Author: Young-hee Chang, Il Jeong (Illustration)
Publisher: Saemtoh
236 pages | 210*150mm
| Important! Please read before you order! |
| >>>This book is written in Korean. |
About This Book
The late columnist and professor Chang Young-hee once cited Emily
Dickinson's poem, "Hope is the Thing with Feathers," saying that we
don't recognize such hope ordinarily but it automatically springs up
whenever we confront obstacles.
She stood up by herself all the time whenever she fell down by either
physical handicap or illness.
Literature and, of course, her optimistic spirit, were a source of
energy to overcome the hardships in her life. And now so does her
posthumous work, "Miracle I Lived, Miracle I Will Live" for readers. The
book was published a day before she died of cancer on May 9.
As a renowned professor in the English language and literature
department at Sogang University and a human being defying her physical
handicap and cancer, Chang gave hope and delight through her talented
writing and words of wisdom which have graced the pages of mainstream
publications. She was a columnist at The Korea Times for 13 years,
starting from 1987 after she returned from studying in the United
States.
The book is a collection of 39 essays she selected herself in hospital,
which were published in the Monthly Samtoh from October 2000 to June
2008. It includes her experiences during her sabbatical year in Boston
in 2001, her struggle with cancer, her return to work before a relapse
and her last words just before she passed away last week.
"Now I think what I want is, no more, no less, a miracle. The
probability of dying from cancer is much higher than it doesn't and
running counter to this probability is a miracle. ¡¦ I want to share the
miracle of life with my readers. Every day we live is a miracle and I
know well that is the true miracle in my life right now," she wrote in
the prologue.
Her stories are beloved by many readers due to the mixture of personal
emotion, sorrow and pain from the point of view of an ordinary person,
completely free from political and economic implications.
There's no doubt Chang, as the first daughter of the late Dr. Chang
Wang-rok, a renowned English literature scholar, inherited the family
talent.
When she was around one year old, polio left her unable to use her legs.
Despite her physical handicap, she became a prominent English professor
and taught English literature at university, writing several books which
inspired many readers with her cheerful and humorous tones reflecting
her optimistic point of view on life.
But in 2001, Chang was diagnosed with breast cancer, but she recovered
and returned to school. However, the cancer spread to her vertebrate in
2004.
Although suffering her illness, she once again returned to her students
a year later, but eventually had to stop teaching as the cancer had
spread to her liver.
In the book, she revealed her state of mind when she first knew of her
illness. "Looking back, I was mad at the fact that I was chosen as the
target of misfortune by God. It was unfair that I have to fight a battle
that I can never win only with my own free will and efforts. I hated
others who might feel a sense of superiority only because they are
healthier than me. Most of all, my self-respect was deeply hurt as I
have to be a target of sympathy again," she said.
But Chang found her signature optimism on life, saying "But Chang Young-hee
who gets more humbled from my illness and learns a little more love and
becomes a better person might successfully end this cancer treatment and
will be back to a normal life."
She also writes about an interview with a magazine. After being
interviewed, she found the article's headline ¡ª "Overcoming Physically
Handicapped Life Like Divine Punishment" ¡ª unpleasant.
She said she had never thought of her life was a "divine punishment"
before. "Many people think living with a physically handicap might look
miserable but it isn't. I don't feel inconvenienced because I am so
accustomed to living with my pair of crutches. I realize I am
handicapped only when somebody else calls me a `handicapped' professor,"
she said.
And then she listed the reasons why her life is "blessed" rather than
"punished" because of her family, profession, heart-warming mind and her
fans she loved so much.
So her essay is full of her joyful confessions tinged with wit and humor
on her daily life's happenings even when portraying her struggle with
illness. She easily lost her way behind the wheel and was always late
for most of her appointments due to her "lazy nature." Sometimes a
street vendor fooled her, and she enjoyed loafing at home. All these
everyday trifles made her feel alive and thankful for the ordinariness.
She believed her long fight against illness was due to the power of a
miracle and was part of the process of becoming a "better" person.
Chang was once asked by her student about whether it was worth keeping
up hope against a foregone conclusion such as the case of a blind girl,
who is stranded on an island where water is rising, but is singing a
song without knowing that she might die drowning.
She said that regardless of whether we are singing a song of hope or
not, the water will reach her anyway. If so, it's better to sing a song.
Hope is powerful enough to overturn fate as the power of hope extends
the length of life.
"It was the words for me rather than the student. I still believe the
great power of hope and so I shout hope loudly, waiting for a new
spring," she said in her epilogue.
Chang published several books of essays, including "Walking Through the
Forest of Literature," "Birthday" and "Blessing."
--The Korea Times (www.koreatimes.co.kr)
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