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저주토끼
세상 몹쓸 것들을 제대로 응징하는, 어여쁜 저주 이야기
한국 호러 SF/판타지 대표작가 정보라의 4년 만의 신작 소설집
할아버지는 늘 말씀하셨다. “저주에 쓰이는 물건일수록 예쁘게 만들어야 하는 법이다.”
대를 이어 저주 용품을 만드는 집안에서 태어난 손자와 그 할아버지의 이야기. 할아버지는 오래 전 젊은 나이에 생을 마감한 친구가 있었다. 할아버지의 친구네 집안은 마을 유지인 술도가. 바른 마음으로 좋은 전통주를 제조해서 팔려고 애쓰는 할아버지 친구네 집안사람들은 그러나 세상 돌아가는 약삭빠른 이치를 깨닫지 못했다. 정부 인사와의 친분, 인물, 접대, 뇌물은 뒷전이고 좋은 술을 만드는 데 전념한 것.
그에 반해 저질 알코올에 물과 감미료를 대충 섞어 “서민들이 선호하는” 술이라고 선전하던 경쟁회사는 급기야 할아버지 친구네 집안의 술에 “공업용 알코올이 들어간다”는 흑색선전을 퍼트리고, “그 술을 마시면 눈이 멀고 불구가 된다”며 비방을 일삼았지만 호소할 방법이 없다. 결국 매출은 떨어지고 공장은 가동을 멈췄으며, 긴 소송 끝에 할아버지 친구네 집안은 몰락하고 만다. 이에 보다 못한 주인공의 할아버지가 ‘저주토끼’를 어여쁘게 만들어 손수 복수에 나서는데….
러시아를 비롯 슬라브어 권의 명작들을 꾸준히 번역해서 소개하고, 보태어 수준 높은 호러 SF/판타지 창작으로 꾸준히 독자들의 사랑을 받아온 정보라 작가의 다섯 번째 저서가 4년 만에 나왔다. 동서고금을 넘나드는 배경과 인물과 사건들이 넘치는 10편의 작품이 아우르는 주제는 복수와 저주. 저자의 풍부한 상상력은 가차 없는 저주로 복수를 대신한다. 세상의 몹쓸 것들은 도무지 뉘우칠 줄 모르고, 우리의 주인공들인 피해자(혹은 등장토끼 혹은 등장로봇)에게 용서란 없다.
하지만 저자는 말한다. “원래 세상은 쓸쓸한 곳이고 모든 존재는 혼자이며 사필귀정이나 권선징악 혹은 복수는 경우에 따라 반드시 필요할지 모르지만, 그렇게 필요한 일을 완수한 뒤에도 세상은 여전히 쓸쓸하고 인간은 여전히 외롭다는 얘기를 하고 싶었다”고. 그런 사람들에게, 그렇게 고군분투하는 우리 모두에게 위안이 되고 싶었다고. 그렇게 이 책은 악착 같은 저주와 복수에 관한 이야기이자, 위로에 관한 우화들이다.
“용서할 수 없는 것들은, 용서하지 말자.”
한국 호러 SF/판타지 대표작가 정보라의 4년 만의 신작 소설집
할아버지는 늘 말씀하셨다. “저주에 쓰이는 물건일수록 예쁘게 만들어야 하는 법이다.”
대를 이어 저주 용품을 만드는 집안에서 태어난 손자와 그 할아버지의 이야기. 할아버지는 오래 전 젊은 나이에 생을 마감한 친구가 있었다. 할아버지의 친구네 집안은 마을 유지인 술도가. 바른 마음으로 좋은 전통주를 제조해서 팔려고 애쓰는 할아버지 친구네 집안사람들은 그러나 세상 돌아가는 약삭빠른 이치를 깨닫지 못했다. 정부 인사와의 친분, 인물, 접대, 뇌물은 뒷전이고 좋은 술을 만드는 데 전념한 것.
그에 반해 저질 알코올에 물과 감미료를 대충 섞어 “서민들이 선호하는” 술이라고 선전하던 경쟁회사는 급기야 할아버지 친구네 집안의 술에 “공업용 알코올이 들어간다”는 흑색선전을 퍼트리고, “그 술을 마시면 눈이 멀고 불구가 된다”며 비방을 일삼았지만 호소할 방법이 없다. 결국 매출은 떨어지고 공장은 가동을 멈췄으며, 긴 소송 끝에 할아버지 친구네 집안은 몰락하고 만다. 이에 보다 못한 주인공의 할아버지가 ‘저주토끼’를 어여쁘게 만들어 손수 복수에 나서는데….
러시아를 비롯 슬라브어 권의 명작들을 꾸준히 번역해서 소개하고, 보태어 수준 높은 호러 SF/판타지 창작으로 꾸준히 독자들의 사랑을 받아온 정보라 작가의 다섯 번째 저서가 4년 만에 나왔다. 동서고금을 넘나드는 배경과 인물과 사건들이 넘치는 10편의 작품이 아우르는 주제는 복수와 저주. 저자의 풍부한 상상력은 가차 없는 저주로 복수를 대신한다. 세상의 몹쓸 것들은 도무지 뉘우칠 줄 모르고, 우리의 주인공들인 피해자(혹은 등장토끼 혹은 등장로봇)에게 용서란 없다.
하지만 저자는 말한다. “원래 세상은 쓸쓸한 곳이고 모든 존재는 혼자이며 사필귀정이나 권선징악 혹은 복수는 경우에 따라 반드시 필요할지 모르지만, 그렇게 필요한 일을 완수한 뒤에도 세상은 여전히 쓸쓸하고 인간은 여전히 외롭다는 얘기를 하고 싶었다”고. 그런 사람들에게, 그렇게 고군분투하는 우리 모두에게 위안이 되고 싶었다고. 그렇게 이 책은 악착 같은 저주와 복수에 관한 이야기이자, 위로에 관한 우화들이다.
“용서할 수 없는 것들은, 용서하지 말자.”
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First published March 15, 2017
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About the author
Bora Chung
17 books1,172 followersBora Chung has written three novels and three collections of short stories. She has an MA in Russian and East European area studies from Yale University and a PhD in Slavic literature from Indiana University. She currently teaches Russian language and literature and science fiction studies at Yonsei University and translates modern literary works from Russian and Polish into Korean.
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January 3, 2024
‘I feel like I’m being given permission to stay alive.’
If you lift up the stones of reality you’ll often find cold, cruel evils scatter from beneath. Bora Chung seemingly has a map to these vicious hotspots and details them across the variety of stories in her outstanding collection, Cursed Bunny. From body horror to sci fi and fables, these ten stories will dazzle as much as they disturb you across their surreal landscape of ghastly narratives. Brilliantly translated into English by Anton Hur, these are stories that will worm into your subconscious and haunt you long after finishing particularly through the way they latch onto primal fears as well as social orders of patriarchy and capitalism to dredge up their sinister nature. These are stories about survival that reveal the evils of survival at the expense of another person and often lead to vicious consequences. Not for the faint of heart—some of these are truly unsettling in the best way—Bora Chung’s horrors are an absolute feast of fun and dark insights that won’t ever be forgotten.
