[Opinion] Old Book, New Appreciation

Thinking about the upcoming move, the first thing that worries me are my books. Since then, I have been browsing through my study. I am looking for books that I can throw out. In the sixteen years of independent living, I have must have moved at least sixteen times. It may be even more if I count the writing space I set up and then gave up. I am not sure about the exact number because I stopped counting after the tenth time.

Books are the most worrisome things when moving. Depending on how big my new place is, I have to determine the size of my bookcase, which in turn means that I have to start throwing books away. The ones that I discard are those books that are enough after one reading (of course, I don’t actually throw them away but leave them in the basement for other people to pick up). I have never regretted, even once, having bought the books in the first place or for having spent money for them as I threw them away. Those books gave me both pleasure and disappointment, and I still think to myself that the money I could have spent on coffee, I spent on something much more meaningful.

Meeting a lot of people definitely helps the coverage work in my job. But for someone like me who has a hard time interacting with a lot of people, I do the work through books. I buy so many and all sorts of books that other people may think it is a bit absurd. Instead of calling people, meeting them for coffee or dinner, I save time and money by buying books.

That`s not all. Books reveal to me the inner lives of people who hold all kinds of jobs and professions. My tithes go to books since I am doing the most worthwhile thing that one can do in this society with a couple thousand wons.

Yet, even in the midst of the `library structural adjustment` there are books that tenaciously persevere and survive. While picking through my books and looking for something to throw out, I often end up sitting down and leafing through those books that I have carried with me for a long time. This is one unexpected pleasure that my library cleaning gives me.

Couple of days ago, I read Lee Chung-Choon`s novel, `Fool and Dimwit` and the Chinese statesman during the Three Kingdom period Zhuge Liang`s (181 CE – 234 CE) collected works again. I first read Lee Chung-Choon`s novel in high school and, like a good work should, reading it as an adult makes me appreciate it anew and in a different way. Whenever I meet young people, I try to recommend this book to them.

``Where does my pain come from? My older brother was wounded in the Korean War. But what is making me feel this pain that has no cause. (. . .) I find nothing clear in my pain, clear like my brother`s lucid face.`` These last words of ``Fool and Dimwit`` move me in a way that they couldn`t when I read them as a young man.

I hear from university professors these days that there are students in Korean literature and creative writing who have never heard of names like `Hwang Suk-Young`, `Lee Chung-Choon`, or `Oh Jung-Hee`. Instead of telling them to read over and over again, may be we should read to them passages like this so that they realize that these writers do not belong with the dinosaurs.

For people interested in the social sciences or politics, I would like to recommend Zhuge Liang`s collected writings. Zhuge Liang made comprehensive analyses of the political situation in countless Asian countries almost 1800 years ago.

He wrote about our country, called Dong-I then, ``They are fierce and fight well. (. . .) One cannot attack when there is harmony between the ruler and the ruled and the people are content, but one will certainly conquer if the rulers are divided and the ruled are disaffected.`` If his words are true, then the times are very bad for us since these days, the `ruled` are as disaffected as they possibly can be.

I wonder what America would have thought if they read this book before entering engaging in the Vietname War. On Indochina, then called Namman, Zhuge Liang wrote, ``The people are greedy but brave in battle. In the Spring and Summer, a surprise attack is advantageous and one must not deploy the troops for a long period of time.``

The weather is cool in the morning and evening. I breathe in the scent of wisdom as I leaf through these old books. And I try hard to feel that life is still worth living in this world.