The stories behind their books

“It’s Hwang Sok-yong’s The Evening Star. I first read this book in my second year of high school. By chance, I picked just one book from the many in the library, and it was The Evening Star. I was thinking a lot about my future at the time, so the main character, Yu Jun, felt just like me.”

“I tend to read several books at once, so there are quite a few books I start but don’t manage to finish. Unfortunately, Crime and Punishment became one of those books….”

“But I haven’t given up! It just means the perfect time to read that book hasn’t come yet. When I feel the time is right, I’ll definitely pick it up again, finish it, and tell W what I thought first!”

“Whereas my previous book told, almost in diary form, various stories about life that a woman in her twenties learns while living with a cat, with Sweet Remedy I wanted to use as few words as possible and, alongside the flow of the photographs, give readers the feeling that we are traveling “together.””

“When you’re working, there are moments when it gets difficult, and when that happens, if you read this book, there’s nothing in the world to get angry about.”

“I guess I replied to another post... As for books, I’m trying to read The Vegetarian now...”

“카뮈의 <이방인>을 재미있게 읽었어요.”

“This is documenting us, so I want to talk about everything.”

“This book is called "If I Could Life My Life Again" by Hyenam Kim.”

“She wrote "What would've been better if I had known at age 40."”

“So like this, it was like messages that are very professional but also messages from my mom.”

“So I cried while reading this book too.”

“Unlike the poetry books I recommended earlier, this book is not abstract.”

“I recommend this book to those who want to feel comforted in a direct manner.”

“It’s about how she became a star when she was young and what life as an actor was like; it’s a really sad story.”

“Guillaume Musso's *Will You Be There?* is a book I read in middle school. I liked it so much that I read it several times.”

“This book lets you see again, feel again, and think again about the things around us that we miss and pass by, through the perceptive and discerning eyes of Kim Hyung-seok. When you read this book, you too will feel what I feel when I talk with Kim Hyung-seok. I hope you will immerse yourself in a conversation with Kim Hyung-seok.”

“It is set during the Japanese colonial period, a time when society was highly unsettled. Although women had relatively fewer opportunities than men at the time, she fought for the social course she believed was right. It was a book that made me reflect on myself.”

“I’ve been a fan for a long time, and since this was a new release after such a long time, I bought and read it without a second thought. It didn’t disappoint, and gave Sacho lots of inspiration. Definitely a must-have, a definite must-have.”

“I held back until the end, then burst into tears. It makes you cherish life.”

“Still, I thought, “I hope lots of people get to know about this,” and I really hoped it had helped, even a little.”

“This is a very warm and easy-to-read book.”

“This is exactly where my heart is.”

“I’ve read a lot of Bernard Werber’s works, and I’ve read almost all of the Thanatonauts series.”

“It's really fun.”

“I’d like to recommend A World of Children to people who enjoy watching My Golden Kids and want to understand themselves and others a little better.”

“I’ve only read about twenty pages, but you know that thrilling feeling, that kind of feeling…”

“It's a book I really like.”

“Professor Jung Jae-seung’s *Twelve Steps*. It was the first book I read in the military. It made me realize that what I’m worrying about and finding difficult right now is actually perfectly natural. It was a book that guided me so I wouldn’t fall into self-pity.”

“I think this passage very well symbolizes the lives of artists who carried art like a divine punishment until the day they died, so it seems to be a passage that broadly symbolizes the book.”

“I recently read the book *Philosophy Changes the Weather*.”

“When I read books, I imagine everything in the scenes. These days, I’m reading a book called Dallergut Dream Department Store, and when they talk about the dream department store, I can see it in my head. I imagine I’m shopping there as I read. It’s not just novels, but other books, too—for example, if there’s a sentence where Einstein is talking, I imagine him saying it. (Laughs) That’s probably why I was able to learn video production so quickly.”

“If I were to buy [a dream], it’d be one where I’m flying through the skies or swimming freely in the deep sea. But those kinds of dreams don’t sell well.”

