Devouring Books

Image above: The cover of Meeting Mr. Kim: Or How I Went To Korea and Learned To Love Kimchee by Jennifer Barclay [Source: www.amazon.co.uk]

Back in February when I came back from my trip, I met up with Swee for dinner and she gave me a surprise birthday present which included a wonderfully written book – Meeting Mr. Kim – thanks Swee!

It’s about how the author, 30 at the time, relocates from Toronto to Seoul to be with her drummer-boyfriend – 10 years her junior – and her experiences living and travelling in South Korea.

It’s quite a personal story covering not only the joys of exploring solo but also the sheer frustration and tiredness that also is part and parcel of the whole travel experience. Some of which I can really identify when I was going around Kyushu by myself and when sometimes it would work out for the best in an entirely unexpected way and other times you just had to laugh and accept that some days you just don’t make it.

Interspersed throughout the book, excerpts from Korean history and culture to set the context behind her experiences. I raced through it and it really did encapsulate the joy of travelling … of not knowing who you are going to meet nor the memories you’re going to take away with you.

Now having read it, I just want to explore the natural beauty of the mountains and coastlines, to stay in the stillness of the remote Bhuddist monasteries, to keep randomly meeting new people for myself.

Image above: The cover of Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama [Source: www.amazon.co.uk]

Finishing with Meeting Mr. Kim and hungry to read something else I remembered that I bought Barack Obama’s The Audacity of Hope book a few months back when he was running for the presidency but never got around to read. [Aside: it turns out that I have quite a few books sitting pretty in my bookshelf that I've not actually read yet!]

So went from being inspired about travelling once again to being inspired by Obama’s sheer eloquence in setting out his perspectives (written whilst he was a US Sentor) on the state of the union, on the state of US politics itself, on what makes America America, and what could make his country better both within and on the world stage.

Part US history, part anecdotes from his life, part manifesto, the way that he presents his views logically, taking into account the main arguments from both sides, it’s hard not to be swept along by his realistic and tempered optimism of what could be.

Being a fan of  The West Wing television series there were a few occasions where reading the book was like watching the TV series with its upbeat and idealistic view of a Democratic President and his administration. And with that came that desire for  reality to actually measure up to the powerful rhetoric, the lofty goals, and the high-minded principles of just doing the right thing.

Quoting from Don Quixote: “sanity may be madness but the maddest of all is to see life as it is and not as it should be”.