[비즈한국] In an era overflowing with video content, we introduce recently published books for those who still believe in the power of text.
A World Walked by Hana
Written by Yoo Young, Illustrated by Kim Da-eun, Music by Twelve Sounds Project
Kkoma Nun-saram / 60 pages, 18,000 won
A picture book telling the story of ‘Hana,’ a Palestinian girl living amidst war. In Arabic, ‘Hana’ means ‘joy.’
Hana once lived happily with her parents in a house with a lemon tree. However, after the adults’ war broke out across the border, her parents made her hide deep inside their home to avoid the bombings. One day, when the bombing ceased and Hana came outside, her parents were nowhere to be found.
Living alone while playing a ‘treasure hunt’ for bread and water, Hana meets a torn doll crying in the rubble. Hana cares for the doll dearly, but she collapses when the bombing begins again. Will Hana be able to reach joy once more with her doll?
The book can be enjoyed alongside music that complements the warm colored-pencil illustrations. A portion of the book's sales proceeds will be donated to World Central Kitchen to participate in food distribution for children in the Gaza Strip, Palestine.
The Utility of Scars
Written by Yoo Soo-kyung
Chaekgwa-ieum / 240 pages, 16,800 won
The author, a special education teacher, spent a bleak childhood due to her father's violence. As an adult, those scars manifested as bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Her daily life became difficult to manage, leading to multiple suicide attempts. However, after becoming pregnant, she resolved to change for the sake of her child.
While undergoing psychiatric treatment and pursuing healing, she decided to ‘confess’ her story and wrote this book. She hopes this book will provide a small measure of comfort and hope—a sliver of will to endure life—to someone who resembles her.
As the recent hit drama *You Killed* shows, domestic violence remains rampant. The story of the author, a survivor who stood back up after the trauma of domestic violence, offers room to contemplate human dignity and the utility of scars, showing how one can somehow find hope for tomorrow even within a tunnel of pain while pushing through thorn bushes.
100 Questions and Answers on the Law of Total Life Sum
Written by Lee Chae-yoon
Changhae / 528 pages, 25,000 won
Is there a constant law in our seemingly unpredictable lives?
The author argues that success and failure, joy and sorrow, all circulate in a total, harmonious balance. Much like Kim Cheom-ji in the novel *A Lucky Day*, who faced the death of his wife on a day he thought he had good fortune.
The author explains this not merely as a metaphor, but as a principle pointed to by both ancient human wisdom and modern science. The book references Shakespeare’s *King Lear*, Marcus Aurelius’s *Meditations*, Confucius’s *Analects*, the Buddhist *Dhammapada*, and the *Tibetan Book of the Dead*.
It unravels how life elements such as money, study, love, success, health, entertainment, alcohol, and family balance out in total through 100 questions and answers. In doing so, it teaches readers ‘how to remain unshaken on the waves of life.’
The author says not to fear pain, as today’s scars are tomorrow’s resilience, and today’s tears are tomorrow’s language. Pain does not come to break us, but to rebuild us.