Bora Chung is quite impressive. The South Korean author has a PhD in Slavic literature and teaches Russian language and literature and science fiction studies at Yonsei University. She also translates Russian and Polish into Korean while having written three novels and story collections. Anton Hur is always great, having been awarded a PEN/Heim grant. The love of language from both of them certainly comes through in this collection.
There is something so effortless in the way these stories can occupy a wide variety of genres and tropes yet feel so fresh and balanced together under one binding (that has exquisite cover art). Bora Chung deftly moves from haunted house stories (Home Sweet Home) to surreal thrillers (The Frozen Finger) to even a story about uncanny valley aspects of AI without causing the reader any whiplash (the sci-fi story, Goodbye, My Love is arguably less fresh than some but still charming). Her prose feels very matter of fact, and when she drifts into fable-like territory such as Ruler of the Winds and Sands it feels very at home in the narrative. Stories such as Scars—the longest in the collection and quite possibly my favorite—feel much greater than their length, exploring a lot of ideas and covering a lot of territory while recognizing a novel-length would be too much. There is a blissful restraint that works very well here.
The greatest horrors are the ones that feel very close to everyday reality and tend to revolve around the evils people can put others through, particularly for their own benefit. Scars covers an age-old trope of human sacrifice for a community as well as enslavement and abuse of an innocent child for profit, while Cursed Bunny (one of the most sinister good times in the whole book) is a revenge tale against a corporate CEO for having used his position of power and privilege to destroy a struggling family. The final story, Reunion, best exemplifies a theme that is an undercurrent of many of these stories:
This is an excellent examination on how power thrives off of abuse, keeping those beneath you through fear and ensuring they remain subordinate to you by making anything other than complete submission an avenue for destruction, pain or death. In stories like Ruler of the Sands and Winds, power struggles and their consequences play out over generations, and we see an attempt to return to power done at the expense of the only innocent character in the story. She goes to great lengths to satisfy someone and is betrayed in the end for it, having merely been a pawn in the game. It’s a knockout of a story.
The Embodiment is another story that looks at power structures, this time as a sharp and horrifying critique of patriarchal structures. Much like a theme central to Japanese author Sayaka Murata, this story uses body horror to examine the notion that women must be wives and mothers in order to be socially acceptable as well as the cruel social stigmas against women who have children outside of marriage. Unsurprisingly, this is shown to be based in notions of power structures. Absurdism is alive in this deeply disturbing story that criticizes so many social aspects like masculinity, legacy and more and the ending is...well, you’ll see. And won’t forget it.
Trauma becomes a key aspect of these stories, with characters pushed to their limits or reacting to the world around them as informed by the horrors visited upon them. ‘[T]hat was just what the world and its people were like,’ young characters growing up in bad situations think, and they carry these scars through life with them if they don’t learn to unpack and detangle their traumas.
This highlights the consequences of enacting violence upon another but also demonstrates how living with revenge can harm those around you. It is a reminder that even if you have been wronged it is not a free card to wrong others, but this isn’t a simple ‘fix yourself and love more’ plea but an examination on how society refuses to allow space to do just that. Stories such as the extremely disturbing The Head show that we cannot run from our troubles or hide them away, and doing so only hurts us more in the long run. These stories show how our actions with one another shape the world and asks us what we are passing along to the future where trauma reverberates as ghosts such as in the final story.
If I’m being vague about these stories it is because they are best read with no idea what is coming. Each takes a surprising turn that is less a twist-ending and more a natural and well-earned sudden shift in perspective or revealed information that makes you feel like the floor has dropped out from under you. This book gave me chills several times as well as made me rather uncomfortable in ways that truly capture the power of a well-written story.
Cursed Bunny is a creepy good time with something for everyone if only you dare to enter Bora Chung’s nightmares. For those curious, her award winning story The Head can be read here. These sharp social critiques and eerie stories are so well balanced and so much fun, I certainly will be thinking about them for a long time to come. Especially on dark and stormy nights…
4.5/5
’Had some giant trapped inside the cave of the night sky struck their chains against some unimaginably large wall to create the stars? Had they done it as a cry for help? Or to endure, somehow, the emptiness and the darkness?’
If you lift up the stones of reality you’ll often find cold, cruel evils scatter from beneath. Bora Chung seemingly has a map to these vicious hotspots and details them across the variety of stories in her outstanding collection, Cursed Bunny. From body horror to sci fi and fables, these ten stories will dazzle as much as they disturb you across their surreal landscape of ghastly narratives. Brilliantly translated into English by Anton Hur, these are stories that will worm into your subconscious and haunt you long after finishing particularly through the way they latch onto primal fears as well as social orders of patriarchy and capitalism to dredge up their sinister nature. These are stories about survival that reveal the evils of survival at the expense of another person and often lead to vicious consequences. Not for the faint of heart—some of these are truly unsettling in the best way—Bora Chung’s horrors are an absolute feast of fun and dark insights that won’t ever be forgotten.
Bora Chung is quite impressive. The South Korean author has a PhD in Slavic literature and teaches Russian language and literature and science fiction studies at Yonsei University. She also translates Russian and Polish into Korean while having written three novels and story collections. Anton Hur is always great, having been awarded a PEN/Heim grant. The love of language from both of them certainly comes through in this collection.
There is something so effortless in the way these stories can occupy a wide variety of genres and tropes yet feel so fresh and balanced together under one binding (that has exquisite cover art). Bora Chung deftly moves from haunted house stories (Home Sweet Home) to surreal thrillers (The Frozen Finger) to even a story about uncanny valley aspects of AI without causing the reader any whiplash (the sci-fi story, Goodbye, My Love is arguably less fresh than some but still charming). Her prose feels very matter of fact, and when she drifts into fable-like territory such as Ruler of the Winds and Sands it feels very at home in the narrative. Stories such as Scars—the longest in the collection and quite possibly my favorite—feel much greater than their length, exploring a lot of ideas and covering a lot of territory while recognizing a novel-length would be too much. There is a blissful restraint that works very well here.
The greatest horrors are the ones that feel very close to everyday reality and tend to revolve around the evils people can put others through, particularly for their own benefit. Scars covers an age-old trope of human sacrifice for a community as well as enslavement and abuse of an innocent child for profit, while Cursed Bunny (one of the most sinister good times in the whole book) is a revenge tale against a corporate CEO for having used his position of power and privilege to destroy a struggling family. The final story, Reunion, best exemplifies a theme that is an undercurrent of many of these stories:
’The desperation and immense fear that your life, as well as the future to come, hinged on a moment. I could also understand how, in a situation where there was a single person who could kill you but also save you, all your survival instincts would be used towards satisfying that person.’
