분노 조절, 무작정 참기가 답이 아니다…화에 휩쓸리지 않는 법 [.txt]

The author recalled the sensation of warmth from the book she held in her palm, despite the passage of time and the lack of any memory of the event. Her hand still bore the imprint of the book, despite 30 years having passed. During her 30s, she had decided to make a living through writing novels, using literature as a bridge between the outside world and her inner world.

At that time, she felt a profound sense of solitude, as if she were the only one left in a harsh landscape. She agreed with the Japanese philosopher Mikio Miyazaki's assertion that the only way to overcome solitude is through expressing oneself in response to that solitude. In the 90s, many considered it a renaissance period in culture, with Gabriel García Márquez's "100 Years of Solitude," Murakami Haruki's "The Year of the Lost Souls," and Milan Kundera's "The Art of the Solitary Explorer" inspiring a unique, introspective, and feminine voice in Korean literature.

This period saw the emergence of personal narratives and internal stories that were previously suppressed. The author remembers the first breath of relief she took, whispering to herself, "Perhaps I can breathe now." The story began when she lived in the southernmost part of the country, where she read any book that came her way, without much structure or purpose.

However, the books that found their way to her always seemed to be precisely what she needed, filling the empty spaces of her life. Among them were a French award-winning collection titled "The Birds Fly to Peru," Heinrich Böll's "And Nothing at All," Simone de Beauvoir's "The Second Sex," and "The Whale Who Wants to be Killed," all of which she read early in her life.

These books gave her a sense of longing, comforted her during difficult times, and helped her survive a bleak era. In 1996, the novel "The Cow that Wants to be Killed" was published, slowly but surely reprinted until a revised edition appeared in 2014. The author cherished the book cover designs from the original publication years, which were only a few thousand won each.

The novel included the author's award-winning title "The Cow that Wants to be Killed," a KBS TV drama adaptation, "A Sheep in the Meadow," and other works she held dear, such as "Deserts of the Moon." It also featured insightful commentary by Hong Hyunchan. The story follows a woman carrying a black umbrella, riding away from an apartment building, with the cow symbolizing the wild nature and unique self within each person.

For the author, this wildness represented her passion for writing. Samuel Johnson famously said that books should either set us apart from our existence or teach us how to survive within it. Throughout her life, the author immersed herself in various books, sometimes seeking escape, at other times striving to endure, and always seeking new perspectives.

This dedication to literature led to her 1999 publication of a lengthy novel, after being granted a daily salary by readers and struggling against the feeling of helplessness that had consumed her for so long. The novel, titled "Mom's House," explores the lives of characters dealing with complex emotions, loss, and the search for identity.

The author has likened life to a house, with each character moving in and out, sharing stories, and eventually parting ways to continue their own paths. The story, set in the early years of the author's life, features a young character named "Cuckoo," who the author introduces at the beginning of the tale. This character, unfamiliar to the author's past experiences, was intentionally placed there to allow for a more fluid and creative narrative.

The author believes that memories, dreams, and imagination are all made of the same material, and that the combination of these elements and the author's own essence will allow "Cuckoo" to come alive once more.