“I read Dallergut Dream Department Store.”

“For me, I’d buy one where we become whales and swim together in the sea. What’s the relation? Because it’s a whale, I’m a whale shark.”

“I’ve told this to CARATs several times. After reading Dallergut Dream Department Store, I haven’t been able to read a book because I’ve been busy with work.”

“I really empathized with it to the point of experiencing catharsis.”

“This is a book called *Mythology*.”

“I’ve been really interested in Greek mythology since I was little. When I was young, I only liked the main figures, but there are so many other gods too, you know. I want to read about them because I’m curious about them…”

“As I was publishing my book, I read Jeong Yu-jeong’s *The Origin of Species* and Shim Eun-hee’s *The Wind Blew in Ireland, and Waves Rose in My Heart*.”

““I read the Analects and so much of it really resonates with me. I love learning from it. One thing that comes to mind is, ‘The noble person is at ease, while the petty person is always anxious.’ That brings comfort to my heart.””

“My mom told me to take another look at this.”

“There was also a book called _Eleven Steps._ It was kind of a philosophy book. But with any of the different books, I found myself putting myself into the text. Like imagining myself as a character in a novel, for example. I was so deep in my imagination at the time. Was it helpful? I’m not sure.”

“One of my all-time favorite classic books is Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. I love the descriptions of nature.”

“I found a lot of good sentences.”

“I have it open to a page.”

“I think I was tempted by that blurb and read it. But it was such a predictable story... I read it in the bookstore and left it there.”

“This book helped me a lot. It says exactly what I want to hear. I didn’t read it just once; I read it several times. There are sentences that speak to me the second time, and sentences that speak to me the third time. It’s a book I keep reaching for, so I recommend it to ONCE.”

“I also recommend “One Person on Earth” (Jung Se-rang).”

“Since it was recommended in many places as a classic masterpiece, I trusted those recommendations and read it. There’s a reason a book is a proven classic.”

“A while ago, a director I know gave me What Is Death? as a gift. It compiles lectures by Professor Shelly Kagan of Yale University, but honestly, it’s very difficult.”

“Have you read <A Person Harmless to Me>?”

“I enjoyed reading Han Kang’s Love of Yeosu and The Vegetarian, Yang Gwi-ja’s Contradiction, and Jung Dae-geon’s Torrent, among others.”

“It’s really good, and...”

“There’s a book by bell hooks called *All About Love*. In English...”

“Milan Kundera’s *Slowness* was good too. It was exactly what the word says: “slowness.” It felt like a book telling people who have to live in this fast-paced modern age that they should live slowly. I’m really slow myself.”

““I want to look back on everything from our debut up to now before more time passes.””

“If you find out the title of the book, most of you will probably give up [trying to read it]... The Perpetual Fluctuation of Wealth ^^ Hahahahahaha, everyone will give up. You should read it all. I also bought a book called People Born in the ’90s Are Coming. Try challenging yourself [to read] this book too 😄”

“The protagonist, Jun, resembles me in his habit of not judging anything hastily and thinking things over again and again.”

“I really, really recommend this poetry book”

“Among the books I’ve read recently is one called *Reading Schopenhauer at Forty*. I wanted to read it when I was 20, so I did.”

“I bought the book! I'll enjoy reading it.”

“Writer! I read Human Acts in the military. Congratulations.”

“Oh, I did like that. I did like that classic. That was was a good book,”

“I got it as a gift, and brought it from home to start reading today.”

““It was content that gave me insight and resonated with me.””

“LOL, my mom might say something if she sees that I read these, but these are the books I picked up from January to March at the beginning of this year while talking about things like “the energy of the universe.” The Nature of Money and Rich Dad Poor Dad, at least, seem like books worth genuinely reading two or three times, and the other books left me with a lesson along the lines of “use your heart for good.” You shouldn’t live a narrow-minded life, you know.”

““It’s a book called At Ease Without Trying Too Hard.””

