaining. People who find it fun to look at letters on paper that neither make sound nor move are unusual. Perhaps only one or two out of a hundred people consider books fun. Naturally, I also find many books uninteresting. But how long will you keep reading books just for fun? If you come to a reading club only drawn by fun, I’m sorry but I want to send you back. Such people only want to read books that tell them what they want to hear. They feel good when an author says exactly what they think in a book. Many people believe that such books are fun books. So what kind of books should you read? When you don’t know which book to choose, that is exactly when you should go to a reading club.

In our reading club, we decide which books to read in various ways. Each person picks a book they want to read and adds it to a list, then we vote; or we select one author and read several of their books; or we divide by genre and read accordingly. Most of the time, I, as the organizer, choose the books, which is quite a burden because I feel I must pick works that satisfy many people. When it becomes overwhelming, we use a method where each person takes turns choosing a book they want to read, but then another problem arises. On the day we discuss the book they chose, that person is absent. This happens more often than you might think.

Surprisingly, many members do not understand what it means to select the book to read in a reading club. Choosing a book for the club means recommending it to others. You must actively lead the discussion by explaining why you chose this book, how you encountered it, what kind of conversation you want to have, and so on. But if that person is absent, the atmosphere that day becomes bland like a steamed bun without red bean paste. Figuring out how to revive the drooping mood is quite a challenge.

－Kim Seol, <My First Ever Reading Club>, Tiramisu The Book, 15,000 KRW