Night Reading for Miji and Moomin
A light record of books I’ve read sporadically over several months -
I’ve drifted a bit from reading lately, but the season to get close to it again is returning.
Some of the books lying side-by-side by my bed are finished, so it’s time to change my reading list. Here are my thoughts on each one:
#MZGenerationTrendCode #GoKwangyeol
As someone born in the 90s, there were parts I could relate to,
and parts that felt a bit forced.
There was only one part I dog-eared while reading: Moomin -
Young people, pushed into competition since elementary school, are exhausted. They’re lowering the bar for what’s considered normal and trying to live their own lives. They’ve abandoned the compulsion to live diligently. Among recent neologisms, there’s the term ‘Moomin Generation.’ It combines the Chinese character ‘mu (無)’ meaning ‘none’ or ‘without,’ with the English word ‘mean’ meaning ‘meaning.’ Those born in the 90s find meaning in meaninglessness. They pursue ‘no stimulation, no context, no-action rest’ to escape stress. They reject the perception that doing nothing is lazy.
#The11LetterMurder #HigashinoKeigo
A somewhat bland mystery-romance?! novel. Personally, I enjoyed Black Showman and the Murder in the Nameless Town more.
#TheVegetarian #HanKang
Han Kang’s The Vegetarian English version, it’s still good even on my second read.
I devoured the Korean novel due to its bizarre immersion, and even in English, its charm is sufficiently captured in a dry way.
When it was all over, she was crying. He couldn’t tell what these tears meant - pain, pleasure, passion, disgust, or some inscrutable loneliness that she would have been no more able to explain than he would have been to understand. He didn’t know.
#NoLongerHuman #DazaiOsamu
This is also a second round. It’s truly so good. It’s bizarre, dark, and gloomy, yet good. Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood is cute by comparison; this is a spicier, darker kind of darkness. Throughout reading, it makes you ponder life and humanity. It’s by no means light, but it’s a novel I often recommend and gift to those around me.
#Superorganism
Superorganism is a literary magazine where articles recommended by writers from the writing group <It’s Okay to Write a Little Less> are featured. I was happy that two of my pieces were published in a season I participated in with a lighter heart.
I’ll cover this in more detail another time!
#RubatoForMiji #KimSeonoh
I was captivated by the book curation at a Daehangno bookstore I happened to visit.
Among them, an essay collection I couldn’t help but pick up. The author is also the same age as me.
Heh, tsk ㅋ.ㅋ (When I see sentences flowing with excellent thoughts from authors my age, I get quite jealous (even though I find myself ridiculous for it)). I’m still reading this essay collection, and I plan to write a separate review once I finish it-!
#ParisSpleen #CharlesPierreBaudelaire
A book that’s incredibly, incredibly slow to progress through.
They say it’s a classic of world literature, but it’s not prose, not poetry, not a novel—a genre that can’t be neatly categorized. Still, as I patiently stayed with it, at some point, I started picking up speed. It’s difficult, but there are also sources of inspiration. I’ll cover this separately once I finish it too!
Night of Reading 📚🌙