“Even just reading her writing, I thought, “The author’s perspective is so healthy and profound,” and she felt like a “senior in life” to me.”

“I actually don't like science fiction that much. I hardly ever watch sci-fi movies, either. Did I get this book recommended to me on social media? Not directly, but I saw someone recommending it, got interested, and decided to read it.”

“This book—[there's so much to say about this one]—as you can see, is incredibly long and hefty... [in a nutshell,] not an easy book to take on. But! [Here comes the sales queen] The appeal of a long novel is that... once you get past the beginning, where you memorize the characters' names and get some explanation of the situation, [the twists never end &] there really are endless twists and [one shocking scene after another] so many scenes that leave you stunned.”

“Honestly, I find these doorstopper books challenging, too. I tend to read them over the course of several months. Me, too? But this book is really difficult in terms of its ideas. It makes you think a lot, but the sentences themselves aren't difficult! [Thoughts that keep spiraling / Easy to read, but full of ideas you can't simply brush aside] It's a book that's easy to read, but makes you go back and think about it afterward.”

“When I try to sell people on this book, I tell them that even in a world this advanced, after so much change, the feeling of love is still so precious and powerful. [If you don't understand how wonderful love is, I feel sorry for you] There are so many things the characters do because they love each other. Rowan thinks he could die in Citra's place because he loves her, and Citra risks danger and takes action because she loves Rowan. Watching things like that made me feel that, in every generation, [an emotion that transcends time: love] emotions have such a powerful effect on people. That's what lies at the heart of who we are.”

“That's right. I felt the same way while reading it, too—the translator, Lee Soo-hyun, seems to have done a great job. [A style that draws you in without difficult sentences] There aren't any difficult sentences, so every line really catches your eye, and each and every one is a gem. I really want more people to know about the red-covered book Scythe. [I want to finish it and talk about it with everyone] While reading Scythe, [a book that makes you reflect on respect for life and ethics], I found myself thinking a lot about how we regard life and about ethics.”

“I found that fun too.”

“I enjoyed reading Han Kang’s Yeosu’s Love and The Vegetarian, Yang Gui-ja’s Contradictions, Jeong Dae-geon’s Torrent, and others.”

“I tend to have a lot on my mind, especially before album promotions. I recently picked up again a book I read when I need to find my center.”

“I first read Siddhartha in November 2025. My family is Buddhist, and that summer we all went to see a monk we had been close to for a long time. He gave it to me as a gift, saying, ‘It’s a book I truly cherish and have read over and over, and one that helped me a lot in not losing myself.’”

“Before, whenever things got too hard, I would turn away from the situation and hide behind a mask. That was how I got through life. But I recently realized that someday I would have no choice but to face the weaker side of myself. I also came to understand that when that time comes, I can meet my true self, and the path forward becomes clearer. While I was thinking about those things, I came across Siddhartha, and its sentences came to me as if by fate.”

“That’s right. I remember a childhood moment when I saw my younger sister playing guitar and asked her to teach me too. After that, I taught myself guitar by watching YouTube and started writing songs. It was a turning point that made me who I am today.”

“I think that’s the central message this book is trying to convey. I, too, am constantly changing like a river, but at the same time, I was able to firmly inscribe in my life the wisdom that I am the river, and that my existence as me does not change.”

“It's a book that gives me a sense of security.”

“How love is being consumed in modern society, and our attitudes toward dating, for example”

““The way it looks at events from a fresh perspective felt refreshing, and it’s an immersive book that allows you to think about the human nature the author intended to portray.””

“I’d like to give Françoise Sagan’s essay collection Life Is So Slow, and Hope So Wild as a gift.”

“But I apparently read it.”

“I found ‘The Buddha’s Words, Newly Translated’ an impressive read.”

“I read Human Acts while in the military. Congratulations.”

