Cursed Bunny

2.5

Really weird, and boring. I like the first few stories, but then it got incredibly boring. And the stories that I liked were pretty short and the boring ones were so long for some reason. The Head and The Embodiment were my favorites, and I wanted the book to lean in on the weird and/or body horror. I liked some of it, but it's kind of disappointed me.

Most stories have some kind of gruesome supernatural component, I really enjoyed that. One I thought started out looking pretty ableist but then it took a turn that I also thought was cool but probably didn't really make up for the "blindness as a metaphor" thing.

A collection of dark short stories. Many reminded me of fairytails in a modern setup adding creep-factor through absurdity or surrealism. The outcome of the stories felt too predictable oftentimes. Othertimes I couldn't get a grasp about what the story is about, like what exactly is it critizing or referring to. Maybe the language barrier or my missing understand of the south korean culture led me miss out a lot there.

9/10 rounded up, but what a great collection of short stories! Chung's writing is about as bright as that golden ship sailing through the heavens in the penultimate story. The full range of weirdness on display here makes for a very diverse reading experience, even though all of it is delightfully creepy. It's riveting prose as well, translator Anton Hur did an outstanding job. Cover design is also very much on point. It was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2022, but I wouldn't have mind if it won. Honford Star have gold in their hands with Bora Chung.

It's unlike anything I have read before and I don't know how I feel about it. I mean, the fact that it is so unique is of course amazing in itself but the particular brand of sometimes just grossness can be kind of off-putting. Which I guess is challenging taboos in my life which again is interesting from an 'experiential' perspective.

I really applaud the author for putting together something this challenging to read, not the words, the flow of the book is very easy but by the response it engenders which can be palpable at times.

I'm actually at a loss what to rate this book as!

Loved this collection of dark and strange stories. I was often uncomfortable and audibly cringing while reading these stories as she does not shy away from body-horror, but nonetheless felt compelled to keep reading. Characters are seeking meaning and a sense off humanity through bizarre and often grotesque circumstances, which brought me deeper into each story even as I recoiled.

The stories are at their most powerful when she turns up the psychological disorientation through slowly revealed details, in stories you have to ( and want to) read several times to make sense of.

This collection of short stories really deserves its nomination for the International Booker.
Absurd, often frankly horrific and very dark, these stories draw on phantasy, horror and twisted folk tales, but are firmly rooted in the concerns of our modern, capitalist and patriarchal world and its very real horrors.
And Anton Hur's translation from Korean is nothing short of masterful.