Pick a Flower on the Way Home

Pick a Flower on the Way Home

Category : Literature
Target : Young adults and up
Published Date : 09-Mar-18
ISBN : 9788974793890
Pages : 352
Book Size : 143 x 215 paperback
Keywords : Autobiographical essay; essay about everyday life




The book is a collection of essays written by renowned Korean novelist Han Seung-won. Twenty-two years ago, he left Seoul and returned to his hometown of Jangheung. There he built a small cottage by the sea and named it Haesan Cave, where he writes as a means of reflection on humankind. Living at the border between the world and nature and inside and outside, Han has been concerned with the meaning of everyday life that is humble and yet essential and the importance of contemplation on the universe as he writes books about people who must live between these two extremes. As he lives his remaining life at the place where the land ends and the sea begins, he provides his objective and yet insightful observations on life as he prepares to bid farewell to it. In the book he shares his thoughts on how one should prepare for the end of one’s life, and how one should live their life to the fullest. The book is his affirmation that by living one’s life to the fullest, one can look straight at death by accepting and living it as a part of life. In the appendix titled “Letters to My Beloved Children,” he tells readers that they should always try to live each day to the fullest.

Han Seung-won
Han Seung-won was born in Jangheung County, Korea, in 1939. He attended Seorabeol Art University and studied under the writer Kim Tong-ni. His career as a writer began when his short story “Wooden Boat” won a writing contest held by Daehan Ilbo in 1968. He is a recipient of numerous literary awards, including the Modern Literary Award, the Korean Writer’s Award, the Yi Sang Literary Award, the Korean Literature Award, the Kiriyama Prize Notable Book Award, and the Kim Dong-in Literary Award. His short stories include “Wooden Boat” and “Photo Shop of Hope,” and his novels include Aje-aje Bara-aje, Chusa, and Man’s Barefoot. He has also published the essay collections Savages and Myths and Flowers and the Sea.

Kim Sundoo
Illustrator Kim Sundoo was born in the seaside town of Jeongnamjin in Jangheung County in southern Seoul. It is the place where the land meets the sea, sky, and wind, and it is also a place for flowers, birds, and people. He captures the life that is between the land and the heavens. The stars on the book’s cover page symbolize the small ruptures that allow us to breathe in darkness and hope for a better future. They are also our final resting place to where we will one day return.