[One Thousand Characters a Day] Author Kim Seol's 'Nan Saeng Cheo Jeom Reading Club' <5>

Editor's NoteCan a single book change someone's life? The author confesses that after accidentally reading Antoine de Saint-Exup?ry's , they became a different person than before. This was because, after reading Saint-Exup?ry's sentences in the book, they were able to shake off the pain that had tormented them for a long time. It reminded them that the hardships and adversities they had experienced were not unique to themselves but had already been endured by those who lived before them. Although the author read the part where Byeoldang Assi flees in the middle of the night in Park Kyung-ni's more than twenty times, they habitually stopped reading after about half of the 20 volumes. Thus, was like an assignment that the author felt they had to finish someday. This book also contains the author's personal reading records about the books that influenced their life. Looking into these honest records, one can glimpse the author's everyday thoughts that anyone can relate to. Word count: 1028.

It has been six months since we started reading in our book club. One member said they were just bored and wanted to finish it quickly. I was already anxious that such words might come up, but when I actually heard someone say it was boring, I felt apologetic. Should we have switched to another book midway? However, this time, I wanted to see it through to the end. For some reason, I felt that if I missed this opportunity, I might never be able to finish reading completely again.

(Omitted)

This work, which a single author began writing in their 40s and completed in their late 60s, is literally a 'life's masterpiece.' The author's determination to complete this epic of 16 volumes in 5 parts over 26 years is an expression of an intense artistic spirit unparalleled in history. Gazing quietly at the cover of published by Marronnier Books, I think about why Park Kyung-ni wrote such a long novel that people consider a must-read before they die, yet many cannot finish it before their death. I cannot even imagine how much the author's body must have deteriorated to write such a lengthy novel. In other words, a long novel is not written by the head but by the body. is literature that penetrates the body and is labor literature without any tricks. What did the author want to say by writing such a long novel in ? The answer was conveyed by the character Lee Dong-jin, who came to find Choi Chi-soo before leaving for the independence movement in Yeonhaeju, with the word 'mountains and rivers' (sancheon).

In other words, Park Kyung-ni wrote for the sake of the mountains and rivers. Then, what does 'mountains and rivers' mean? Literary critic Kim Yoon-sik also spoke about the symbolism of the word 'mountains and rivers' appearing in . He said that the word contains something that transcends all concepts of that era, including political ideology and nationalism.

encompasses personal history, family history, daily life, customs, history, society, and all sorts of miscellanea. It reconstructs the lives of all classes from yangban (aristocrats) to nobi (slaves), recreating and inventing all kinds of characters and personalities to gather everything about human affairs and present a grand picture.

－Kim Seol, , Tiramisu The Book, 15,000 KRW