Rest Peacefully, Baek Se-hee
I saw the passing of Baek Se-hee on BBC News today, and right there in my eyeline next to the television was the sequel I recently bought of this South Korean author’s international bestseller; I Want To Die, But I Want To Eat Tteokbokki. The sequel sat right there on my shelf is I Want To Die, But I Still Want To Eat Tteokbokki.
I instantly struggled with the whole idea of this. A successful author, years younger than I am now, had died, and the thing that somehow really struck me was that I had not yet read Baek Se-hee’s books? How can that be? I have bought them both, the sequel in the last few weeks while on a shopping trip with one of my three daughters, and this author has gone before ever really having a full chance at moving forward with their life, while both books still rested right there in my TBR pile, just waiting for me to catch up with this new voice. It somehow felt so earth-shatteringly wrong. Weirdly, I spent the day feeling that I had somehow failed them by not hearing their message in time to make a connection with them in my mind.
Baek Se-hee’s family have asked not to share cause of death, and so I do not wish to discuss that part of this awful event. Instead, I just wanted to say, rest peacefully Baek Se-hee. These books resonated with so many people struggling with mental health issues, particularly depression, something that has impacted my own family significantly over the years. Baek donated many of her organs; heart, lungs, liver and kidneys, which were used to help to save five lives. Suffering with dysthymia (persistent depression), Baek used their books to describe honest interactions with their psychiatrist; these became a self-help memoir that resonated with many readers. They were translated into English by Anton Hur. This piece by The Guardian gives more information about Baek. Tteokbokki is a Korean dish of rice cakes in a spicy sauce; food being one of the great pleasures in life, this is a recipe and instructions for My Korean Kitchen’s Tteokbokki (Spicy Rice Cakes), and in case you do not love spicy food, another recipe and instruction set for Gungjung Tteokbokki (Soy Sauce Rice Cakes).
