Journey into Deep Landscape: Flamenco in Andalusia and Siberian Railroad Scenery

By Joon Kim

This literary work of non-fiction is based on the author's personal journeys alone. He backpacked to the coasts of the country, across the American continent, to London, England, Paris, France and Schwarzwald, Germany. And also to Andalusia, Spain, and Siberia, Russia. Above all, he cannot forget the simple-hearted pilgrimage to Siberia on the Trans-Siberian Railway.
He journeyed alone, sometimes meditating on writing, and sometimes on the journey itself. He saw and felt flamenco through his journey into Andalusia, and stepped on the snow-covered birch forest in Siberia that he longed for.
Writing this book, JOURNEY INTO DEEP LANSCAPES, he recalled a few of words of Annie Dillard:
“Write about winter in summer.
Describe Norway as Ibsen did, from a desk in Italy.”
Lastly, he lived at home in seclusion and went on an inner journey with picture books.
His long journey, like the flow of a deep river, was the source of inspiration for his writing. In a sense, writing was a kind of journey for him. This creative nonfiction deviates somewhat from the general novel structure. However, the flow of the entire text is consistent and organic. So, whether you may take it as a creative non-fiction or as a collection of f personal essays. It’s up to you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jun 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9798823009577

Joon Kim

Joon Kim is the author of 'Landscapes Invisible’(AuthorHouse 2020) and ‘Farewell Party’(Europe Books 2021), both of which are literary works of non-fiction. As a writer and flamenco performance planner, and a doctorate in Politics, Joon Kim lives in Masan, South Korea where he was born in 1944. He has written eight literary books in Korean and translated 4 English books into Korean. He directed five flamenco-pansoi performances (2005-2013). He is the author of ‘Chang Dong in Blue’ in Korean, a series of fact-fiction about art, published for 15 years from 2004 to 2019.

Book preview

JOURNEY

INTO DEEP

LANDSCAPE

Flamenco in Andalusia and

Siberian Railroad Scenery

JOON KIM

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© 2023 Joon Kim. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 06/14/2023

ISBN: 979-8-8230-0959-1 (sc)

ISBN: 979-8-8230-0958-4 (hc)

ISBN: 979-8-8230-0957-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023910457

Print information available on the last page.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

Preface

Part 1: Two Cities in Europe and Schwarzwald

Coasts of the Korean Peninsula

London Charles Lamb Loved

Notre Dame of Paris, where the light of God descends

A wood-carved maiden figure in Schwarzwald

Part 2: Korean song Fits Spanish Steps

Room-sharing

A Portland Flamenco Dancer

Riding east-bound Greyhounds

Part 3: Spanish-ignorant Flamenco Lover

Immersed in flamenco books

The spiritual world of flamenco

Flamenco dance and Korean salpri

Part 4: Helen dances flamenco in Masan, Korea

Watercolor painting of flamenco

Conversing with Two local painters about flamenco

Introducing flamenco dance to GIFT

Helen flies to Masan to dance flamenco

Part 5: Deep songs of Andalusian gypsies

Flying to Andalusia

Cadiz

Jerez

If I would go to Seville again!

Adios! Madrid

Part 6: Siberian Landscapes

Nevsky Prospect of St. Petersburg

In Moscow Station Hall.

Siberian scenery from a running train

Two nights in Irkutsk

Part 7: Inner Journey with Picture Books

Matisse’s mosaic abstract painting

Bamboo forest, an ink painting

On the relationship between art and beauty

Postscript

About the Author

By the same author

Landscapes Invisible

Farewell Party

Chang Dong in Blue 7 (in Korean)

For my parents

PREFACE

This literary work of non-fiction is based on the author’s personal journeys alone. He backpacked to the coasts of the country, across the American continent, to London, England, Paris, France and Schwarzwald, Germany. And also to Andalusia, Spain, and Siberia, Russia. Above all, he cannot forget the simple-hearted pilgrimage to Siberia on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

He journeyed alone, sometimes meditating on writing, and sometimes on the journey itself. He saw and felt flamenco through his journey into Andalusia, and stepped on the snow-covered birch forest in Siberia that he longed for.

His long journey, like the flow of a deep river, was the source of inspiration for his writing. In a sense, writing was a kind of journey for him. This creative nonfiction is composed of a systemic flow of personal essays rather than a traditional novel.

He began by writing only for himself. He started to record memories, anecdotes, and items he has heard here or there, and stirred them all together to have a structure of creative non-fiction. Finding his inner voice, differentiating it from everyone else’s, he wrote his own style down. Little by little he made his own path. He strived to take his own journey into writing, stirred it with himself, and wrote with his unique voice.

This creative nonfiction deviates somewhat from the general novel structure. However, the flow of the entire text is consistent and organic. So, whether you may take it as a creative non-fiction or as a collection of f personal essays. it’s up to you.

