Esther
2025년 5월 19일
The book of July is Ocean Vuong's <The Emperor of Gladness>.
Over the past month or so, I’ve watched and listened to at least three interviews with Ocean Vuong about his latest book, The Emperor of Gladness. Partly, it's thanks to the algorithm that knows my taste better than I do - it’s making fewer mistakes than I am. I was listening to his interview with The New York Times while trying to lull myself to sleep. But instead of drifting off, I found myself jolted awake - the conversation struck me so deeply that I stayed dazed for hours before finally falling asleep. (This wasn’t entirely new; I had a similar reaction to his earlier interview with Krista Tippett a few years ago.)
The rawness and vulnerability he showed - and his willingness to share them so openly, to the point that the interviewer was audibly disoriented - felt peculiarly authentic. It resonated with what I’d already seen in his earlier novel, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. His follow-up interviews, with Barnes & Noble and Oprah, were equally moving and sincere.
In an era where sincerity is often met with mockery and earnestness feels risky, writers like him - and like David Foster Wallace, one of my literary heroes - dare to ask: Where do you stand when you love irony but crave meaning? His language, both written and spoken, is rich with quotable moments - lines you want to revisit and let sink in. He often speaks of the ordinary and the everyday, but through his attention and care, the mundane becomes luminous. He reminds us what can be truly seen when we look closely enough.
I’ve chosen this book not to appeal to a wide audience, as usual, but with the quiet confidence that if even one person out there picks it up and finishes it, they won’t regret it. It’s a new release, so the price is steep for now - but hopefully the paperback will be out soon, or local libraries will carry it. If you’re interested in reading about people who choose kindness with no expectation of return, about a hero’s journey without a reward, or in rethinking what “You Only Live Once” can mean - this book is for you.
Enjoy the read, and I’ll see you in July.
***
One late summer evening in the post-industrial town of East Gladness, Connecticut, nineteen-year-old Hai stands on the edge of a bridge in pelting rain, ready to jump, when he hears someone shout across the river. The voice belongs to Grazina, an elderly widow succumbing to dementia, who convinces him to take another path. Bereft and out of options, he quickly becomes her caretaker. Over the course of the year, the unlikely pair develops a life-altering bond, one built on empathy, spiritual reckoning, and heartbreak, with the power to alter Hai’s relationship to himself, his family, and a community at the brink.
Following the cycles of history, memory, and time, The Emperor of Gladness shows the profound ways in which love, labor, and loneliness form the bedrock of American life. At its heart is a brave epic about what it means to exist on the fringes of society and to reckon with the wounds that haunt our collective soul. Hallmarks of Vuong’s writing – formal innovation, syntactic dexterity, and the ability to twin grit with grace through tenderness – are on full display in this story of loss, hope, and how far we would go to possess one of life’s most fleeting mercies: a second chance.
코네티컷 주 한 작은 마을의 늦여름 어느 저녁, 열아홉 살 Hai는 쏟아지는 비를 맞으며 다리 끝에 서 있다. 그는 뛰어내릴 준비를 하지만, 강 너머에서 누군가의 외침을 듣는다. 치매에 걸린 노년의 미망인, Grazina. 그녀는 하이에게 다른 길을 택하라고 설득한다. 의지할 곳도, 선택지도 없던 하이는 그녀의 간병인이 되기로 한다. 1년 동안 이 두 사람은 여러 경험과 성찰, 그리고 아픔을 공유하며, 하이가 자신과 가족, 그리고 지역사회와 맺는 관계를 송두리째 바꿔 놓는다. 역사와 기억, 시간의 순환을 따라 전개되는 『The Emperor of Gladness』는 사랑과 노동, 외로움이 사회의 근간을 이루는 방식들을 깊이 있게 조명한다. 그 중심에는 사회의 가장자리에서 살아가는 존재들이 우리 모두의 상처와 마주하며 살아가는 용기가 있다. 형식에 있어서의 부옹의 실험적 문체와, 특유의 유려한 문장, 거친 현실을 섬세하게 표현하는 따뜻한 문체는 상실과 희망, 그리고 어쩌면 생에서 가장 덧없을 수 있는 ‘두 번째 기회’를 향한 열망을 드러내 보인다.
Date: July 27, 2025
Time: 5pm
Venue: Esther’s
Join us for an evening of camaraderie and intellectual stimulation. Admission is free, but attendance is restricted to individuals of college age and above. You can sign up for the meeting via Karrot (당근 모임) or secure your spot through Kakao (에스더어학원). Happy reading, and see you in July.