At high altitudes, any kind of descent is dangerous. One wrong move, and you could be smashed to pieces.
This book tells the story of a sixteen-year-old boy's planned runaway from home, as he confronts the spiritual emptiness common among people in a materially abundant society.
He leaves home and relentlessly searches for himself amid despair and confusion, repeatedly coming face to face with death. The moment a hang glider carries him high into the sky, he sees the vastness and beauty of the world, and its capacity to embrace both beauty and ugliness. After landing, he resolutely decides to pursue the life he wants.
Young people are pure and true to themselves. They erupt in anger only because they have witnessed the real ugliness of society.
Young people are passionate and restless. They can calm down only because they have witnessed the real beauty of society.
Yet society has never changed. It has always been this way, truly ugly and truly beautiful at the same time. Face ugliness with composure, and let yourself smile as you become a better person.
Emptiness is a famine of the soul. Like hunger, it can be fatal. What can we use to fight the endless, devouring emptiness? Reading, learning, exploring, thinking, inventing, creating, art, protection... Finding out who you are matters far more than accumulating impressive social titles. Only by keeping your feet on the ground can you reach the place your heart longs for.
