One Month Reading Challenge: Books Recommended by Kim Namjoon of BTS
I should admit that it took me two months of quarantine due to pandemic to fall in love with BTS, especially their fantastic leader, Kim Namjoon a.k.a Rap Monster. Thanks to my friend, Nuris, a long time Army of BTS who introduced me with their post billboard hit single: Mic Drop.
You might think BTS is another Kpop idols trying to sell their looks, yes, I won’t blame you because I used to think the same. After a series of their performance video, interview, and especially the notable UN speech by RM, I fell in love. I admire them, not because of their looks; I love them for their personality and what it means to be a hard worker and having persistence. They are so young yet so mature, and I still learn a lot from them.
Besides listening to their music, as a new fan, I tried to look for the information about things they like (read: stalk them — not in a creepy way, I just read the article about them of course). It turns out, RM likes to read. There’s a reason why their lyric is so profound and written beautifully because RM is one of the masterminds behind the scene.
Here are the three books recommended by RM of BTS (actually there are more, but currently, I can only afford to read these three books):
Demian by Hermann Hesse
“There’s a very big difference between having the world inside you and knowing it.” — Pistorius, Demian (1919)
I have heard about Hermann Hesse since I was still in university. The two notable works of his that I know are titled “Siddhartha” and “Steppenwolf”. He adheres to existentialism, the philosophical enquiry that focuses on the nature of the existence of human. Existentialism considers the system that works in this world is too absurd compared to the human experience.
Demian is a story of Emil Sinclair’s childhood and how he discovers the light and dark state through the series of events in his life. The story mainly focuses on the interaction between the protagonist with Demian in the journey of intellectual transformation. The reader will be brought to the conversion of Sinclair as a religious boy to a man who wants to fulfil his desire and most authentic self.
The most exciting thing about this book is how Hesse using a lot of symbolic diction and biblical reference to display Emil Sinclair’s new self-knowledge. The substantial part of the book includes the conversation about “the mark of Cain” and Abraxas, who is a polymorphous world spirit. In the book, Demian argues that Cain’s mark is existed to indicate his superiority which contradicts the mainstream religious teaching that Sinclair used to believe.
The part of discussing the mark of Cain may offend some people, but the key take away is broader than just a story to offend religion teaching. I will argue that the point of the story is to encourage the readers to keep questioning and rationalising the mainstream belief. Hence, we won’t be trapped in conformity that can hinder our intellectual development and also help to avoid bias.
I find this book is very relevant for me, perhaps because I’m into the idea of existentialism. I always perceive life as a journey of self-discovery; there’s no end unless we die. This book encourages us to be critical and be our own devil advocate to expose the truth at the philosophical level. It also urges intellectual transformation within us. We are also being encouraged to be brave to leave our comfort zone and face the challenges to find our purpose and live life to the fullest.
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
“There is a moment, a cusp, when the sum of gathered experience is worn down by the details of living. We are never so wise as when we live in this moment.” — Paul Kalanithi, When Breath Becomes Air (2016)
This book is a memoir of American Neurosurgeon Dr Paul Kalanithi. He earned Bachelor and Master of Arts in English literature and Bachelor of Science in human biology, and later he decided to become a Neurosurgeon. The reason behind his decision to become a Neurosurgeon is to understand about death and learn “what matters in life”.
He has such an incredible eloquence in conveying his compelling story. Reading this book feels like being next to him in person and listening to the story of his life journey from where he began to the end of his time. He shared his worries and fear as a cancer patient without the inclination of self-pity.
This book consists of two parts, where he talked about the beginning of his life as a neurosurgeon and experience after facing cancer. I can imagine how hard it must be for him to know that he would be dead by the time this book is published, yet he consistently wrote the book, and we reap the valuable life lesson from him.
The second part of the book has gotten me weeping my tear while I read it. I can empathise to his feeling so profoundly that I couldn’t stop sobbing and imagining if I were him or in his wife position where my husband is on the deathbed.
Despite the deadly disease he had, he still tried to pull off his “dead” joke. He mentioned when his friend said to him at the previous Standford’s gathering to see him again next event; he said that it might be rude to reply with “well… probably not”.
