Written by Sohn Il-Nak
Genre: Non-fiction
Published in April 2010
264 pages

Have you ever received a letter from your father? If your father gave you a book of letters, how would you feel? Cheer the Young and Their Crazy Dreams is a book consisting of a father’s letters. It is an interesting fact that the author is the father of Son Dong-woon, a member of the famous idol singer group BEAST. The author Sohn Il Nak, works in the Hotel and Tourism Management Department of Cheongju University as a professor. However, these facts are not very important in relation to the book. As I mentioned at the beginning, this is just a book consisting of a collection of letters from a father to his son.

The book is divided into three chapters. The first chapter’s theme is “Shoot for the World with Your Dreams” In the first letter, the author is helping the group members to deal with the prejudice towards them by changing their way of thinking. I can tell you the most memorable letter is the 11th letter in the first chapter. The title is “The Theory of Empty Jars,” and this letter is for all young people who have an empty jar in their own mind. The author states that the most important thing is to find out how to fill the empty jars and with what. In addition, he said that how to fill the jars and with what is up to them to decide. However, this empty jar affects one’s life, so he wishes them to be careful in filling the jar.

The second chapter’s theme is “The Secret of Success and Happiness, Which Is not taught in school’. Literally, the second chapter conveyed encouragement and advice, which is not found in school textbooks, and is expressed through many stories. If you are Korean, you should pay attention to the twenty-fifth letter. The title is “The Country in Which Loud Men Are Winning.” When I read this part, I was ashamed because it means many Koreans sometimes look illogical and irrational to foreigners. Therefore, the author gives the youth some advice to act reasonably and carefully because they can influence the image of Koreans to foreigners.

Through this book, the author Sohn, Il Nak introduces many strategies to make dreams come true. Moreover, he explained that we should not forget seemingly trivial things in the process of achieving our dreams. I think Cheer the Young and Their Crazy Dreams is filled with wisdom and is the best textbook for young people in our society.