[One Thousand Characters a Day] Author Kim Seol's 'Nansaengcheoeum Reading Club' <1>

Editor's NoteThe most commonly mentioned yet perhaps the rarest hobby is 'reading.' Of course, even if reading is a hobby, not everyone joins a book club. Many people feel that reading alone is enough. So why on earth do book clubs exist? Why do people gather to read together when reading alone can already be challenging? What is so good about going there? Kim Seol, author of ＜Today I Am Watching Your Eyes＞, ＜Private Lives＞, and ＜Fortunate Misfortune＞, who has been running a book club for seven years, shares stories about good books, book clubs, and the people met there. She records the sparkling and mysterious moments created by people who not only read books but also form groups to read together. Word count: 1053.

I did not even show my close friends that I was reading a book. I think it was after experiencing the moment I became a stranger the moment I took out a book. I even heard, "You read books? That's surprising." It was easier to avoid various troubles by either looking at my smartphone or drinking while joining in on gossip about my boss. Anyway, at that time, I did not want anyone to catch me reading.

Life is lonely anyway. No one can die for me, no one can eat my meals for me, and no one can take care of my business for me; the world is a place where you have to live alone. I was the kind of person who said this like a motto. Especially because I never felt loneliness while reading, I said it easily. I once met someone who wanted to learn how to be alone, and at that time, that phrase seemed so strange. I thought, "There are people who need to learn that." Naturally, I read books alone, and that was how I enjoyed it.

But for some reason, I suddenly felt lonely. It was a strange loneliness I had never felt before. One day, I went to the library and saw many people with similar loneliness etched on their faces. When I wandered around the shelves filled with novels and met someone standing on the same aisle, I felt like striking up a conversation for no particular reason. "What book are you reading these days? Do you need someone to talk about books? Do you like Japanese novels? Or French? Do you like Oscar Wilde? If you live around here, would you like to join a book club with me?" It was a sudden change, and I was surprised that I had changed so much. Still, I thought it was strange how people change as they get older and took it lightly.

I originally did not like book clubs. I thought it was better to read more books during the time I lacked for reading rather than meeting regularly to talk about books. If I was curious about the thoughts of people who read books, I thought I could just find and read books written about those books. I found going back and forth bothersome and disliked noisy environments. But my feelings kept changing. What if only people who are sincere about books gather to form a book club? What if the club costs nothing at all? As long as the club is not full of people who want to finish quickly and just drink and hang out, it might be okay.

－Kim Seol, ＜My First Ever Book Club＞, Tiramisu The Book, 15,000 KRW

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