The saddest part lies nearly at the end of the book when he talked about his daughter and said: “I hope I will live long enough that she has some memory of me.” He kept wondering how his daughter will be growing up like, and I could feel the emotion in every single word he wrote to describe his feeling that day.
Here are the key takeaways from “When Breath Becomes Air”:
- Values can change in the course of someone’s life. As a human, we tend to evolve, transform, and not be stagnant. It’s okay to change our values, don’t worry about what others might think; it’s between us and ourselves.
- As cliché as it sounds, “follow your heart”, is the best advice you can give to yourself. You can’t rely on someone else opinion when it comes to your decision. You are the one who lives your life, so be it.
- Death is inevitable; every living creatures will die. To get reminded about death is always hard and scary, but we are all born to die. It’s best to live with no regret and don’t take every precious moment with our beloved ones for granted.
- Happiness and sadness stand side by side because, in life, there’s no infinite happiness or sadness. Just like a yin and yang, joy and despair exist in balance.
Kim Ji Young Born 1982 by Cho Nam Ju
“Jiyoung grew up being told to be cautious, to dress conservatively, to be “ladylike.” That it’s your job to avoid dangerous places, times of day and people. It’s your fault for not noticing and not avoiding.” — Cho Nam Ju, Kim Ji Young Born 1982 (2016)
I heard about this book since the movie was released, yet I wasn’t curious to read or watch the film because I thought it was just another drama involving a typical romantic relationship. Thanks to the challenge I set for myself, I figured out that this book is so good that I’m dying to share it to all of my female friends who experience the same hardship as Kim Ji Young, the main protagonist of the story.
I know that this book may not everyone’s cup of tea, especially if you are not coming from an Eastern culture background. The plot seems so simple; it tells a story of a common day-to-day struggle of a housewife in South Korea. What makes the book exciting to read is how detailed the writer explains the situation which is supported by the actual data.
The story begins with the shift in Ji Young’s behaviour after she had a daughter, and that starts to make his husband worry about her. Then each part of the book tells the story of Ji Young’s life from her childhood until she becomes a wife and a mom. The writer mentions a very detail hardship how women were seen as less superior than men, and how society normalises the abuse of rights of women whether to speak up or simply to defend themselves. Like when there’s a part of the story mentioning about how men can sexually harass women or make her uncomfortable, but it’s always the women who need to check her clothing and attitude instead of the men fixing themselves.
I nearly weep when I read this part because suddenly I remembered when I was still a junior in a company, one of the nasty man in his 40s touched my knee with his hand and pretended that he was just being friendly. I was disgusted by him ever since I realised that he was just a pervert trying to put his dirty hands on any woman he thinks is innocent. I keep regretting myself for not being aware of it when it happened, I thought it was okay to let it go; in fact, I was being fooled by the society that has normalised this situation.
The most intriguing part is when the story leads the reader to the year of Ji Young becomes a married woman. I can relate her condition to the actual life of women in the East culture. A married woman seems not having a luxury of deciding when to have or not to have a child because the people around will keep nagging about it. Even when she is pregnant with a child, people will still have a lot to say. The worst is when some people think that a housewife is just a lazy woman who wants to “rob” her husband’s salary.
It’s impossible not to rant a lot about the society that still sees woman is more inferior than a man. The misogynist society has created a mindset of normalising a burden to accept the blame on women. Even in these days, some women think that it makes sense to blame another woman who is being sexually harassed because of what she’s wearing. Reading this book is like reading our entire society; it’s like a reminder to keep us alert that this condition is still happening. Not that I’m an extreme feminist, I just want an equal treatment when it comes to gender and whatever attributes a person is having. I will be equally furious to find an innocent man is being abused by a woman. It doesn’t matter what gender, religion, race, whatever label you have if you hurt someone else, you are no better than evil.
In summary, I can’t say anything other than I love all of them! If RM wants to open a book club, I definitely will join (lol). If you find quarantine has made you crazy, I seriously recommend you to put these three books on your reading list. It’s always healthier to read a book than login to social media every time the boredom strikes, which can only increase the level of our anxiety. Maybe some of you have read one or all three of these books, so please leave a comment below to recommend me any book that I can read and review.
Stay well. Stay happy, Stay sane!
