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Book Recommendation by Rhie Sue Nah

How hard do you try to read others’ minds? Is nunchi, a Korean concept loosely defined as “reading the room,” merely a tiring endeavor, and is it even necessary? These questions are answered by Euny Hong’s book The Power of Nunchi: The Korean Secret to Happiness and Success, a must-read for newcomers to Korea from other cultures.

The author says nunchi is a necessary life skill. It is a secret that helped Korea emerge as a country of success and happiness, and this skill is essential for individuals to live the way they desire. This badly needed trait works not only in Korea but also elsewhere in the world, the author says.

Nunchi in this book does not mean paying excessive attention to how one’s boss’s mind works or what a spouse or friend might be thinking and feeling. Instead, it is the power to grasp and understand the overall atmosphere, which seems crucial for getting by in society.

I used to think that nunchi was something that mirrored one’s personalities and that too much of it was a pathetic and negative flaw of weak-minded people. This book, however, clearly says nunchi is something that everyone needs, thus I enjoyed reading it all the way.

My recommendation of this book might irk some people and make them ask why they should even read this book given the negative connotations of nunchi. If they read it thinking they have nothing to lose, they will eventually realize how they can learn from nunchi from a perspective that considerably challenges their previous notions of it.

Rhie Sue NahEuny HongThe Power of Nunchi