VOL.70/2024.05

Two Ways to Read Spring in April

Columnist’s Pick

2024.05.07

The seasons are always honest and dutiful - they do what they must when the time comes, without hesitation. In spring, it sows what it has to, blooms what it has to, and declares another cycle of seasons to begin again. Spring is always an invigorating and promising season, as if giving those who have missed the start of a new year a second chance to get back on the starting line. Although we often say that spring begins in March, it is usually April when we can truly enjoy it. So, I have selected 2 books that I think are perfect for April, when spring fully blooms.

Han Kang, writer of The Vegetarian (Changbi), was the first Korean to win the UK’s Man Booker Prize. And Han’s novel, Impossible Adieux (Munhakdongne), is a book to read and remember with April. Beginning with the sentence, “It was snowing heavily,” the book stays in this snowy season from beginning to end. Set in this cold season, the story follows the journey of Kyung-Ha, a novelist living in Seoul, as she travels to Jeju Island to meet her old friend In-Sun. In between, the readers learn about the past stories and introspective confessions of the two characters. Along the way, we discover why this novel is set on Jeju Island - the ultimate destination.
Han Kang, who previously wrote the novel Human Acts (Changbi), a poignant reminder of the Gwangju Uprising, takes readers into the catastrophic history of the Jeju Uprising in Impossible Adieux. From 1947 to 1954, more than 30,000 Jeju Islanders died in a senseless ideological conflict. One in nine Jeju Islanders died. People of all ages - regardless of gender and age, even including the infants - were ruthlessly murdered. The Jeju Uprising is considered the most horrific spring in Korea’s modern history. Above all, the Jeju Uprising remains an ongoing tragedy in that the fact that the massacre, which took place under the lead of the US military government in Korea, has never had the chance to be properly recognized by the world.
However, Impossible Adieux is not a novel that aims to provoke outrage at the reality of the Jeju Uprising. Rather, it is more of an experience in which we confront a part of history that unexpectedly raises its head during a journey that we don’t know where it will lead us, and listen to the tragedies of the many individuals in it in a narrative voice. It is not weird to feel some kind of pain in the process. The memories of the survivors in Jeju Island, where so many people died unexplained, are still preserved in tangible pain, along with those who refuse to move on from that painful history. So, I recommend that you read Impossible Adieux in April, and do not bid farewell.

Subtitled “The Determination to Play, Eat, and Work,” Spring is Just an Excuse (Book Stone) is a collection of essays by Lee Ju-Yeon, a freelance food journalist. In the book, Lee candidly writes about her stories of “playing, eating, and working,” as the subtitle suggests, while living in the same neighborhood - Seochon, Jongno-gu, Seoul - for 11 years since her marriage in 2013. As the title, Spring is Just an Excuse, suggests, the season of spring just added some flavors - she delightfully shares some of the daily events of her life in Seochon. While some may wonder why anyone would want to read about such a private life in an age where we can easily find out about others’ daily lives through Social Media, it is worth checking out if you have a special affection or interest in Seochon.
Written by food journalist Lee Ju-Yeon, Spring is Just an Excuse is more like a love song to Seochon. From the decision to move to Seochon after marrying her husband, to buying an old row house, Okin Yeonnip, and renovating it to the point of almost building a new house, to hosting a unique social dining event called “Cinemeetable,” Lee is truly committed to the Seochon life. Located in the heart of Seoul, Jongno-gu, near Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seochon is perhaps the oldest neighborhood in the city with much unchanged, but it is also one of the most popular tourist destinations. If you walk along the narrow alleys that connect throughout the neighborhood, like following a small waterway, you will encounter a variety of lifestyles where authentic Korean scenery and exotic landscapes coexist. In addition, the book makes you want to experience the diverse flavors of Seochon, including the Suseongdonggyegok Valley, overlooked by the huge rocky mountain, Inwangsan Mountain. Plus, the story of how she adopted a cat she met at a neighborhood playground and the relationships built and deepened just because she lives in Seochon are not so ordinary. It is like a guidebook for outsiders who want to live in Seochon. Above all, befitting the writer’s love of alcohol that smoothly goes down the throat, the book can also be read smoothly.

Written by Min Yong-Jun (Freelance film journalist and pop-culture columnist)