This is an excellent examination on how power thrives off of abuse, keeping those beneath you through fear and ensuring they remain subordinate to you by making anything other than complete submission an avenue for destruction, pain or death. In stories like Ruler of the Sands and Winds, power struggles and their consequences play out over generations, and we see an attempt to return to power done at the expense of the only innocent character in the story. She goes to great lengths to satisfy someone and is betrayed in the end for it, having merely been a pawn in the game. It’s a knockout of a story.
The Embodiment is another story that looks at power structures, this time as a sharp and horrifying critique of patriarchal structures. Much like a theme central to Japanese author Sayaka Murata, this story uses body horror to examine the notion that women must be wives and mothers in order to be socially acceptable as well as the cruel social stigmas against women who have children outside of marriage. Unsurprisingly, this is shown to be based in notions of power structures. Absurdism is alive in this deeply disturbing story that criticizes so many social aspects like masculinity, legacy and more and the ending is...well, you’ll see. And won’t forget it.
Trauma becomes a key aspect of these stories, with characters pushed to their limits or reacting to the world around them as informed by the horrors visited upon them. ‘[T]hat was just what the world and its people were like,’ young characters growing up in bad situations think, and they carry these scars through life with them if they don’t learn to unpack and detangle their traumas.
’There’s a Japanese saying that goes, “Cursing others leads to two graves.” Anyone who curses another person is sure to end up in a grave themselves.’
This highlights the consequences of enacting violence upon another but also demonstrates how living with revenge can harm those around you. It is a reminder that even if you have been wronged it is not a free card to wrong others, but this isn’t a simple ‘fix yourself and love more’ plea but an examination on how society refuses to allow space to do just that. Stories such as the extremely disturbing The Head show that we cannot run from our troubles or hide them away, and doing so only hurts us more in the long run. These stories show how our actions with one another shape the world and asks us what we are passing along to the future where trauma reverberates as ghosts such as in the final story.
If I’m being vague about these stories it is because they are best read with no idea what is coming. Each takes a surprising turn that is less a twist-ending and more a natural and well-earned sudden shift in perspective or revealed information that makes you feel like the floor has dropped out from under you. This book gave me chills several times as well as made me rather uncomfortable in ways that truly capture the power of a well-written story.
Cursed Bunny is a creepy good time with something for everyone if only you dare to enter Bora Chung’s nightmares. For those curious, her award winning story The Head can be read here. These sharp social critiques and eerie stories are so well balanced and so much fun, I certainly will be thinking about them for a long time to come. Especially on dark and stormy nights…
4.5/5
’Had some giant trapped inside the cave of the night sky struck their chains against some unimaginably large wall to create the stars? Had they done it as a cry for help? Or to endure, somehow, the emptiness and the darkness?’
October 4, 2025
Mother.
An assorted collection of short stories by Bora Chung. The cover was enough reason for me to jump into it. Some really nice finds, some not. My toilet is no longer the safe place I once knew, and I’m never touching a bunny lamp no matter what. A great start with some really outstanding stories, the momentum gradually diminishing until by the end I was just eager to finish to move on.
Go for the Best, consider the Good, whatever the Meh.
The Best :
★★★★★ "The Head." [4.5]
★★★★☆ “Cursed Bunny.” [3.5]
The Good :
★★★☆☆ “Snare.”
★★★☆☆ “The Embodiment.” [2.5]
★★★☆☆ “Goodbye, My Love.” [2.5]
The Meh :
★★☆☆☆ “Home Sweet Home.” [2.5]
★★☆☆☆ “Reunion.” [1.5]
★☆☆☆☆ “Scars.” [1.5]
★☆☆☆☆ “Ruler of the Winds and Sands.”
★☆☆☆☆ “The Frozen Finger.”
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[2017] [251p] [Collection] [2.5] [Partly Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
★★★★★ The Head. [4.5]
★★★☆☆ Cursed Bunny. [2.5]
-----------------------------------------------
Madre.
Una variada colección de cuentos cortos por Bora Chung. La portada fue suficiente razón para aventurarme. Algunos muy lindos hallazgos, otros no tanto. El inodoro ya no es el lugar seguro que alguna vez conocí, y nunca voy a tocar una lámpara con forma de conejo, no importa qué. Un gran comienzo con unas verdaderamente sobresalientes historias, el impulso gradualmente disminuyendo hasta que para el final solo deseaba terminar para seguir con otra cosa.
Ir por lo Mejor, considerar lo Bueno, loquesea lo Meh.
Lo Mejor :
★★★★★ “La Cabeza.” [4.5]
★★★★☆ “Conejo Maldito.” [3.5]
Lo Bueno :
★★★☆☆ “Trampa.”
★★★☆☆ “La Encarnación.” [2.5]
★★★☆☆ “Adiós, Mi Amor.” [2.5]
Lo Meh :
★★☆☆☆ “Hogar Dulce Hogar.” [2.5]
★★☆☆☆ “Reunión.” [1.5]
★☆☆☆☆ “Cicatrices.” [1.5]
★☆☆☆☆ “Amo de los Vientos y Arenas.”
★☆☆☆☆ “El Dedo Congelado.”
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[2017] [251p] [Colección] [2.5] [Parcialmente Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
An assorted collection of short stories by Bora Chung. The cover was enough reason for me to jump into it. Some really nice finds, some not. My toilet is no longer the safe place I once knew, and I’m never touching a bunny lamp no matter what. A great start with some really outstanding stories, the momentum gradually diminishing until by the end I was just eager to finish to move on.
Go for the Best, consider the Good, whatever the Meh.
The Best :
★★★★★ "The Head." [4.5]
★★★★☆ “Cursed Bunny.” [3.5]
The Good :
★★★☆☆ “Snare.”
★★★☆☆ “The Embodiment.” [2.5]
★★★☆☆ “Goodbye, My Love.” [2.5]
The Meh :
★★☆☆☆ “Home Sweet Home.” [2.5]
★★☆☆☆ “Reunion.” [1.5]
★☆☆☆☆ “Scars.” [1.5]
★☆☆☆☆ “Ruler of the Winds and Sands.”
★☆☆☆☆ “The Frozen Finger.”
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[2017] [251p] [Collection] [2.5] [Partly Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
★★★★★ The Head. [4.5]
★★★☆☆ Cursed Bunny. [2.5]
-----------------------------------------------
Madre.
Una variada colección de cuentos cortos por Bora Chung. La portada fue suficiente razón para aventurarme. Algunos muy lindos hallazgos, otros no tanto. El inodoro ya no es el lugar seguro que alguna vez conocí, y nunca voy a tocar una lámpara con forma de conejo, no importa qué. Un gran comienzo con unas verdaderamente sobresalientes historias, el impulso gradualmente disminuyendo hasta que para el final solo deseaba terminar para seguir con otra cosa.
Ir por lo Mejor, considerar lo Bueno, loquesea lo Meh.
Lo Mejor :
★★★★★ “La Cabeza.” [4.5]
★★★★☆ “Conejo Maldito.” [3.5]
Lo Bueno :
★★★☆☆ “Trampa.”
