After the writer Han Kang won the Nobel Prize in Literature, reading fever swept the Korean society. All of Han Kang’s books disappeared from library shelves, and their sales have skyrocketed. However, no one knows how long this enthusiasm for reading will last. In fact, some are concerned that books are disappearing from people’s lives. For a long time, people have lamented that even university students, who should be reading, only look at their phones.

Why should we read books? Today, we study the world through YouTube or Netflix and collect information through Google and Naver. When I recommend books to university students, they show me a begrudging face. Now, writing is also left to AI, such as Chat GPT. However, reading is still essential for anyone who doesn’t want to merely act as a consumer supporting conglomerates like Elon Reeve Musk and Mark Elliot Zuckerberg, but rather wishes to take control of their own lives.”

Honestly, I love “The Lord of the Rings,” a film adaptation of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien’s novels. This movie is not a video, but a moving masterpiece of several classical novels combined. This is the collection of the best imaging techniques and also the crystallization of classical and humanities traditions. Traces of classical literature, including Shakespeare, can be found throughout the movie’s lines. There are similar reasons for reading in the era of platforms and AI. Even in the high-tech era, creativity remains essential, and reading is a way to truly cultivate it.

Reading, which can develop humanistic imagination, is not only important to students studying liberal arts. Whenever I bought electronic devices, I often had difficulty understanding them when I looked at the manual. Anyone who can catch up with the explanation full of jargon won't need a manual, and anyone who is in desperate need of an explanation won't understand it anyways. Engineers also must deal with consumers like me when they release development results on the market. They also need communication skills to understand the public’s emotions and persuade their thoughts using the language of the public. Moreover, the university has a majors, but most students have to live a life unrelated to their majors after graduation.

Then, which books should we read? The strategy like the 100 must-read recommendations is a shortcut that keeps students away from books. Reading also requires step-by-step training and adaptation. Whether you are looking for fun in mystery novels, comfort in liberal arts books, or knowledge in specialized books, the meaning of reading varies from person to person. All books are great if they can stimulate pleasure and intellectual curiosity.

There is also hopeful news. According to a recent tally by online bookstores, reading rates in teens and 20s have increased over the past five years, while reading rates for people in their 50s and older have fallen further. If reading is a lifelong habit, this contradictory trend should be encouraging. People who don't read books say, “Autumn is the season of reading,” but reading is not farm work. Let's read books without news of the season and Nobel Prize winners whenever we have time. Reading books has its own fun.

By Lim Young-Ho, Honorary Prof. Dept. of Media and Communication

Translated by Seo Ye-Jin