Reviews
The last book for the Blue Scent Supporters, cohort 12: Anyway, Jeju by Eom Bonga. I received it from the publisher and am sharing my review. 😢 I’m wrapping up my supporter activities, which began last April. I got to read Anyway, Jeju. The author spends several months a year there and shares small stories from her life. The retired couple’s everyday life reminded me of our own parents. Their bickering is full of affection, and the way they are sometimes together and sometimes apart feels
The book brought back the image of my younger self carefully pressing each character onto manuscript paper, the marks densely visible on the next page. I remember that earnest feeling. In these ordinary encounters and unassuming words, I sense the care I once put into every character. I read books every day: dull papers, tedious writing, information-packed texts. I read the words day after day. It’s exhausting because I have to keep thinking and thinking. I meet people, too. Some days—and quite
An essay written calmly and wittily about what a retired husband and his wife see, hear, feel, and experience while repeatedly living in Jeju for a month or two. It’s not simply a travel essay introducing Jeju; it’s closer to a reflective essay about the author’s life, experiences, feelings, and realizations in ordinary moments. (Of course, it also has plenty to say about Jeju.) Living in Jeju for a month is on my bucket list, and this book made me think that choosing a quiet place and living
An essay about living in Jeju, where the everyday life of a retired couple brings gentle emotion and happiness through their playful back-and-forth.
It’s May, the perfect time to dream about a trip to Jeju. My busy life has kept me from even imagining a getaway, so one weekend afternoon I read a book that felt just right for Jeju: Anyway, Jeju by Eom Bonga-ae, who spends half the year living there. I once dreamed of staying in Jeju for a month, too. Work kept piling up, and I never got beyond dreaming, but this book has made me want to try again. Maybe it’s because work has been so stressful lately, but I want to go to peaceful Jeju and
At some point, Jeju became a place that fills me with anticipation. Just being there makes me happy. Looking at the book cover, I wish I were the person gazing out at the sea; if I get another chance to visit Jeju, I want to sit there like that. Anyway, Jeju’s author Eom Bonga writes about what she experienced alone while living there for a month or two, what made her happy, and what she wanted to share with others. She says it isn’t a book introducing Jeju. Perhaps that is why it feels
The book is full of episodes that feel like snapshots of an elderly couple’s everyday life in Jeju. As I read, I thought: so this is what it feels like for an ordinary day to become special. It’s everyday life, but with Jeju as the backdrop, everything seems to sparkle a little more. Perhaps it’s like applying another coat of glossy varnish to a canvas: the difference is small, but the result feels fresher. The author and her husband’s playful banter had me laughing out loud. I’m not sure I
“The things I used to do had once seemed precious and important to me, but on reflection they might have been nothing at all. If I let go of the fixation that I absolutely had to do them, they were not so difficult to give up. ‘That’s right! When making a decision, the first thing is to think simply.’ I began setting aside the things around me one by one. I decided to trade the things I thought I needed for my freedom. I had mornings when I enjoyed sweeping the little lawn with a stubby broom,
Here’s a book about a middle-aged couple living in Jeju: Anyway, Jeju, a travel essay by Eom Bonga. Their life in Jeju began by chance. When they had little money, they stayed a month; when they had a bit more, they stayed two months, traveling back and forth between the island and the mainland. The author says, “Every beginning started with hesitation,” and is glad she tossed aside her hesitation and chose to live in Jeju. Now I want to climb one of Jeju’s oreum and walk the parts of the Jeju
Honestly, I’m not a fan of Jeju. There’s the inexplicable wariness toward mainlanders, and after experiencing overcharging and unkind service from some merchants, I haven’t thought of it as a place I’d go out of my way to visit. So when I first picked up this book, I assumed it would be another predictable Jeju travel essay. But it moved me more than any other Blue Scent book I’ve read. I may not particularly like Jeju, but I recognize its beauty and natural environment. Its unique and
Eom Bong-ae: Anyway, Jeju
Sometimes it feels like a trip; other times, like everyday life: a retired couple’s playful banter in Jeju, full of humor and tenderness. Just about everyone has dreamed, at least once, of a life without having to work so hard to make money, win at every competition, or count every penny. Those who have stepped away from the intense demands of working life after reaching retirement age may dream of it all the more. This couple heads to Jeju whenever they can, and bickers whenever they get the chance. They stay for a month when money is tight, two when they have some room in the budget, or even three. Their motto is: ‘Spend a long time standing in the wind and sunshine. Make a place for solitude often. Find somewhere comfortable, sit still, and watch people pass by. Don’t be afraid of quiet, unfamiliar things.’ The wife, who no longer had anything to do now that dressing up didn’t make her look any prettier, acting cute didn’t make her any cuter, and getting angry didn’t scare anyone, and the husband, who had known nothing but work, walk Jeju’s Olle Trails and through its forests, then follow the coastline, enjoying a slow and modest life. They look back on how hard each of them worked and sometimes feel compassion for one another. They had left behind everything familiar, so everything felt lacking and inconvenient; they had to fumble their way through the whole day. Yet only then did they begin to notice the enjoyable and precious things in life, and those discoveries brought them unexpected joy. They realized that simply eating, sleeping, and walking could make them happy enough. That is what keeps drawing them back to Jeju, the ‘island that makes you younger.’