★★★☆☆ “La Encarnación.” [2.5]
★★★☆☆ “Adiós, Mi Amor.” [2.5]
Lo Meh :
★★☆☆☆ “Hogar Dulce Hogar.” [2.5]
★★☆☆☆ “Reunión.” [1.5]
★☆☆☆☆ “Cicatrices.” [1.5]
★☆☆☆☆ “Amo de los Vientos y Arenas.”
★☆☆☆☆ “El Dedo Congelado.”
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[2017] [251p] [Colección] [2.5] [Parcialmente Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
September 15, 2023
Now Longlisted for 2023 National Book Award for Translated Literature
Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2022 and I do not mind if it wins.
The book is the debut short story collection by the Korean author, Bora Chung. I’ve had this strange book on my radar before it was longlisted for the Booker. A few of my GR friends raved about it and it prompted me to read a sample story I found on the internet. The story is called The Embodiment, a harrowing example of body horror and it still one of my favorites from the collection.
How to define the genre of this book? Maybe I would call it literary horror. Some stories have elements of fantasy others of SF, historical fiction, feminist literature but all share a horror flavour and are very well written (and translated). Most story dieal wtih some sort of trauma and some have a moral at the end.
After reading this book (and Happy Stories, Mostly) I can no longer say that I do not like short stories. There is clear proof that I can be fully swept of my feet by the right author.
Finally, I want to congratulate the translator Anton Hur for having two of his works longlisted this year. Love in the Big City is the other one, which I also enjoyed.
My favourite stories were: Cursed Bunny, Snare, Scars, Home Sweet Home.
Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2022 and I do not mind if it wins.
The book is the debut short story collection by the Korean author, Bora Chung. I’ve had this strange book on my radar before it was longlisted for the Booker. A few of my GR friends raved about it and it prompted me to read a sample story I found on the internet. The story is called The Embodiment, a harrowing example of body horror and it still one of my favorites from the collection.
How to define the genre of this book? Maybe I would call it literary horror. Some stories have elements of fantasy others of SF, historical fiction, feminist literature but all share a horror flavour and are very well written (and translated). Most story dieal wtih some sort of trauma and some have a moral at the end.
After reading this book (and Happy Stories, Mostly) I can no longer say that I do not like short stories. There is clear proof that I can be fully swept of my feet by the right author.
Finally, I want to congratulate the translator Anton Hur for having two of his works longlisted this year. Love in the Big City is the other one, which I also enjoyed.
My favourite stories were: Cursed Bunny, Snare, Scars, Home Sweet Home.
June 28, 2022
short lil tiny lil reviews for each story!
STORY 1: THE HEAD
i am a weak person, but...i am physically incapable of having any opinions on this story beyond how disgusting it is.
i was trying to eat a Delicious Treat while reading it between conference calls, and i was delivered a cosmic punishment i do not feel i deserved.
however, i know this is the point of it, so...
rating: 3
STORY 2: THE EMBODIMENT
ok...this is badass.
rating: 4
STORY 3: CURSED BUNNY
title story title story title story!!!
in the bunny versus capitalism battle, my money is on bunny every time.
rating: 4
STORY 4: THE FROZEN FINGER
goddamn this one was so scary and good.
rating: 4.5
STORY 5: SNARE
okay extremely dark...
the real monster is capitalist greed!!!
rating: 4
STORY 6: GOODBYE, MY LOVE
like the movie her if i liked it.
rating: 4
STORY 7: SCARS
i love fairytales, but i can't stand myths.
i don't know if that makes sense, but it has to add up at least a little, because i didn't like this one much.
rating: 3
STORY 8: HOME SWEET HOME
i have trouble sympathizing with landlords.
rating: 3
STORY 9: RULER OF THE WINDS AND SANDS
i said i love fairytales and bora chung gave me a fairytale.
rating: 4
STORY 10: REUNION
a bunch of my favorite subjects in one: ghosts, sadness, the meaning of life, people-watching, lovers.
all wrapped up excellently.
rating: 4.5
OVERALL
this feels like it was made for me.
rating: 4
------------------------
currently-reading updates
two of my favorite things
------------
reading books by asian authors for aapi month!
book 1: kim jiyoung, born 1982
book 2: siren queen
book 3: the heart principle
book 4: n.p.
book 5: the hole
book 6: set on you
book 7: disorientation
book 8: parade
book 9: if i had your face
book 10: joan is okay
book 11: strange weather in tokyo
book 12: sarong party girls
book 13: the wind-up bird chronicle
book 14: portrait of a thief
book 15: sophie go's lonely hearts club
book 16: chemistry
book 17: heaven
book 18: the atlas six
book 19: the remains of the day
book 20: is everyone hanging out without me? and other concerns
book 21: why not me?
book 22: when the tiger came down the mountain
book 23: the lies we tell
book 24: to paradise
book 25: pachinko
book 26: you are eating an orange. you are naked.
book 27: cursed bunny
STORY 1: THE HEAD
i am a weak person, but...i am physically incapable of having any opinions on this story beyond how disgusting it is.
i was trying to eat a Delicious Treat while reading it between conference calls, and i was delivered a cosmic punishment i do not feel i deserved.
however, i know this is the point of it, so...
rating: 3
STORY 2: THE EMBODIMENT
ok...this is badass.
rating: 4
STORY 3: CURSED BUNNY
title story title story title story!!!
in the bunny versus capitalism battle, my money is on bunny every time.
rating: 4
STORY 4: THE FROZEN FINGER
goddamn this one was so scary and good.
rating: 4.5
STORY 5: SNARE
okay extremely dark...
the real monster is capitalist greed!!!
rating: 4
STORY 6: GOODBYE, MY LOVE
like the movie her if i liked it.
rating: 4
STORY 7: SCARS
i love fairytales, but i can't stand myths.
i don't know if that makes sense, but it has to add up at least a little, because i didn't like this one much.
rating: 3
STORY 8: HOME SWEET HOME
i have trouble sympathizing with landlords.
rating: 3
STORY 9: RULER OF THE WINDS AND SANDS
i said i love fairytales and bora chung gave me a fairytale.
rating: 4
STORY 10: REUNION
a bunch of my favorite subjects in one: ghosts, sadness, the meaning of life, people-watching, lovers.
all wrapped up excellently.
rating: 4.5
OVERALL
this feels like it was made for me.
rating: 4
------------------------
currently-reading updates
two of my favorite things
------------
reading books by asian authors for aapi month!
book 1: kim jiyoung, born 1982
book 2: siren queen
book 3: the heart principle
book 4: n.p.
book 5: the hole
book 6: set on you
book 7: disorientation
book 8: parade
book 9: if i had your face
book 10: joan is okay
book 11: strange weather in tokyo
book 12: sarong party girls
book 13: the wind-up bird chronicle
book 14: portrait of a thief
book 15: sophie go's lonely hearts club
book 16: chemistry
book 17: heaven
book 18: the atlas six
book 19: the remains of the day
book 20: is everyone hanging out without me? and other concerns
book 21: why not me?
book 22: when the tiger came down the mountain
book 23: the lies we tell
book 24: to paradise
book 25: pachinko
book 26: you are eating an orange. you are naked.
book 27: cursed bunny
March 10, 2022
The first thing that stands out about Cursed Bunny is Bora Chung’s fluency in the language of the grotesque. There are plenty of jarring images, beginning on the first page, that challenge and horrify. But the grotesque is always in service of the themes Chung explores - womanhood, capitalism, patriarchy, gaslighting, and others. Each entry in this collection is a fully realized story unto itself, showing Chung’s mastery of the form as her work shocks and horrifies and lodges viscerally in one’s memory.
