[One Sip of a Book] A 'Gongginori' Story That Gives Strength to Someone

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 introduce such meaningful sentences excerpted from the book. - Editor's note

It is a story that gives strength to someone. Take the included work "Gogi wa Seokryu" (Meat and Pomegranate) as an example. There is an elderly person left alone after the husband dies and the son leaves. The old man accidentally meets a monster with the face of a child and ends up letting the monster into his house. Will the old man be eaten by the monster? No. Jo Yeo-eun's story unfolds quite differently. His novel does not end with simply saying that life is hard. It shows fear but does not let fear gnaw away at our lives. After all, life goes on. Even after the novel ends, the story continues. As long as the story continues, Jo Yeo-eun's characters survive and endure to the end. As long as life continues, Jo Yeo-eun's stories inevitably move in a bright direction.

Do you remember the movie Hollow Man that was often aired on movie channels? It's an SF thriller featuring an invisible man. It felt like that movie. No one in the classroom could see me. At first, it was good. It was literally a day I wanted to disappear. I spent time playing pranks on a kid who usually acted mean and doing small mischiefs. But gradually, it became scary. No one looked for me. I cried on the way home, thinking I might really disappear forever. Fortunately, the next day everything returned to normal. The kids seemed not to even notice I was gone for a day. My desk mate still teased me, though. What? You say it’s nonsense? I think so too. It was childhood, so maybe I mistook a strange dream I once had for reality.

But sometimes I think about it. Adults also have moments when they want to disappear from the world. Aren’t children any different? Why do they always cry wanting to go home? That’s what it means. They want to go somewhere else, not here, somewhere that doesn’t hurt them. So, what I mean is that the disappeared Jae-i might have felt the same way. _pp. 11-12

Okju knew that she could be eaten at any time. What she was raising was not a disobedient grandchild or a stray cat.

But still, it didn’t matter. It meant that it was okay if the pomegranate ate her. It had been that way from the moment they first met. Ironically, thanks to the pomegranate, which could harm her at any time, Okju was able to lessen her fear and terror. The fear of dying alone in loneliness and rotting under the blanket. By raising the pomegranate, she would not die alone. She would not rot. When she died and there was no one left to give meat to, the red-eyed pomegranate in front of her would devour her, the nutrient. She thought it would be best if the pomegranate peeled her cleanly. So cleanly that there would be no flesh left to rot, and it would peel her for a long time without being hungry. But that was probably a matter for later. For that future, the pomegranate had to endure by her side. _p. 41

Tropical Night | Written by Jo Yeo-eun | Hankyoreh Publishing | 312 pages | 15,000 KRW

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