“Hello! I'm Lily. The book we're reading together this time is [The Man Who Died Twice] by Richard Osman, the second book in the Thursday Murder Club series we read last time! You're curious about how the story continues, aren't you?! I am too! I want to read it together…”

“It was so much fun that I read it quickly.”

“When I was really into novels, I read the Japanese novel *The Age-70 Death Bill Passes*.”

“This book also gave me a lot of strength. It felt like it said exactly what I wanted to hear? It’s a book I’ve read several times.”

“To recommend books I enjoyed reading, first, “Ordinary Words (Kim Eana).” Even though I’d only read it, I thought, “The author’s thoughts are so healthy and profound,” and the author felt like a “senior in life” to me. And then, “On My 29th Birthday, I Decided to Die a Year Later (Amari Hayama).””

“This book was written by my uncle—my aunt’s husband, you know?”

“And this book—I'm reading it now.”

“Anne Napolitano’s novel Hello Beautiful”

“I read To Kill a Mockingbird back in school, and...”

“The book *The Power of Being Alone* was a comfort to me. I read it when I was consumed by self-reproach, wondering if there was something wrong with me.”

“The hidden track ‘Sea’ was inspired by the quote “Wherever there’s hope, there’s a trial” in ‘1Q84’.”

“After that, I also read a book called <Miracles of the Namiya General Store>.”

“Miracles of the Namiya General Store”

“My members. Books → Miracles of the Namiya General Store lol.”

“I’d like to introduce a book called At Dusk. Its main character is also extremely busy. This person is worn down by life and has a very hard time, yet still meets many people, falls in love, and keeps doing their best to live. I think seeing that comforted me too. If I met the main character, I’d want to give them a big hug.”

“The books I’m reading these days are The Portrait of Dorian Gray, Contradiction…”

“Others read it at forty, but I wanted to read it at twenty.”

“Congratulations, I read 'Human Acts' while in the military,”

“Lily's book rec for today: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Agatha Christie.”

“A book I'm reading these days. I'm still in the early part, so it's too soon to say what I think of it.”

“Having experienced it firsthand and then reread it, I thought, “This was totally a Kurly promotional book.” I was moved by a different aspect, thinking, “So you really can grow this much in six months.””

“This is the first book I’ve ever read while crying.”

“Actually, I was in the library club in my first year of high school, and around my second year I joined another club. Was it the economics club? We read things like 『The Prince』 and 『An Essay on the Principle of Population』, summarized them, and gave presentations in PowerPoint.”

“As I was reading the book, my mom’s spicy whelk-and-noodle dish came straight to mind.”

“There are many passages that resonate with me, so I keep reading it.”

“It’s a book written for artists, and I felt like it really opened up my perspective.”

“There’s also a book I recently bought after it was recommended to me, which I’m planning to read: The Laws of the Mind by Volker Kitz and Manuel Tusch. My acting mentor, Min Jun-ho, head of the theater company Ganda, recommended it, and I’m planning to read it soon.”

“If I had read The Stranger earlier, I wouldn’t have chosen my original name, Rap Monster.”

“I first read this book in high school. As a trainee, I felt slightly off the usual path, while my friends seemed to be studying hard, going to university, and following a smooth course. I felt anxious because I didn’t know when I would debut as an idol singer. What God says to Knulp felt as though it was being said to me, and it brought me great comfort.”

“So I brought it with me”

“I’m not someone who reads a lot, but I started reading books while working. I like philosophy.”

“I read *Human Acts* while in the military. Congratulations.”

“My favorite series is Percy Jackson.”

“To become better, we willingly became worse.”

“I ended up reading it on a whim because Chanyeol recommended it. When I read essays like this, I feel like I come to understand a wider range of lives a little better, and somehow feel more personally connected. I thought it was the kind of book that draws you into the situations and makes you laugh and cry along with them because they’re so absurd.”

“It’s a book called Do It for Myself.”

“Because I enjoyed reading Animal Farm so much”

““I’ve started another new book.””

