[A Sip of a Book] Yeongi Ingan

by Seo Miteum

Published 26 Apr.2023 07:47(KST)

Editor's NoteSome sentences encapsulate the entire content of a book, while others instantly resonate with the reader's heart, creating a connection with the book. We excerpt and introduce such meaningful sentences from books.

This is a novel by Aldo Palazzeschi, a leading figure of the 20th-century Italian Futurism. Using delicate literary techniques that intricately weave reality and fantasy, it satirizes human desire and the violence of crowd psychology. In the early 20th century, when various experimental and avant-garde attempts flickered across the art world, this work was presented in 1911 when Palazzeschi was 26, interacting with Futurist activists. Over nearly 50 years, it went through five revised editions. When the fifth edition was released in 1958 at the age of seventy-three, he stated, "It was the pinnacle of my fantastic writing and a happy artistic outlet."

* Those who live and breathe and know the most secret answers of life do not feel the ordinary needs of life. (p. 120)

* Do people die at the worst moments of life, or is death the worst moment of life? (p. 145)

* I am light. (p. 253)

* Ah! The defendant insults us to the very end with this single sentence! Once again mocking us with malicious derision! Does the defendant mean to say that we have entrusted the heaviest task to the lightest person? (p. 253)

* How could the sky today be blooming with stripes like this! Like new people, new groups, isn't it? (p. 292)

Smoke Man | Written by Aldo Palazzeschi | Munye Publishing | 16,600 KRW