It is made up of 7 chapters as a whole. Chapter 1 begins with ‘Two cities in Europe and Scharzwald’, followed by 6 the next chapters: Korean song fits Spanish steps’,

‘Spanish-ignorant Flamenco Lover’,

‘Helen dances flamenco in Masan, Korea’,

‘Deep song of Andalusian gypsies’,

‘Siberian Landscapes’,

and ‘Inner Journey with Reading Pictures’.

Writing this book, JOURNEY INTO DEEP LANSCAPES, he recalled a few of words of Annie Dillard:

"Write about winter in summer.

Describe Norway as Ibsen did, from a desk in Italy."

And, he added here that a few words of advice from Rilke were an invisible guide for this writing journey. it’s a pity that he couldn’t remember the title of the book where the words of a few pearls were hidden. According to his recollection, those few words of advice he has loved were probably similar to the following:

In order to write one line of poetry,

you have to meet many cities,

many people,

and many books.

And you should be able to recall the nights in your journey which fleetly vanished with the twinkling stars

1

Two Cities in Europe

and Schwarzwald

One wants a room with no view, so imagination can meet memory in the dark.

-Annie Dillard-

COASTS OF THE KOREAN PENINSULA

When he was in his 20s, he was confined to a sanatorium deep in the mountains for four years or so due to tuberculosis. The experience he had in his youth had a profound impact on his later life. He has often felt within himself an irresistible call to come from afar beyond the sea. The voice within him was so overwhelming that when he felt it he had to obey it. To obey means to step outside of normal social life. As a result, he had severe difficulties adapting to normal social life. One day, he couldn’t resist the urge to wander around the seashores from which he could look out over the horizon. So, He recklessly left the house alone toward the seashores.

He first went to the South Sea coast by bus not so far from his home, and wandered around the islands there for a few days. And he returned home feeling better due to it. while he wandered in the South Sea, he went to the islands of Yokji Island and Maemul Island near a coastal city called Tong Young. He climbed to the top of them, looking afar at the distant horizon. Yokji was about an hour away by boat from the coastal city, and Maemuldo was about an hour and a half by boat from it The Maemuldo Island made his heart beat just by its name, since that was the first day he visited the island. Until then he hasn’t trodden the island of longing yet.

He believed that if he climbed to the top of the island, he would be able to see the sea twice as far away as from Yokji.

Once before, he met a lady traveler on Bogildo Island, wearing sunglasses with a camera on her shoulder. The island is said to be located at the end of the land in Korea. They talked about the island.

He spoke to her first. Hello, I am Hagya. Nice to meet you. This island is very beautiful. Then she also kindly replied, Hello, I’m a middle school geography teacher. Happy to be here.

Then, he continued to speak in a long way:

Here on the Island, there are elements that hinder us from directing our eyes to the distant sea. The fresh smell of seaweed, rainbow-colored fish fearlessly approaching our feet, and the footsteps of the old poet Yoon Sun-Do, who is familiar to us with his famous poems. These beautiful elements here kept my eyes only on the island and prevented me from gazing at the distant horizon. If Yun Sun-Do had been to either island of Yokji or Maemuldo, he must have cast his gaze far beyond the horizon to the vast new sight that was unfolding before his eyes. He must probably have looked towards the distant horizon in silence before the seascape different from that of Bogildo Island.

Then the lady traveler asked him with interest, Where is Maemuldo? He replied to her, The island is about an hour and a half away from Tong Yung. The sea there is completely different from here. It is a barren, uninhabited rocky island. When you climb to a high place there, your gaze makes you dream beyond the fog belt toward the far horizon.

After an outing to the South sea, he returned home and was refreshed for a while. After that, he got increasingly tedious again, and this time he headed north along the coastal road by the East Sea, which was farther away than the South Sea. He got hungry while riding a bus, got off at a stop anywhere to buy what to eat.

Waiting for the next bus at the bus stop, He took out a bundle of papers in his backpack and read them. They were English documents to translate which his friend and painter had handed him before he had left for the East Sea. The painter had occasionally asked him to translate English materials needed for art lectures at college. There were English letters sent to the painter by Kenji, his Japanese friend and woodblock artist living in New York. There was also a letter from Kenji’s American wife telling him about an exhibition of her husband’s work.

Below is a fragment of the letters from his Japanese friend:

‘Below’

I don’t know why my friends want to grow up so quickly.

Maybe I’ll live until I’m 80

So, I want to remain a kid until I’m 50.

No. I’ve changed my mind.

I want to spend only 10 years as an adult.

I want to remain a child until 70.

No, not even that. I want to live to be 80 as a child.

How would I imagine and create new things unless I were a child? I won’t accept life other than that.

The sea of the East Coast had high waves and the color of the water was deep blue and pure. While the bus was running along the coastal road, the blue color of the sea coming into his eyes through the window of the swaying bus brought peace to his mind. He became drowsy on a rocking bus, with his eyes closed without realizing it. And he returned home refreshed again. And after a while, he headed for the West Sea, intoxicated by the coastal scenery, farther from his home. Reaching the West Sea,