January 6, 2026
Well, if it is not another grim yet illuminating Asian literature. I was told how quirky this book would be, but my brain is still processing it the whole time (like wtf am I reading). In the ten short tales in this book, Chung masterfully combines elements of horror, fantasy, and magical realism to create a fresh and original take on 'genre-defying'.
The book's attempt to depict a selfish, patriarchal, and greedy society in vivid and unsettling detail is what I admired the most. Chung illustrates how egotism can lead people to commit heinous crimes against others and it's appalling to think this is also the reality of today. I appreciate how she refers to her characters in the third person, letting it be known that this might as well be anyone.
Although the exceptional exists in that universe, along with some ludicrous stories and others that are more prosaic — but the lyrical writing and knack for vivid and surreal imagery would not take the enjoyment of reading this bizarre book. Other times, a collection of short stories are not my preference. It's simply that since there isn't much space, writers must concentrate on a select few core features rather than many. Chung, on the other hand, employs short story collections to explore several genres and styles with such grace, brevity, and directness that many novels lack.
My favourite really had to be "The Head" in which a woman is tortured by a creature that keeps emerging in her toilet bowl in this mildly offensive story. The story is a surreally humorous yet oddly upsetting tale that it was a brilliant piece for putting the wind up with that opening. It was just witless and aghasting, especially as a frequent user of a toilet.
For the most part, if you have a faint of heart, this book may not be one to opt for, but if you're in for something mind-blowing, Cursed Bunny is a must-try debut book! Not to say, Anton Hur also did a wonderful job with the translation, making it an easy and quick read.
The book's attempt to depict a selfish, patriarchal, and greedy society in vivid and unsettling detail is what I admired the most. Chung illustrates how egotism can lead people to commit heinous crimes against others and it's appalling to think this is also the reality of today. I appreciate how she refers to her characters in the third person, letting it be known that this might as well be anyone.
Although the exceptional exists in that universe, along with some ludicrous stories and others that are more prosaic — but the lyrical writing and knack for vivid and surreal imagery would not take the enjoyment of reading this bizarre book. Other times, a collection of short stories are not my preference. It's simply that since there isn't much space, writers must concentrate on a select few core features rather than many. Chung, on the other hand, employs short story collections to explore several genres and styles with such grace, brevity, and directness that many novels lack.
My favourite really had to be "The Head" in which a woman is tortured by a creature that keeps emerging in her toilet bowl in this mildly offensive story. The story is a surreally humorous yet oddly upsetting tale that it was a brilliant piece for putting the wind up with that opening. It was just witless and aghasting, especially as a frequent user of a toilet.
For the most part, if you have a faint of heart, this book may not be one to opt for, but if you're in for something mind-blowing, Cursed Bunny is a must-try debut book! Not to say, Anton Hur also did a wonderful job with the translation, making it an easy and quick read.
May 7, 2022
Magnificently grotesque. I needed to look away from the page now and then but I felt like cheering all the way through because Bora Chung has written something so brutal and perfect. I was reminded of Poe's Berenice for the body horror, but the author writes meticulously and matter-of-factly, instead of feverishly, a voice that makes these stories all the more disturbing and vividly realized.
Ugh. Yay.
Ugh. Yay.
June 12, 2022
Curse the bunny that made me read this.
January 15, 2022
4.25 stars
One of the best collections of short stories I've read in a long time. These tales are terrifying, strange, and contain elements of fantasy.
Aside from that, each narrative focuses on human values such as greed, power, money, and gain, and each concludes with a message.
Bora Chung's writing style and ingenuity add to the mystique and intrigue of this collection. Her style of writing short stories is unique and engrossing.
The reason I gave it four stars instead of five is that the quality of the short tales diminished after the first five, but each story is distinctive in its own way.
It comes highly recommended from me..
One of the best collections of short stories I've read in a long time. These tales are terrifying, strange, and contain elements of fantasy.
Aside from that, each narrative focuses on human values such as greed, power, money, and gain, and each concludes with a message.
Bora Chung's writing style and ingenuity add to the mystique and intrigue of this collection. Her style of writing short stories is unique and engrossing.
The reason I gave it four stars instead of five is that the quality of the short tales diminished after the first five, but each story is distinctive in its own way.
It comes highly recommended from me..
May 11, 2022
The Head ⭐1.5
What the fuck did I just read? This didn't make sense but more than that, this DISGUSTED ME. Why write this? For what? For WHY? The writing isn't bad but the subject matter is grotesque.
The Embodiment ⭐2
I can get behind the discussion of how messed up it is that babies are considered worthless and damaged beyond repair if they don't have a father or male figure to grow up with. Also, the discussion of how men choose is they want to be a father but women have no choice if their the babies mother. In the eyes of society and the law anyway. But this left me feeling icky inside. Not something I want to read about.
Cursed Bunny ⭐2
I was ready to DNF after this one. This is pointless and confusing. What a long way of saying that you shouldn't spread hate because it will consume you.
The Frozen Finger ⭐3
Okay, allllllllright. This one had potential. It is eerie, atmospheric, and unsettling. Confusing though. But I actually really enjoyed it........dammnit.
Snare ⭐3.5
Godammnit! I liked this one. It's about greed and how everything has a price. I was gasping at the twists in this short story.
Goodbye, My Love ⭐4
I did not see a 4 star rating coming for this book but here we are. This is an episode of Black Mirror. This is the kind of scifi horror I'm looking for. Also, the tie-in with the song was so eerie and beautiful.
Scars ⭐2
There is absolutely no reason this needed to be this damn long. And all this misery for what? He overcomes the evil so easily and then the story just ends and I am confused and unsatisfied.
Home Sweet Home ⭐2.5
Again, too long. I needed more backstory on the child and less about the juice empire and the debts and the psycho caller. All of those things should have been footnotes. The child was relevant and interesting but she got pushed to the back burner which is a real shame.
Ruler of the Winds and Sands ⭐ 2.5
This is just sad tbh. She tried so hard and was so kind. But she gets fucked over in the end obviously. Such is the male dominated world.
Reunion ⭐ ?
Skim read it and didn't find a single thing to care about.
