A short novel that became part of my life

Son Chang-sop (孫昌涉)'s Superfluous Men (剩餘人間), 1958, is a Korean short novel. This novel was the main source of my master's dissertation in medical humanities, and the main character, Seo Man-ki was the protagonist in it.

It was when I was in primary school that I met the novel for the first time. At the time, my mother, as a primary school teacher, gave me a sort of extra homework for me who was lazily enjoying my summer vacation at home, and the homework was to read the novels which she selectively ticked off for me on the list of the works of reputed Korean writers in an old complete set of Korean literature in my home. The novel was one of them that my mother introduced to my life that way.

Later, when I was in middle school, I met the novel again, but this time not by force but on my own. I don't know why I was attracted to the novel and the characters, especially the main character, the dentist. I thought that dentist was a boring job, although I later - in high school - learned that dentist was one of the most popular and well paid jobs. Rather, it was the university rather than the department which I considered more when making my application for university, as was typical of many South Korean high schoolers. Simply I wanted to go to Yonsei university. So I was not serious in my choice of subject in university study.

When I was in dental college, it was Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (shortly oral surgery) among the dental subjects that attracted me. I was aspiring to be a surgeon professor in a university hospital, and for me, the life of a general dentist in a small clinic felt dull. And after graduation and passing the licence exam, I came to work in one of my university hospitals in Gangnam as an intern which would lead to the oral surgery residency training. The work at first looked really fantastic to me, since oral surgery was my dream department in dental hospital and the hospital itself was located in one of the most affluent and cool places in Seoul. But not long after I quitted the job, and I came to realise seriously what kind of person I am for the first time in my life.

Many things happened afterwards before I ended up working as a history teacher in a high school, but my wandering did not stop even after that. I kept pondering on questions like what kind of things I could do the best or what I really liked to do the most. But, still I don't think there is a right answer to such questions in anyone's life.

It was when I was trying to find the main topic for my Master's dissertation that I came to meet the novel again in my life in a more realistic and serious way. This time I was neither the stupid high school student nor the stupid dental student. I indeed needed something that could stimulate myself to endeavor for making my life more meaningful. And I could see in the main character, Seo Man-ki, something different than what I used to see in the past.

Anyway, I did not imagine when I was younger that this little novel would have such an extraordinary relationship with my life. It feels like almost a fate to me.

On the Internet, I found that there is an English translated version of the novel by the late famous English literature professor, Chang Young-hee (張英姬).(http://hompi.sogang.ac.kr/anthony/klt/98april/sohnchangsop.htm)

My master's dissertation (2014):
A Study on the Literary Figuration of Dentists in Postwar Novels and its Implication for Professionalism - Focusing on Changseop Son's Superfluous Men
(https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0RqcVdlwP6pLTlGRzZtYzVDcVE/view?usp=sharing)