[Bread-Baking Typewriter] It's Okay, Everyone Gets Lost... Jeong Jin-ah's Novel 'Ibyeolhal Ttaen Muneo'

When Loved Ones Leave
When You Are Left Alone and Stagnant
Pieces of Growth Found Amid Wandering
To Overcome Today's Anxiety,
You Must Part With the Painful Past

Dall-E 3

"I was afraid to tell anyone that I didn't know what my next step should be. It seemed like everyone was climbing higher and striving to gain more.

There is a term called 'Ringwanderung.' It refers to the phenomenon where, when encountering thick fog or a snowstorm in the mountains, the more you try to move forward, the more you lose your sense of direction and end up wandering around the same spot. Just like a lost hiker wandering in place, a thirty-year-old youth sometimes loses their way.

The new work 'Octopus at Parting' by Korean-American writer Jeong Jin-ah, introduced for the first time in Korea, depicts the wandering of a young person who has lost direction and is stuck in place. The story centers around the protagonist 'Ro.' Her boyfriend 'Tae,' who left for Mars after overcoming a competition ratio of thousands to one, leaving only an apology; 'Deloris,' the giant octopus destined to be sold to another aquarium; and her father, who disappeared somewhere in a 130 km² whirlpool and is presumed missing or dead. Ro wanders through anxiety and loss, left alone as she sees her loved ones leave one by one. The world around her constantly changes, and farewells repeat. The sorrow of those left behind and the weight of a stagnant life press down on Ro's thirties and torment her.

"Why am I here?" Ro endlessly questions herself, but finding the answer is not easy. The future she dreamed of as a child and her current reality are vastly different, and her best friend Yoon-hee, who has become a materialistic person, offers no practical help. The uncertain future of the aquarium and vague fears about life also overwhelm and bind her. However, the novel does not merely list losses.

As French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre said, "Between B and D, there is always C in life," life is a continuous series of 'Choices' between Birth (B) and Death (D). Will Ro resent those who leave and remain stuck in anxiety as the one left behind, or will she move forward toward a new path? Ultimately, Ro makes a choice to break free from the shackles of the past.

We mistakenly think that farewells become easier with repetition, but each parting is new, unfamiliar, and painful. For Ro, farewell is not just an event but a feeling that slowly seeps in and weighs heavily on her heart. The work asks how one should stand up again when the things once loved disappear and the moments once hoped for shatter.

"Like a piece of fish stuck between the spot where I had my wisdom tooth removed years ago and the back of my molar," the past is painful but something that must eventually be removed; farewell is painful but a reality that must be faced. And within the whirlpool of these emotions, one ultimately learns how to move forward.

The author calmly and deeply depicts moments when the throat feels dry as if filled with sand, capturing the moments of farewell and loss with composure. If parting is inevitable, how should we move forward? Ro shows the journey to find that answer and offers readers the courage to choose.

For those who feel left on an unfamiliar path after familiar things disappear, I recommend Jeong Jin-ah's profound sentences. After closing this book, we will become a little stronger with Ro and be able to hold onto the 'hope to become warm like a spring day' once again.

Octopus at Parting | Written by Jeong Jin-ah | Translated by Kim Ji-hyun | Bokbokseoga | 406 pages | 18,000 won