Saturday, March 24, 2012

Books and Reading in Korea


Gosh, I miss books! I miss walking into a bookstore or library and being surrounded by endless shelves of them. I get a similar feeling walking into a big bookish space as I do when going into nature - relaxed, uplifted, energized, whole. Yes, I am weird. 

In Korea, I can't exactly go to English libraries and bookstores so I really really miss that feeling. I miss exploring the world of books, taking them off the shelf and reading the back, opening up the pages, catching a few words or phrases that resonate with me, deciding whether to leave the book behind or take it home and explore a new world.

I also miss seeing people reading. When I do go to the bookstore here, it's always bustling and lots of people appear to be buying books. However, I almost NEVER see people reading in public. Usually they're playing with their smart phones. And I think a lot of the books people buy are for studying rather than for fun reading. There are entire giant rooms dedicated to books for learning English and math. 

I still have a couple of new books to read, sitting on my desk. There's an Edith Wharton waiting patiently for me. At the moment I'm in the midst of reading Lady Chatterley's Lover, which is a lot racier than I expected, oh my. 

Thank goodness for books. May they live on forever ;-)

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