[Book Sip] Thrilling Narrative 'Godoksa Workshop'

Some sentences encapsulate the entire content of the book itself, while others instantly reach the reader's heart, creating a connection with the book. We present meaningful sentences excerpted from the book. - Editor's note

The author debuted in 2010 through the Chosun Ilbo New Year's Literary Contest and won the Chosun Ilbo Fantasy Literature Award in 2013 for the novel Jinachige Sajjeokin Geuui Woryoil (His Excessively Private Monday). Through fantasy settings and thrilling narratives, the author demonstrates a broad understanding encompassing both literature and science, along with sharp insights into life, expanding the boundaries of genre literature. In this new work after nine years, the author presents a deeper world and a distinctive writing style, adding unique black humor, rich literary references, and tension and fun that cross genres.

“In fact, the target audience likely to be interested in the Godoksa Workshop is not the elderly living alone in their 70s and 80s, who are at absolute risk of solitary death both economically and physically. Rather, it is men and women in their 30s and 40s who harbor anxiety about solitary death but have no concrete alternatives, living in a state of either optimistic denial or self-negation, thinking somehow it will work out. If solitary death is inevitable anyway, it is important for those people to practice greeting and becoming intimate with their own solitude early on, and to package it in a plausible way. The goal is to have a clean solitary death, one that causes no sorrow or guilt to anyone. This is not to ignore the seriousness of solitary death or the social responsibility of solidarity. But you know how there is dakku, diary decorating? Expanding on that, the idea is for the prospective solitary death group to become their own solitary death creators, decorating their time of solitude or their anticipated solitary death together.”

Comparing the Godoksa Workshop to diary decorating made me wonder if it was appropriate to treat solitary death so lightly. Yet somehow, Deputy Oh also felt that the time leading to his own clearly and fortunately anticipated solitary death felt somewhat tender. (p. 25)

“For me, comedy is a forgiving genre. It is a flexible and generous genre that forgives one’s own shortcomings and deficiencies, treats someone who makes a silly mistake or acts foolishly with kindness, and shows laughter instead of criticism. I believe comedians are people skilled at reaching out to their unhappy pasts to seek reconciliation, forgiving past misfortunes, and embracing their own tragedies. Yes, I believe comedians are forgiving people?those who forgive their foolish selves and forgive others who have made mistakes. Also, comedy is a genre of repetition. Because of the laughter created by repetition, I love comedy. Comedy invents laughter through repeated attempts, failures, retries, and reversals. Isn’t that wonderful? To try again within comedy does not mean we failed in the past, but rather that our potential to invent laughter has increased.” (p. 171)

Godoksa Workshop | Written by Park Ji-young | Minumsa | 388 pages | 15,000 KRW

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