“I enjoyed reading Han Kang’s *Love of Yeosu* and *The Vegetarian*, Yang Gui-ja’s *Contradiction*, Jeong Dae-geon’s *Torrent*, and others.”

“Last year, my manager gave me *We Do Not Part* as a gift. I received a lot of comfort from reading this book.”

“I still remember a sentence that went, “It must have been something like a snail advancing on the edge of a blade.” When I read that, I cried so much. I think that’s the charm of fiction.”

“So I started reading Guillaume Musso's books. As I read love stories such as Save Me and The Paper Girl, I wanted to read other kinds of stories too.”

“Through that book, I discovered for the first time the nature of the jealousy within me.”

“I was able to look back on my jealousy toward the boys in my class who were tall, handsome, good at school and sports, and popular with girls.”

“I read this book four or five times.”

“Thanks to it, I had the opportunity to naturally encounter the wonderful wisdom left by the preceding generation.”

“I recommend it to you.”

“[Recently Read Book #2] This is The Path of the Dinosaur's Movement by KIM HWA JIN.”

“On my day off, I went to Kyobo Book Centre with my sister.”

“I just wanted to spend a day browsing books and stuff… [A literary girl's day].”

“So I went with my sister, browsed around, and bought this book.”

“[The reason she picked this book] When I got to Kyobo Book Centre, there were so many books—well, it is a bookstore—so I felt overwhelmed.”

“I wanted to buy a good one, something fun that I’d really enjoy reading. I wanted to pick the perfect book.”

“So, inside Kyobo Book Centre, I looked up book descriptions on my phone and tried to see which book caught my eye.”

“[The title alone sounds fun] I saw the title The Path of the Dinosaur's Movement.”

“[GAWON is a famous dinosaur lover] I love dinosaurs, right?”

“I thought, “I’m not sure about it, but let’s just go for it.””

“It’s also a novel, which I love. There was a line that really got to me.”

“Before I buy a book, I read the whole blurb.”

“[GAWON later found it and sent it] There was a line in the blurb that really resonated with me.”

“This book has a strong slice-of-life vibe, and the perspective changes in every section.”

“[The story of four friends] You can read each person’s perspective on the process of losing a cherished friend and the emotions they experience as they go through it.”

“I enjoyed reading that, too. There were lots of cute and relatable lines.”

““I wrote to hold, to leave behind, and to remember.” “So I wouldn’t forget.” “To record it before I forget.” “To keep it by recording it.””

““I still can’t tell apart the moments when lies and truth are stuck together. A lie is nothing else but the act of deceiving oneself—truly believing that what I’m saying right now is sincere. Lies come from sincerity.””

“Lines like these come up throughout the book.”

“So even within this kind of everyday story, thoughts you usually keep to yourself pop up from time to time, which made it a fun book to read.”

“The book for February was supposed to be this one, [the book in question] The Path of the Dinosaur's Movement, but I couldn’t finish it, so I finished it in early March.”

“Recently, among the books I’ve read, there’s one called *Schopenhauer at Forty*… People read it at forty, but I wanted to read it at twenty, thinking it might be good to know about it at twenty… So Schopenhauer is quite, kind of… pessimistic…”

“I think I can take one step closer to becoming that kind of person only if I’m happy first and receive energy.”

“I had read it once before, and it was really difficult.”

“The books I'm currently reading—I’m reading two at the same time: one called *Consolation for Sorrow* and *Strange Comfort*.”

“Still, I’ve read three of this author’s books, and From the Shore is number one. I was reading it at a bookstore, then bought it right away and kept it.”

““The person who knows how to love themselves is the greatest person.” (From *315 Proverbs Worth Reading Even a Hundred Years from Now*)”

“Reading this book made me think that I should cherish and love myself more.”

“I regretted not having read the writer’s book sooner.”

“Please read this author's book *Cocktail, Love, Zombie* too. It's fun.”

