Whether BTS, short for Bangtan Sonyeondan, fuelled the popularity of K-pop or vice-versa can’t be said. But from topping global music charts and performing at the United Nations to becoming their country’s top cultural exports and taking the world by a story, this seven-membered South Korean boy band has achieved much and more. Hence, when Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS, “the first ever official book” telling BTS’s story hit the shelves globally last Sunday, it was uncontested that this memoir-of sorts would make for another achievement on the band’s already shiny resume.
The book is already a No. 1 on Amazon’s bestsellers’ list. Commenting on the India sales, an Amazon spokesperson said, “Thousands of copies were pre-ordered and sold on Amazon.in since the worldwide launch on July 9. The book has performed 10X better during pre-order and 20X better post launch vs similar new launches in the past 12 months.” It received the maximum orders from Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai.
Pan Macmillan India, which published the English translation in India, saw an opening order of 25,000 copies. The book is going strong at physical bookstores too. “The BTS phenomenon has completely engulfed Crossword since last month,” said Aakash Gupta, managing director and chief executive officer at Crossword Bookstores. “We are a chain of 100 stores across 35 cities in India and we have seen this euphoria across India.” Speaking on sales, Gupta said, “We have delivered more than 2,000 copies to fans, including our pre-orders, online and offline sales.”
Touted as the “first ever official book”, published “in celebration of BTS’s 10th anniversary,” the buzz is understandable. Written by Korean journalist Kang Myeong-seok and co-authored by the seven members—RM, Jin, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook—Beyond the Story is a chronological re-telling of the band’s journey, from struggling trainees living and breathing their craft to globally-acclaimed artistes with nothing left to prove.
Although a large part of what is written about is already known by many, the members’ personal retelling about their thoughts, feelings, apprehensions and anxieties at different stages of their idol life add much perspective. While the world has witnessed BTS’s meteoric rise, the excruciating effort put in to achieve that instills a sense of awe and inspiration. Interestingly, exhaustion felt by the artistes at different points is a running thread, highlighting the toll making music, dancing razor-sharp moves along with countless interviews, media appearances, creating self-content, etc, can have on a person.
Alongside BTS’s rise, Kang also traces the changes that happened in the K-pop space at that time, making it an immersive read. A glimpse into the background of individual songs, the stories and thoughts, add much perspective to the band’s work. When it is about BTS, how can their fans, known as ARMY, be left unmentioned? “The significance of BTS hitting number two on the live charts was simple. Their fans had started to increase so much in number that even the staff at Big Hit Entertainment could hardly believe,” Kang writes. Similarly, Jimin remembers the day the band debuted in 2013. “That day, around ten fans came, right? Those people —without those people cheering us on, there would have been no demand for us to exist, and we felt a sense of urgency that we needed to be truly thankful to these people called fans,” he writes. For SUGA, “If you remove the fans from my life as an idol, I’m a really pathetic person. I’m just nothing.”
What is also interesting is that the book delves into individual member’s relationship with their craft, whether it is SUGA’s love and hate relationship with music, Jimin finding his voice, Jung Kook being the Golden Maknae, RM’s musical genius, j-hope being the dance teacher, V creating his own style and Jin charting his course.
As minimal as it can be, the book carries pictures of the group at different stages of their evolution. Along with that, there are QR codes at the bottom of several pages, scanning through which would take you to a BTS song. This particular element makes the read an extremely immersive experience.
Having said that, it is difficult to ignore certain shortcomings. Written by a journalist, a lack of critical eye on issues is glaring. For example, although the issue of cyberbullying faced by the group is written about extensively, it lacks some depth. “The first large-scale cyberbullying attack on BTS was because they had sold too many records,” Kang writes. On why BTS became the targets of large-scale cyberbullying, he says, “The reason for this we’ll never know for sure, but there’s also no need to know,” which leaves more questions. Also, while the book can be a phenomenal read for the fans, for others, some contexts such as the trainee life, which is a big part of the K-pop scene, can be difficult to understand.
However, Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS is a simple read yet keeps one hooked. The ARMYs would evidently love it. But whether the non-fans would have a similar experience cannot be said.
Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS
BTS & Myeongseok Kang
Pan Macmillan
Pp 544, Rs 2,499