June 3, 2022
2.5 stars
An entire month has already passed since I finished this weird, disturbing collection of short stories. Mostly what stuck with me since then are the first two stories – “The Head” and “The Embodiment” (and a couple of others.) I thought I was in for a wild, thought-provoking ride after these two! If you are a thrill seeker and have ever frequented amusement parks, then you may know that it’s best to save your favorite, most exhilarating rides for the end. Otherwise, what could have been a day full of fun memories turns into a hot, grumpy kind of day when all the best things happened when the gates first opened and the heat of the sun didn’t burn your skin and suck you dry. By closing time, you have a wicked headache and a queasy stomach. You can’t even remember what the fuss was all about and wish you had spent the day doing something else instead.
“What hour could be so dark? And where in the world…”
Okay, maybe I’m getting carried away with this silly analogy, because Bora Chung does have a clever mind and quite the imagination. Many of these stories will appeal to those who enjoy moral tales and a strange cocktail of horror-science fiction-magical realism. I’m just not that kind of reader, no matter how hard I try. Having said that, I had some wickedly entertaining discussions with my buddy and two of my co-workers who were enticed to read the first two stories when I wouldn’t shut up about them! The side effect is that weeks later we are still running around calling each other “Mother”. (You have to read “The Head” to find out what I’m talking about.) Chung has a lot to say about capitalism, the patriarchy, greed, motherhood, feminism, and body image. There’s also a story about robots, “Goodbye, My Love”, that I enjoyed quite a lot that spoke to the process of aging.
“The human body begins to decline dramatically at the age of sixty, but they live on for ten, twenty, even thirty more years. We were developed to aid such humans and enhance their quality of life… Just a few replacement parts or a software upgrade could help us serve you for a decade longer, but we’re treated like trash as soon as there is a new model.”
Lovers of offbeat, somewhat eerie tales will likely have a ball with this collection. Overall, the discussions were much more memorable than the actual stories themselves, but for all that Bora Chung deserves a bit more than my tongue-in-cheek comparison to a bunch of carnival rides! I’ll round up for the lively chats this generated. Check out some more reviews of this one to make an informed decision.
“Those who are unaware of their lives slipping away while they are ensnared in the past… are in the end, whether alive or dead, ghosts of the past.”
An entire month has already passed since I finished this weird, disturbing collection of short stories. Mostly what stuck with me since then are the first two stories – “The Head” and “The Embodiment” (and a couple of others.) I thought I was in for a wild, thought-provoking ride after these two! If you are a thrill seeker and have ever frequented amusement parks, then you may know that it’s best to save your favorite, most exhilarating rides for the end. Otherwise, what could have been a day full of fun memories turns into a hot, grumpy kind of day when all the best things happened when the gates first opened and the heat of the sun didn’t burn your skin and suck you dry. By closing time, you have a wicked headache and a queasy stomach. You can’t even remember what the fuss was all about and wish you had spent the day doing something else instead.
“What hour could be so dark? And where in the world…”
Okay, maybe I’m getting carried away with this silly analogy, because Bora Chung does have a clever mind and quite the imagination. Many of these stories will appeal to those who enjoy moral tales and a strange cocktail of horror-science fiction-magical realism. I’m just not that kind of reader, no matter how hard I try. Having said that, I had some wickedly entertaining discussions with my buddy and two of my co-workers who were enticed to read the first two stories when I wouldn’t shut up about them! The side effect is that weeks later we are still running around calling each other “Mother”. (You have to read “The Head” to find out what I’m talking about.) Chung has a lot to say about capitalism, the patriarchy, greed, motherhood, feminism, and body image. There’s also a story about robots, “Goodbye, My Love”, that I enjoyed quite a lot that spoke to the process of aging.
“The human body begins to decline dramatically at the age of sixty, but they live on for ten, twenty, even thirty more years. We were developed to aid such humans and enhance their quality of life… Just a few replacement parts or a software upgrade could help us serve you for a decade longer, but we’re treated like trash as soon as there is a new model.”
Lovers of offbeat, somewhat eerie tales will likely have a ball with this collection. Overall, the discussions were much more memorable than the actual stories themselves, but for all that Bora Chung deserves a bit more than my tongue-in-cheek comparison to a bunch of carnival rides! I’ll round up for the lively chats this generated. Check out some more reviews of this one to make an informed decision.
“Those who are unaware of their lives slipping away while they are ensnared in the past… are in the end, whether alive or dead, ghosts of the past.”
June 6, 2023
I will never look at my toilet the same way again.
I don't generally enjoy short story collections as I like to spend a lot of time with fictional characters and get to know and love (or despise) them.
This one was no exception.
Some of the stories were quite thought-provoking, but often the messages they were trying to convey were a bit too obvious for my liking.
I don't generally enjoy short story collections as I like to spend a lot of time with fictional characters and get to know and love (or despise) them.
This one was no exception.
Some of the stories were quite thought-provoking, but often the messages they were trying to convey were a bit too obvious for my liking.
August 10, 2024
Shortlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize
Longlisted for 2023 National Book Award for Translated Literature
“저주에 쓰이는 물건일수록 예쁘게 만들어야 하는 법이다.”
할아버지는 늘 이렇게 말씀하셨다,
Grandfather used to say “When we make our cursed fetishes, it’s important that they’re pretty”
Cursed Bunny is Anton Hur’s translation of 저주토끼 (2017) by 정보라 (Romanised as Bora Chung).
It is published by Honford Star whose mission is to publish the best literature from East Asia, be it classic or contemporary ... By working with talented translators and exciting local artists, we hope to see more bookshelves containing beautiful editions of the East Asian literature we love.
Until this year their Korean literature had been classic literature from the 1st half of the 20th century - see my reviews:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
But for 2021, their K-lit focus turns to the contemporary, in terms of authors, and the future in terms of subject matter.
- Tower, translated by Sang Ryu from the original 타워 by 배명훈 (Bae Myung-hoon) - my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
- the post-apocalyptic To the Warm Horizon translated by Soje from Jin-Young Choi
- and this collection of short stories.
As always with Honford Star, the reader is immediately struck by the stunning cover art, here by Choi Jaehoon/werkgraphic.com. See here for the press's general approach: https://booksandbao.com/asian-cover-a.... It is also great to see the translators named on the front cover, and the Korean title and author’s name, written in 한글 (hangeul) on the flaps.
The stories effectively mix genres (anti-realist would perhaps be a good label) and also horror with humour.
The first story (actually 2nd in the original) Head (머리) won the 1998 Yonsei Literature Prize, and was the author’s (successful) attempt to write a fantastical story in the style of Eastern European authors, the author herself having translated Bruno Schulz into Korean. It begins with a woman about to flush the toilet when she sees a head popping out, calling out to her ‘Mother’
어느 날 물을 내리고 화장실을 막 나오려 할 때였다.
“어머니”
She was about to flush the toilet.
“Mother?”
...