“A book I found because I was feeling a strong thirst for travel”

“I read a memoir recently called Everything I Know About Love where the author pursues romantic love her whole life, only to realize something profound in the end: She had always been surrounded by amazing friends, and always been loved, and always gave love—that she’d been experiencing it all along, and that love had always been there by her side. When I read that, I kept thinking about the other members of the group. When I think about the future together with them, I feel like I could end up thinking something similar to the author. Being with them has made me learn to appreciate friendship even more.”

“And maybe that’s essentially what love is—learning to be kind through friendship, then practicing and showing it, like the book says.”

“The book I’d like to recommend is [Eleven at Night] by author Hwang Kyung-shin.”

“I think every artist should read it at least once”

“So we bought it together.”

“What is the most important book you have read?”

“I asked a friend: “Hey, I want to read! Do you have any books to recommend?” And he got really excited and recommended books by Han Kang and Keigo Higashino. So, that was literally everything I read. There was also a book called “Eleven Steps.” It was kind of a book about philo…”

“When I get stuck writing lyrics on my own, I find myself wondering, “How would Aunt Ina work it out?” As someone who does that, I’m genuinely glad this book exists.”

“I thought it was art that I, as a Korean Confucian girl, couldn't understand. Maybe it was because some parts were difficult, or because the characters were hard to remember. Let's try reading it again in about six months.”

“I recommend it.”

“'Contradiction'”

“I like Bright Night, too,”

“I'm reading *Contradiction* right now.”

“My Kafka on the Shore”

“Slam Dunk is a manga I revisit regularly; it’s one of my all-time favorites. I’m not much of a crier, but works like Slam Dunk, which make my heart burn with passion, bring me to tears.”

“So, it was a fun book to read.”

“I heard it was fun.”

“I started reading it for the first time on the plane, and it was so interesting that I read about half of it.”

“As I read the book, I found myself agreeing and thinking, “Oh, that’s right, I was born in the ’90s too.” I think it could help people born in the ’70s and ’80s understand those born in the ’90s. As time goes by, we could become “old fogeys” too. People born in the 2000s might find us really hard to understand. In that sense, I think it would be good for people born in the 2000s to read it as well.”

“My brother had received this book as a gift, so it was at home. I tried reading it and liked it so much that I take it out whenever things are hard. The saying is really true: when I'm in a good mood, I can laugh off a bad situation, and when I'm in a bad mood, even a small thing feels big. Managing your mood may not be easy, but it made me reflect on myself a little. Since I'm the one living my life, I think everything begins with me. If I have good qualities, they'll spread a pleasant scent like perfume and have a positive influence”

“I think young adult literature would probably be best for our baby DIVEs. I thought a book called The Wizard’s Bakery would leave more of an impression on your heart if you read it when you’re really young. So, our baby DIVEs, let’s read a fun book together sometime.”

“I always carry around about two books like this.”

“I’m also reading Banana Yoshimoto’s *Kitchen* because I had it at home.”

“When I was grappling with questions about life, I drew a lot of strength from Hwang Sok-yong’s The Evening Star.”

“And I ended up choosing these two.”

“Author! Human Acts. I read it in the army. Sob, congratulations!”

“As for books, I enjoyed Ito Ogawa’s The Snail Restaurant.”

“Reading it at the same age, I found another point of interest. I wondered whether, when I was that age, I could do serialized labor like that, and whether I could put my story out there so starkly for the world to see. I guess I’m not there yet.”

“A book I read while at the TWICE dorm. A book that made me focus on myself. A book that helped me not be consumed by pressure.”

“Elizabeth, the protagonist of the novel Pride and Prejudice. I admire her bold approach to life, even in a time when women were socially oppressed.”

“Oh, I started reading Guns, Germs, and Steel, but then I stopped, remember? It was so hard.”

“I read it on the flight to Europe and at the hotel. Even though I was in a good situation, reading that book weighed on my heart.”

“Your writing is so vivid and skillful that I was impressed as I read it.”

