언론사

The Book Not Read

Department of Library and Information Science Cheong-Ok Yoon

The title of this essay is after 'The Road Not Taken', a famous poem by Robert Frost. Majoring in library and information science, I have often emphasized the pleasure of reading books in my writing. I also mention or recommend some books worth reading in my classes. Not all books, however, are fun or easy to read. Therefore, there are many books not read, even if I would like to read.

The Prisoner and Three Generations of Railroad Workers by sog-yong Hwang are two impressive books that I had recently read. The Prisoner in two volumes with more than 900 pages describes the whole life and literary journey of the writer himself.

It is not easy to begin reading such a huge book. But once a reader opens it, he/she will be able to meet vividly many monumental moments in the modern history of Korea. Especially what Hwang portrayed the sudden fall-down of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of East Germany and West Germany bring tears in my eyes.

Hwang was there in Berlin, as an exile from Korea, after visiting North Korea without Korean government's permission in the eighties. I feel pain in imagining two old men who were crying over there: One was Hwang, the writer, who fought all his life for the reunification of two Koreas and distributed the true account of 5.18 Gwangju Democratic Movement to the world, and Mr. Yun Yi-sang, the world-famous composer, who was convicted of benefiting the enemy, that is, North Korea, because of the frame-up East-Berlin trial under President Park's dictatorship and therefore could never return to his home country.

As a reader, it is not too much to feel sympathy with the writer toward the only divided country in the world. Three Generations of Railroad Workers also fully shows Hwang's authentic value as a storyteller in this century, I think.

Hwang portrays the lives of some common people who keep struggling to survive the upheaval of the period since the Japanese Occupation to these days. It might not be easy to read the bitters of life that people face, even if it was not their personal choice.

But Hwang's storytelling made their lives pretty much interesting so that reading this book becomes much fun and exciting. I strongly recommend this book which is chosen for 'DOCTORY' book discussion program for Cheongju University this fall. There are some books that I cannot read.

One of those books is Han Kang's Human Act. I gave up reading after only a couple of pages. It's not easy to recall the memory of a brutal massacre and the pain of the survivors through the story of one boy who lost his life during 5.18 Gwangju Democratic Movement.

While the mass murderers and their mastermind were never punished and are still living happily, the common people who directly experienced or indirectly observed their cruel and inhuman crimes are in much pain. Watching their shameless effort to justify and even beautify their acts makes us angry and despair.

But the truth never sinks in history. While people like me are uncomfortable to read Human Act, young readers might be able to read this book rather in less pain. Therefore, I strongly wish that they read it and remember the days in our history. Some books not read are to be read forever.