It was probably more accurate to refer to it as “a thing that vaguely looks like a head” than an actual head. It was about two-thirds the size of an adult’s head and resembled a lump of carelessly slapped-together yellow and gray clay, with a few scattered clumps of wet hair. No ears, no eyebrows. Two slits for eyes so narrow that she couldn’t tell if its eyes were open or closed. The crushed mound beneath was meant to be its nose. The mouth was also a lipless slit. Its strained speech mixed with the gurgling of a person drowning, making it difficult to understand.
“What the Hell are you?” she asked.
“I call myself the Head,” the Head replied.
“You would, obviously,” she said, “but why are you in my toilet? And why are you calling me ‘mother’?”
The Head strained as it formed its unpracticed speech with its lipless mouth. “My body was created with the things you dumped down the toilet, like your fallen-out hair and the feces you wiped off your behind.
She got angry. “I never gave the likes of you permission to live in my toilet. I never even created the likes of you in the first place, so stop calling me your mother. Leave before I call the exterminators.”
“I only want so little,” said the Head hastily, “I’m only asking that you keep dumping your body waste in the toilet so I can finish the rest of my body. Then I’ll go far away from here and live by my own means, so please, just keep using the toilet like you always have.”
And as her life proceeds, to parenthood and middle age, the Head constantly haunts her, finishing body all the time, until one day …
The title of the second story (third originally), Embodiment (몸하다) raises some translation issues as in Korean 몸 means body, but the verb 몸하다 - “to body”- can also mean to menstruate, which Hur deftly explains in the form of a dictionary entry style epigraph. A young woman has issues with her periods, and is advised to take birth control pills, only to find an odd side effect, that, despite being a virgin, she is pregnant. She is advised by the staff that her baby will only develop properly if she finds a father for it, so embarks on a series of ill-fated matchmaking dates - 선, which Hur romanises as seon. The story here leans to the comic, with rather bemused suitors, when they realise her request, a blackmailer who says he will claim he is the father, an elderly Chaebol owner after a heir and one wannabe suitor who serenades her with Shakespeare in badly pronounced Konglish. Hur does a wonderful job of rendering this last in English e.g. “itseu my lobeu” for “it’s my love” (from Act 2 Scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet).
The title story Cursed Bunny (저주 토끼) begins with the quote that opens my review and tells the story of the narrator’s grandfather, who created cursed objects, such as the lamp shaped like a bunny rabbit, for his customers. In this case the cursed bunny was one he made to seek his own revenge (violating his own rules) on a company who had put a friend out of business by unscrupulous means, leading to the friend’s suicide. The lamp, once gifted to the CEO, creates chaos in the life of the CEO’s family and his business, but also with implications for the grandfather.
The Frozen Finger (차가운 손가락) is a rather surreal ghost story, and Snare (덫) a genuinely creepy folk-tale type of story about a man who finds a fox, caught in a snare, that bleeds gold. He takes it home and uses it to build his wealth, but when the fox dies and his twins are born, his Midas-like obsession takes a sinister and disturbing turn, cursed perhaps by the fox.
Goodbye My Love (안녕, 내 사랑) has a designer of artificial companions deciding it’s time to replace her first robot, and her one true love, although the androids have other ideas. The story is also noticeable for a reference to the uncanny valley concept - one that neatly summarises the collection.
Scars (흉터) is the longest story at 52 pages (the others typically 20) and is a satisfying story which begins with a boy, unsure of his own identity, taken to a cave as an offering to a mysterious creature.
Home Sweet Home (즐거운 나의 집) beings with a dispute about property tax between a young couple who own a small mixed-used building and one of their tenants, owners of a blood-sausage stew (순대국집) restaurant. But the building, which they were sold at a 복덕방, an old fashioned term for an estate-agent’s office which Hur romanises as bokdeokbang and also translates literally as fortune gainer, has secrets of its own.
Ruler of the Winds and Sands (바람과 모래의 지배자) takes us more in to the realm of legend, although with a science-fiction flavour. And the final story Reunion (재회) is set in Poland, with Polish text included (the author translates from the language) and is a love story of sorts with a ghostly twist.
The author’s own take on the collection explains how the characters, be that people, robots or rabbits, are typically alone and coping with a wild, unfamiliar, at times beautiful but at other times barbaric world:
“이 책 《저주 토끼》는 쓸쓸한 이야기들의 모음이다. 이야기의 주인공들은 모두 외롭다. 세상은 대체로 사납고 낯설고 가끔 매혹적이거나 아름다울 때도 있지만 그럴 때조차 근본적으로 야만적인 곳이며, 등장인물(혹은 등장토끼 혹은 등장로봇)들은 사랑하거나 기뻐하기보다는 주로 좌절하고 절망하고 분노하고 욕망하고 분투하고 배신하고 배신당하거나 살해하거나 살해당하는 방식으로 타인과 관계를 맺고 세상과 교류한다.
Recommended, and in my view an early contender for the 2022 International Booker Prize.
Longlisted for 2023 National Book Award for Translated Literature
“저주에 쓰이는 물건일수록 예쁘게 만들어야 하는 법이다.”
할아버지는 늘 이렇게 말씀하셨다,
Grandfather used to say “When we make our cursed fetishes, it’s important that they’re pretty”
Cursed Bunny is Anton Hur’s translation of 저주토끼 (2017) by 정보라 (Romanised as Bora Chung).
It is published by Honford Star whose mission is to publish the best literature from East Asia, be it classic or contemporary ... By working with talented translators and exciting local artists, we hope to see more bookshelves containing beautiful editions of the East Asian literature we love.
Until this year their Korean literature had been classic literature from the 1st half of the 20th century - see my reviews:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
But for 2021, their K-lit focus turns to the contemporary, in terms of authors, and the future in terms of subject matter.
- Tower, translated by Sang Ryu from the original 타워 by 배명훈 (Bae Myung-hoon) - my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
- the post-apocalyptic To the Warm Horizon translated by Soje from Jin-Young Choi
- and this collection of short stories.
As always with Honford Star, the reader is immediately struck by the stunning cover art, here by Choi Jaehoon/werkgraphic.com. See here for the press's general approach: https://booksandbao.com/asian-cover-a.... It is also great to see the translators named on the front cover, and the Korean title and author’s name, written in 한글 (hangeul) on the flaps.
The stories effectively mix genres (anti-realist would perhaps be a good label) and also horror with humour.
The first story (actually 2nd in the original) Head (머리) won the 1998 Yonsei Literature Prize, and was the author’s (successful) attempt to write a fantastical story in the style of Eastern European authors, the author herself having translated Bruno Schulz into Korean. It begins with a woman about to flush the toilet when she sees a head popping out, calling out to her ‘Mother’
어느 날 물을 내리고 화장실을 막 나오려 할 때였다.
“어머니”
She was about to flush the toilet.
“Mother?”
...
It was probably more accurate to refer to it as “a thing that vaguely looks like a head” than an actual head. It was about two-thirds the size of an adult’s head and resembled a lump of carelessly slapped-together yellow and gray clay, with a few scattered clumps of wet hair. No ears, no eyebrows. Two slits for eyes so narrow that she couldn’t tell if its eyes were open or closed. The crushed mound beneath was meant to be its nose. The mouth was also a lipless slit. Its strained speech mixed with the gurgling of a person drowning, making it difficult to understand.
