Lee Oi-soo’s Facing Life Head-On

The late Lee Oi-soo stayed in conversation with younger readers well into old age. He picked up their expressions and sometimes came up with new ones himself.

Lee embraced his reputation as an eccentric. On the television program Knee-Drop Guru, he joked that people in Korea warn would-be writers, painters and musicians that they will go hungry. He had written for thirty years without letting his wife and children go hungry, he said, and took that as proof of how eccentric he was.

A Writer Who Drew Disagreement

Some established writers took a dim view of Lee’s willingness to use slang and expressions from the internet.

There was also criticism of the amount of white space in his books. Some pages contain only a few words, so it is easy to see why readers noticed.

How much belongs on a page depends on the message and the kind of book. A page can give a brief thought room to breathe.

What matters to me is whether the writing gets its point across, gives people something they want to read and presents it in a form that suits it.

Small Observations, Accompanied by Drawings

Facing Life Head-On collects short thoughts that occurred to Lee in ordinary life. The pages leave plenty of space, and the writing is easy to dip into.

The brevity suits the material. A line or two can carry the feeling that prompted a thought, and leave enough space for the reader’s own.

A few passages stayed with me.

• The sun belongs to no one. You are at the center of your universe.
• When feeling runs dry, the body and material things can take up too much of our attention.
• When you are young, try not to spend your life avoiding failure and despair.
• To call yourself selfish is to say that you have fallen short of being humane.

A Word About Wedding

The book associates wedding with gambling. The documented English root is Old English weddian, meaning to pledge or marry. The connection to horse racing belongs to the anecdote.

Even so, the comparison may ring true to anyone who has thought about how much uncertainty a marriage involves.

Jeong Tae-ryeon’s illustrations sit well beside Lee’s short reflections and the space around them. It is a book to pick up in a quiet moment and keep company with for a little while.

Book Information

Facing Life Head-On: Lee Oi-soo’s Way of Meeting Life

Author

Lee Oi-soo

Publication date

30 November 2011

View used copies on YES24

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