Seoul Man

[Paul Mackin]

On Tue, 2003-11-25 at 15:52, Roger E. Rustad, Jr. wrote:
> How about we shorten it to just "mynchon"?
> 
> (I'm sorry to say that I actually googled for that word to see if anyone 
> else used it that context)

And don't forget Yournchon, Ournchon, Hisnchon, and Hernchon.



> 
> At 01:42 PM 11/25/2003 +0000, Burns, Erik wrote:
> >foax:
> >your Pynchon mention o' the day.
> >etb
> >
> >++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> >
> >Painting a sinking ship.
> >745 Words
> >26 November 2003
> >The Korea Herald
> >English
> >(c) 2003 The Korea Herald
> >
> >"When I was young I believed in social progress because I saw chances for
> >personal progress of my own. Today, at the age of 65, having gone as far as
> >I'm about to go, I see nothing but a dead end for myself, and for my society
> >as well." So began the recent confession a retired professor made to me
> >while chatting over lunch. The retired professor was deeply disillusioned
> >about the current situation in Korea where there is no sign of
> >reconciliation between Right and Left, North and South, and even East and
> >West. His bitter remarks reminded me of a similar passage in Thomas
> >Pynchon's superb but gloomy novel "V.""I worked very hard for this company
> >all my life, and now they kicked me out under the name of restructuring. I'm
> >only 45. What am I supposed to do now?" sobbed a middle-aged man in a bar
> >the other day, taking a few drinks alone. "This isn't normal. This society
> >forces me to get drunk." "I am terribly disillusioned with the quality of
> >education in this country.
> >
> >The purpose of education in Korea is nothing but passing the college
> >entrance exam. The school system is ruining my children. I can't stand this
> >inhumane environment anymore. In fact, I am considering of immigrating to
> >Canada, Australia, or New Zealand, for my children's sake," complained a
> >businessman to me a few days ago. Indeed, we have numerous fathers in Korea
> >who live alone after sending their wives and children to the United States
> >or Canada to provide them with a better education. The number of so-called
> >"wild geese dads" who are migrating to the United States during vacations to
> >see their families has increased considerably lately. Some of these dads
> >even die alone due to overwork, strokes or heart attacks. And there are the
> >so-called "widow villages" throughout the United States, where Korean wives
> >gather to live for their children's education. Meanwhile, the "wild geese
> >dads" in Korea send all of their paychecks to their families in the "widow
> >villages." The amount of money that Korean husbands send to America is
> >reportedly astronomical. All of this indicates that something is not quite
> >right in Korea these days. Perhaps we can gain some insight once again from
> >Thomas Pynchon who repudiates both Right and Left: "We carry on the business
> >of this century with an intolerable double vision. Right and Left: the
> >hothouse and the street. The Right can only live and work hermetically, in
> >the hothouse of the past, while outside the Left prosecute their affairs in
> >the streets by manipulated mob violence. And cannot live but in the
> >dreamscape of the future." What, then, should we do about this sinking,
> >disintegrating society of ours? Abandon the sinking ship and immigrate to
> >another country? Or should we try to fix the damage and save the ship? At
> >the end of Thomas Pynchon's novel "V" there is a powerful metaphor about
> >what to do with a disintegrating society. A sailor is alone on the sea,
> >painting the side of a sinking ship at nightfall. "What're you doing here?"
> >people in another boat yell at him. "The master is gone, the crew is gone, I
> >am here and I am painting the ship," he answers feebly. "Come aboard. Night
> >is nearly on us and you cannot swim to land." People in another boat urge
> >him to stop the painting and return to the harbor. The ship is sinking
> >anyway. What's the use? The sailor merely continues dipping the brush in his
> >jar in silence and slapping it smoothly on the creaking sides of the ship.
> >Pynchon suggests that the sinking ship is our society. If so, are we
> >supposed to mock the sailor who is stupid enough to paint the sinking ship?
> >Or do we still need to give it a new coat of paint even though the ship is
> >sinking? Nobert Wiener once suggested that in a sense, we are the
> >unfortunate passengers in a sinking ship called the Earth. While going down
> >slowly, we should do our best to slow down the process and maintain the
> >integrity and dignity of human beings. That may be the least we can do for
> >this bleak world. Dr. Kim Seong-kon is a professor of English and the
> >executive director of the Language Education Institute at Seoul National
> >University. - Ed.
> 
>