원제 : Das Märchen vom Glück
Erich Kastner (Ji Eun-yi), Ulrike Möltgen (pictured), Chosugang 2024-04-20, Chosugang (Moving) 48 pages 147*193 mm 367 g ISBN: 9791198339287
book introduction
Hans Christian Andersen Award, author of the Georg Bühner Literary Prize
A short story by Erich Kastner,
New shining with a profound and magical painting by Ulrike Möldgen!
A strange old man suddenly appears on the park bench looking like Santa Claus. The strange old man complains to our narrator, who was resenting the world, and promises to grant us three wishes so that we can finally be happy. The speaker, who thinks this as nonsense, gets angry and immediately wastes two wishes.... There's only one wish left. Will he finally get his wish and be happy?
"Merhen for Happiness" is a short story written in 1947 by Erich Kastner, a leading German novelist, poet, and children's book author who gained worldwide fame for his novel "Fabian," poetry collection "Encounter" and fairy tale "Flying Classroom," which was created as a picture book. As Hermann Hesse commented, "A writer who talks about the contemporary era but works in any era," this work also contains a unique insight into 'happiness', which is an eternal theme and wish of mankind, so you can clearly see the aspects of humor, satire, and cutting-edge murder that come to mind when you think of Erich Kastner. In addition, Ulrike Möldgen's profound paintings entertain readers by opening up a wealth of room for imagination and interpretation.
Moreover, 2024 is the 125th anniversary of Erich Kastner's birth, and it is certainly lucky and meaningful to meet his short story as a picture book. Anyone can find the key to opening the door to happiness if they listen to the story told by the old man in the work and think about it. It is a book that presents precious time to modern people who are tired of living as if they were pushed by competition and speed, to pause for a moment and think about dreams, happiness, attitudes, and directions about their only one-time life.
"Oh, humans are stupid.
Happiness is something that you can cut into pieces every day.
It's not a sausage for storage!"
Erich Kastner's unique look at the subject of happiness!
The author Erich Kastner, who fought through two harrowing wars, burned books and banned writing by the Nazis but resisted without going into exile, criticized an absurd society using the literary devices of humor, satire, and humor, and easily and tactfully unfolded his will to freedom and peace. "Merhen for Happiness" also allows us to look back on the attitudes of our lives by crossing reality and fantasy, present and past, as the word "Merhen" shows.
The story takes the form of telling the story that the first speaker, 'I' (current young man), heard from the second speaker, 'the old man'. An old man sitting across from a smoky tavern suddenly talks to "I," saying that humans are stupid, and says, "Happiness is not a storage sausage that can be cut and eaten one piece every day." Then it tells a story like an old story that I went through 40 years ago.
When the old man was young, he was full of complaints and resenting God and the world, but suddenly a strange old man who looks like Santa Claus appears and offers to grant three wishes. And he added, "Your complaints are very annoying to our nerves," adding, "You finally get happy by fulfilling your wishes." The old story "Three Wishes" that we know well comes to mind, and the author twists the ending slightly. Our speaker immediately wasted two wishes, but after that, he leaves a meaningful remark, saying that he hasn't written one last wish for 40 years.
"Wish is only good until you still have it in your heart."
From the old story to the present story.
The old man to the young man.
For those who are having a hard time,
a magical story that shines on the path of happiness
Imagine the first speaker listening to the story. A young man, the speaker, is drinking alone in the 'smokey' tavern. At that time, the second speaker, the old man, talks to him and tells him his experience, whether he believes it or not, wishing him well. As if a strange old man did to him 40 years ago.
And now we're hearing this story through the first speaker, or Erich Kastner. It is now up to the reader to decide what to feel and realize in this story. Am I happy or unhappy? When are you happy, when do you feel unhappy? If you could make three wishes come true, what would you pick? If you achieve that wish, can you be happy forever and so on and so on and so on. Furthermore, if many people read and discuss together, wouldn't they be like Santa Claus, who shares good luck and wisdom with each other?
As such, this short story seems to be urging you not to be too unhappy because the key to opening the door to happiness is right now, here, in your hands. Kim Kyung-yeon, the first doctor of German children's and youth literature in Korea and a critic of children's and youth literature, asks the following questions in a recommendation at the end of the book.
"Another old man in the old man's story says that if you make your wish come true, you must be happy. However, just like the old story of the three wishes, a wish that has already been made turns out to be futile. Then, whether or not there is a wish to be made, whether or not a wish is made, whether or not a wish is made, what is close to us, what we have now, and the time we are enduring now are not conditions of happiness?"
About the author
Erich Kastner (Jieun)
Born in Dresden, Germany, in 1899, he went to a school of education to become a teacher, and was drafted into World War I. He gave up his dream of becoming a teacher due to the oppressive teaching methods of the school of education, and after World War I, he studied literature at the University of Leipzig and received a doctorate. During his PhD, he became a reporter for a newspaper and published poems in various daily and magazines. In 1927, he moved to Berlin and began writing in earnest. In 1928, he released his first collection of poems, Herz auf Tail, which became sensational. He continued to release "Laerm im Spiegel" in 1929, "Ein Mann gibt Auskunft" in 1930, and "Gesang zwischen den Stuehlen" in 1932. Another satirical novel, Fabian?He rose to prominence as a best-selling author by publishing "The Story of a Moralist" (1931), children's novels "Emile and Detectives" (1929), "Pinkthen and Anton" (1931), and "The Flying Classroom" (1933).
When Hitler came to power in 1933, Erich Kastner was blacklisted and banned from writing, and on May 10 of that year, he had to watch his book burned down.
After the end of World War II, Erich Kastner was elected president of the Pen Club in Germany in 1949, won the Munich Prize for Literature in 1956, the Georg Wühner Prize in Literature in 1957, and the Andersen Prize for Literature in 1960. In his old age, he raised his voice for freedom and peace, and he died in 1974 after anti-war and anti-nuclear movements.
Awarded: Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1960, Hans Christian Andersen Award in '0
Ulrike Moltgen (pictured)
Born in Buppertal in 1973, he studied communications design at Buppertal University and was awarded a degree to illustrator and children's book author Wolf Erlbruch. He worked as a lecturer at the Polkbang University of Arts in Essen and is now a painter. In 1997, she became famous for her "Moon and Little Bear Mondbar" series in collaboration with Rolf Pear, and her surrealist paintings were invited and displayed with many awards. In Korea, "The Moon and the Little Bear", "Animal Breeding Festival", and "Rabbit Marty Is the Best" were introduced.
King Jeongcho (Moving)
Born in Jinan, North Jeolla Province in 1955, he studied literature at Sungkyunkwan University. He received a doctorate in literature for his thesis on Brecht and worked as a professor at Chonbuk National University. He began his theatrical career in college, served as a permanent director of the Jeonju City Theater Company, artistic director of the Creative Theater Company, and won the Park Dong-hwa Theater Award and the Jeonbuk Harim Arts Award. He wrote "The Aesthetics of Meeting and Communication" and translated "Brecht: In the Jungle of the City".
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