Korean title: 아무튼 제주
Korean author: 엄봉애
Korean publisher: 푸른향기
ISBN-13: 9788967822149
Reviews
The last book for the Blue Scent Supporters, cohort 12: Anyway, Jeju by Eom Bonga. I received it from the publisher and am sharing my review. 😢 I’m wrapping up my supporter activities, which began last April. I got to read Anyway, Jeju. The author spends several months a year there and shares small stories from her life. The retired couple’s everyday life reminded me of our own parents. Their bickering is full of affection, and the way they are sometimes together and sometimes apart feels
The book brought back the image of my younger self carefully pressing each character onto manuscript paper, the marks densely visible on the next page. I remember that earnest feeling. In these ordinary encounters and unassuming words, I sense the care I once put into every character. I read books every day: dull papers, tedious writing, information-packed texts. I read the words day after day. It’s exhausting because I have to keep thinking and thinking. I meet people, too. Some days—and quite
An essay written calmly and wittily about what a retired husband and his wife see, hear, feel, and experience while repeatedly living in Jeju for a month or two. It’s not simply a travel essay introducing Jeju; it’s closer to a reflective essay about the author’s life, experiences, feelings, and realizations in ordinary moments. (Of course, it also has plenty to say about Jeju.) Living in Jeju for a month is on my bucket list, and this book made me think that choosing a quiet place and living
An essay about living in Jeju, where the everyday life of a retired couple brings gentle emotion and happiness through their playful back-and-forth.
It’s May, the perfect time to dream about a trip to Jeju. My busy life has kept me from even imagining a getaway, so one weekend afternoon I read a book that felt just right for Jeju: Anyway, Jeju by Eom Bonga-ae, who spends half the year living there. I once dreamed of staying in Jeju for a month, too. Work kept piling up, and I never got beyond dreaming, but this book has made me want to try again. Maybe it’s because work has been so stressful lately, but I want to go to peaceful Jeju and
At some point, Jeju became a place that fills me with anticipation. Just being there makes me happy. Looking at the book cover, I wish I were the person gazing out at the sea; if I get another chance to visit Jeju, I want to sit there like that. Anyway, Jeju’s author Eom Bonga writes about what she experienced alone while living there for a month or two, what made her happy, and what she wanted to share with others. She says it isn’t a book introducing Jeju. Perhaps that is why it feels
The book is full of episodes that feel like snapshots of an elderly couple’s everyday life in Jeju. As I read, I thought: so this is what it feels like for an ordinary day to become special. It’s everyday life, but with Jeju as the backdrop, everything seems to sparkle a little more. Perhaps it’s like applying another coat of glossy varnish to a canvas: the difference is small, but the result feels fresher. The author and her husband’s playful banter had me laughing out loud. I’m not sure I
“The things I used to do had once seemed precious and important to me, but on reflection they might have been nothing at all. If I let go of the fixation that I absolutely had to do them, they were not so difficult to give up. ‘That’s right! When making a decision, the first thing is to think simply.’ I began setting aside the things around me one by one. I decided to trade the things I thought I needed for my freedom. I had mornings when I enjoyed sweeping the little lawn with a stubby broom,
Here’s a book about a middle-aged couple living in Jeju: Anyway, Jeju, a travel essay by Eom Bonga. Their life in Jeju began by chance. When they had little money, they stayed a month; when they had a bit more, they stayed two months, traveling back and forth between the island and the mainland. The author says, “Every beginning started with hesitation,” and is glad she tossed aside her hesitation and chose to live in Jeju. Now I want to climb one of Jeju’s oreum and walk the parts of the Jeju
Honestly, I’m not a fan of Jeju. There’s the inexplicable wariness toward mainlanders, and after experiencing overcharging and unkind service from some merchants, I haven’t thought of it as a place I’d go out of my way to visit. So when I first picked up this book, I assumed it would be another predictable Jeju travel essay. But it moved me more than any other Blue Scent book I’ve read. I may not particularly like Jeju, but I recognize its beauty and natural environment. Its unique and
