[This Week's Books] "Lee Yunhak's Edge Walker" and More

Lee Yunhak's Edge Walker

"A professional must work like a professional. You can't treat your company as a hobby and attend work elegantly." The author, who started as a junior employee at a securities firm in Yeouido and rose to become the CEO of an asset management company, advises that unless you are planning to leave your company immediately, you should consider how to make the most of it. "Even if you aim for an average life, you must have your own secret weapon?something that no one else can match, something that goes far beyond the average. Only with that can you compensate for other areas where you may be below average and still live an average life." This book introduces the methods by which the author became a true specialist. (Written by Lee Yunhak | Gimmyoung Publishers)

Steel Is Forged by Ten Thousand Blows

While semiconductors are now referred to as the "rice of industry," in the past, that title belonged to "steel." Steel is an essential material for industrial production, serving as a core component in almost every major sector, including electronics, machinery, automobiles, shipbuilding, and construction. For this reason, steel mills are considered foundational industries that support all others, and in Korea, Hyundai Steel holds this role. Woo Youchul, former CEO of Hyundai Steel, personally recounts the grand history of Hyundai Steel. The book reveals how he was selected as the talent to realize Hyundai Group's long-cherished dream of building a steel mill, and how he took charge of everything from drafting the master plan for the Dangjin Steelworks to its operation. (Written by Woo Youchul | Say Korea)

When We Face Others

This is the first complete, unabridged Korean translation of "When We Face Others," the representative work of 18th-century German Enlightenment thinker and practical philosopher Adolph Knigge. The author, an aristocrat who was active in both the Freemasons and the Illuminati, confesses to being awkward in human relationships, but this very awkwardness led to profound introspection. In his quest to understand humanity, he observed and explored life from multiple layers, ultimately producing a practical philosophy book centered on "how to treat others." With honest and warm prose, he explains the proper attitude we should have when facing others. (Written by Adolph Knigge | Jeonyeokdal)

Films of Empty Hands

This is the first collection of film criticism by Kim Byungkyu, a film critic born in 1996 who has drawn attention from cinephiles since his debut. The author revisits key turning points in film history to examine the current state of contemporary cinema. "What can today's films show us when the hands of the protagonists in 20th-century Westerns, which once gripped guns tightly, return to the screen as the incompetent empty hands of the 21st century, constantly dropping things?" Standing before this weighty question, the author writes his own answers through critical practice. (Written by Kim Byungkyu | Maumsanchaek)

Pirate Enlightenment

When we think of "Enlightenment," we typically imagine Western white male philosophers. However, the author traces the non-Western origins of Enlightenment that have long been concealed and overlooked. He argues that in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, thousands of pirates made the northeastern coast of Madagascar their home, and it was there that the first experiments in Enlightenment took place. The book explains how the pirates' democratic governance and the egalitarian elements of Madagascar's political culture were creatively combined. The author leads readers to the scene of these radical political experiments carried out by pirates. (Written by David Graeber | Cheonnyeonuisangsang)

Lightning Rod and Permeation

This is an autobiographical record by sociologist Yoon Yeoil, who shares insights gained over the past ten years conducting research in places such as Kyoto and Jeju. The book details the stories of events and relationships encountered on the road, as well as the thoughts and discoveries derived from them. As an East Asian, the author candidly reveals the results of his reflections on various challenges he faced, including writing, conducting research in local communities, speaking as a foreigner, translating, finding a style for criticism and academic papers, defining the researcher's role in the field, inheriting the ideas of past thinkers, discovering tasks in disasters, and designing alternative systems. (Written by Yoon Yeoil | Dolbegae)