“Knulp is a book I found after reading Demian and becoming curious about Hermann Hesse’s work.”

“I managed to get to Chapter 3.”

“Writer! I read *Human Acts* in the military.”

“It’s difficult.”

“Books are difficult. I didn’t understand it, so I closed it around halfway through.”

“I remember reading this book while crying. I hardly ever cry when I’m reading. The protagonist has a terminal illness.”

““I enjoyed reading Animal Farm, so I’m looking for other works, too.””

“The premise of the novel is very unique.”

“It’s something like a debate among philosophers about love, and, well, it lets us seriously think once again about how love is being consumed in modern society, and about our attitudes toward dating and things like that.”

“A book I’ve enjoyed reading this year is *Goo’s Proof*.”

“I heard it was interesting.”

“If I were to recommend a book I've read recently... it would be Alain de Botton's Why Do I Love You?”

“I think at least The Attributes of Money / Rich Dad Poor Dad are books really worth reading two or three times.”

“I didn’t just read this book once; I read it several times, but…”

“I regretted thinking, “Why did I only read your books now?””

“I thought this really summed up the book The Contradiction very well.”

““It’s something like a debate among philosophers about love. It makes you think seriously once again about how love is being consumed in modern society and about our attitudes toward dating.””

“It isn't a classic itself, but I have a book about classics: 『Classics Answered: On the Life We Ought to Live』.”

“It's a book about how we ought to live this difficult life. Nothing in it feels difficult; it just tells you plainly, point by point. It's very clear.”

“Classics are actually difficult, and you can interpret them in so many different ways. I think that's part of the appeal of reading a book about a classic, too. You get to read that author's distinctive interpretation, and there's the pleasure of thinking, 'I found that classic difficult or it didn't really resonate with me when I read it, but I can read it this way too.' I think it's a really good thing. I think the real answers lie in the classics.”

“I first read Itaewon Class as a webtoon a long time ago.”

“Of the books I’ve finished recently, the one I liked best was I Said It Was Goodbye ㅠㅠ”

“That is so true. I’m in such a good mood today. Even if something bad happens while I’m feeling happy, I feel like I have the leeway to just laugh it off.”

“I think I first saw this in the bestseller section [Actor Park Jeong-min’s PICK, “The Real Thing”]. I also understood that actor Park Jeong-min had recommended it, and hearing that made me even more curious about the novel.”

“[I like long novels] I tend to like long novels, but since The Real Thing is a short-story collection, it reads really easily and quickly × 2, you know? So [Gaeul’s Book Club reading journal / Recommended for people who find reading difficult] I think it would be a really good book for people who find books difficult and want to challenge themselves.”

“[Munsu: left behind by Granny Jangsu, a shaman with no god] And since the subject itself is shamanism, [Granny Jangsu / Sin-aegi: Granny Jangsu, who left Munsu and became the tutelary deity of a spirit-afflicted person] it feels very fresh, but also has that eeriness. And I didn’t know this, but when I looked it up, [honmono: real / nisemono: fake] I found that “honmono” means “real.” So, between me (Munsu), who goes mad and devotes myself to it like that, and Sin-aegi, who received the spirit initiation, which one is the real one? At the end, the two of them perform a gut ritual like mad [Spoiler warning]. That scene was, as expected, the most memorable. [A book that made me think a lot about “what does ‘real’ actually mean?”] It was a book that made me think a lot about what it means to be real.”

“[Author Sung Hae-na, born in 1994] So I understand that this author is young, and our generation really is one that grew up watching videos rather than reading books, right? I heard that when the author writes, she writes in a way that makes it play out like a video, and I felt that too. I was impressed, thinking, “So a picture can form in my mind just from imagining it.” But I think it would be fun if this came out as a drama or a movie. I think that would be even more fun, because a gut ritual has such strong imagery.”

“I can now carry the collection of poems by Han Kang, which I received as a gift, in my bag.”

“I was surprised while reading because things I usually thought about were expressed so well in words.”