Recommended Book by Korea Publication Culture Industry Promotion Agency for Lunar New Year Holiday ④ ‘Banggeum Tteonaon Segye’

The Korea Publication Culture Industry Promotion Agency (Director Kim Jun-hee) Book Sharing Committee announced seven titles, including Raiders of the Alley (Smart Books), as ‘Recommended Books’.

The Book Sharing Committee is composed of experts from various fields and introduces books in seven categories each month with recommendations to expand publishing demand and promote reading culture: ▲Literature ▲Humanities & Arts ▲Social Sciences ▲Natural Sciences ▲Practical & General ▲Picture Books & Fairy Tales ▲Youth.

The ‘Recommended Books for February’ include seven titles: ▲Raiders of the Alley (Smart Books) ▲A Wise Speaking Guide to Dealing with Rude Friends (Sakyejul) ▲Religious Studies for Youth (Gino) ▲The World Just Left (Hankyoreh Publishing) ▲About Believing Humans (Heureum Publishing) ▲What Is Prison? (Wings of Knowledge) ▲The World of Quantum (Haenamu).

'The World Just Left' | Written by Kim Cho-yeop | Hankyoreh Publishing | 336 pages | 18,000 KRW

One of the characteristics of SF (Science Fiction) novels is that they allow us to encounter worlds we have not yet experienced or visited, based on scientific knowledge. However, personally, my greatest interest in writing and reading novels has been ‘right here, right now,’ so I was not very curious about the near future or worlds that have not yet come. Perhaps that is why I hesitated to read SF novels. But scientific technology accelerates, and imagination inevitably grows. How will the future of Earth and humanity change and differ? And in such a world, what are the things humans lose and must protect? Just this imagination and contemplation make the story resonate and amplify.

After reading Kim Cho-yeop’s short story Cognitive Space, which depicts the friendship between AI managers Jena and Eve, I felt my ignorance of SF novels crumble. It is accurate to say that I was surprised that SF is not far from everyday life and tells stories about “everything we have” or what we must protect and cherish, in a different way from mainstream literature but with the same precious message. I also discovered that the difficult and obscure scientific knowledge is another form of background for understanding humans. Then, the world that appears in Kim Cho-yeop’s collection seems very necessary, “accessible,” and perhaps even beautiful.

The World Just Left takes its title from the last sentence of the short story Cognitive Space, and this book contains seven short stories about people who believe in the “restoration of the world” from beyond the universe. For readers who have had few opportunities to encounter domestic SF literature or are unfamiliar with SF novels, I recommend short stories like Laura or The Old Covenant, which reflect our current reality like a mirror. You will also feel that the author wisely and meaningfully holds the gravitational string between dystopia and utopia, reality and future. The new era of SF novels has begun again with Kim Cho-yeop?as a type of literature, or rather, a precious method of literature that can keep pace with accelerating technology.

- Jo Kyung-ran, Novelist

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.