“What the Hell are you?” she asked.
“I call myself the Head,” the Head replied.
“You would, obviously,” she said, “but why are you in my toilet? And why are you calling me ‘mother’?”
The Head strained as it formed its unpracticed speech with its lipless mouth. “My body was created with the things you dumped down the toilet, like your fallen-out hair and the feces you wiped off your behind.
She got angry. “I never gave the likes of you permission to live in my toilet. I never even created the likes of you in the first place, so stop calling me your mother. Leave before I call the exterminators.”
“I only want so little,” said the Head hastily, “I’m only asking that you keep dumping your body waste in the toilet so I can finish the rest of my body. Then I’ll go far away from here and live by my own means, so please, just keep using the toilet like you always have.”
And as her life proceeds, to parenthood and middle age, the Head constantly haunts her, finishing body all the time, until one day …
The title of the second story (third originally), Embodiment (몸하다) raises some translation issues as in Korean 몸 means body, but the verb 몸하다 - “to body”- can also mean to menstruate, which Hur deftly explains in the form of a dictionary entry style epigraph. A young woman has issues with her periods, and is advised to take birth control pills, only to find an odd side effect, that, despite being a virgin, she is pregnant. She is advised by the staff that her baby will only develop properly if she finds a father for it, so embarks on a series of ill-fated matchmaking dates - 선, which Hur romanises as seon. The story here leans to the comic, with rather bemused suitors, when they realise her request, a blackmailer who says he will claim he is the father, an elderly Chaebol owner after a heir and one wannabe suitor who serenades her with Shakespeare in badly pronounced Konglish. Hur does a wonderful job of rendering this last in English e.g. “itseu my lobeu” for “it’s my love” (from Act 2 Scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet).
The title story Cursed Bunny (저주 토끼) begins with the quote that opens my review and tells the story of the narrator’s grandfather, who created cursed objects, such as the lamp shaped like a bunny rabbit, for his customers. In this case the cursed bunny was one he made to seek his own revenge (violating his own rules) on a company who had put a friend out of business by unscrupulous means, leading to the friend’s suicide. The lamp, once gifted to the CEO, creates chaos in the life of the CEO’s family and his business, but also with implications for the grandfather.
The Frozen Finger (차가운 손가락) is a rather surreal ghost story, and Snare (덫) a genuinely creepy folk-tale type of story about a man who finds a fox, caught in a snare, that bleeds gold. He takes it home and uses it to build his wealth, but when the fox dies and his twins are born, his Midas-like obsession takes a sinister and disturbing turn, cursed perhaps by the fox.
Goodbye My Love (안녕, 내 사랑) has a designer of artificial companions deciding it’s time to replace her first robot, and her one true love, although the androids have other ideas. The story is also noticeable for a reference to the uncanny valley concept - one that neatly summarises the collection.
Scars (흉터) is the longest story at 52 pages (the others typically 20) and is a satisfying story which begins with a boy, unsure of his own identity, taken to a cave as an offering to a mysterious creature.
Home Sweet Home (즐거운 나의 집) beings with a dispute about property tax between a young couple who own a small mixed-used building and one of their tenants, owners of a blood-sausage stew (순대국집) restaurant. But the building, which they were sold at a 복덕방, an old fashioned term for an estate-agent’s office which Hur romanises as bokdeokbang and also translates literally as fortune gainer, has secrets of its own.
Ruler of the Winds and Sands (바람과 모래의 지배자) takes us more in to the realm of legend, although with a science-fiction flavour. And the final story Reunion (재회) is set in Poland, with Polish text included (the author translates from the language) and is a love story of sorts with a ghostly twist.
The author’s own take on the collection explains how the characters, be that people, robots or rabbits, are typically alone and coping with a wild, unfamiliar, at times beautiful but at other times barbaric world:
“이 책 《저주 토끼》는 쓸쓸한 이야기들의 모음이다. 이야기의 주인공들은 모두 외롭다. 세상은 대체로 사납고 낯설고 가끔 매혹적이거나 아름다울 때도 있지만 그럴 때조차 근본적으로 야만적인 곳이며, 등장인물(혹은 등장토끼 혹은 등장로봇)들은 사랑하거나 기뻐하기보다는 주로 좌절하고 절망하고 분노하고 욕망하고 분투하고 배신하고 배신당하거나 살해하거나 살해당하는 방식으로 타인과 관계를 맺고 세상과 교류한다.
Recommended, and in my view an early contender for the 2022 International Booker Prize.
July 17, 2021
Rising Korean author Bora Chung draws on a variety of influences here, her extensive background in Russian and Polish literature, her commitment to political activism as well as her fascination with fairytales and the fantastic. Her collection covers a cross-section of subgenres: there’s the slightly pulpy “The Frozen Finger” which read like an outline for a not-so-great Twilight Zone episode; the feminist, body horror of “The Embodiment” and The Head”; while “Snare,” “Scar” and “Cursed Bunny” have a fable-like quality; there’s even a nod to SF in the slightly formulaic “Goodbye My Love” which draws on Mori's "Uncanny Valley." There are hints of the absurd and the surreal woven through Chung’s narratives which she highlights through twists on vampirism, magical transformations, and mystical, doppelganger-like figures. Her approach and her themes reminded me of writers like Samanta Schweblin and, as with Schweblin, I felt that there was a promise of something in her work that never quite materialised. Chung’s pieces directly or indirectly comment on the pressures of living in a patriarchal culture, the exploitation of others that’s part and parcel of a particularly vicious phase of capitalism, as well as the restrictions of family and the terrible secrets they can harbour. There’s a fascination too with the grotesque and animalistic but nothing that any regular consumer of horror fiction’s likely to find especially shocking or disturbing. But even though many of the issues she’s invested in, and the forms she’s experimenting with, are ones that interest me too, I found the overall impact curiously flat, there was very little that lingered on in my thoughts as I reached the end of these - with the possible exception of the title story and aspects of “Reunion” and “Snare.” They felt more like exercises or technical explorations of different types of horror than narratives that impressed me as particularly innovative or expressive of a singular, authorial voice - that’s not to say her style isn’t reasonable and Anton Hur's translation flows well enough. Still, overall, this was fairly entertaining and sufficiently intriguing to keep me reading until the end.
June 19, 2022
63rd book of 2022.
1.5. Extremely surprised this made the Man Booker International shortlist. I honestly have no idea how it managed it. The blurb informs that this is a 'genre-defying collection of short stories' that blur the lines between 'magical realism, horror and science-fiction,' which sounded instantly like something I would love. Not the case. Firstly, the prose is bland, so horribly bland. By the third story I was questioning the talent of the writer. I've read an Anton Hur translation before and enjoyed it so that's why I exclude them. The stories themselves, despite sounding fantastic, were on the most part just simply terrible.
To kick off the collection is a story about a head in a woman's toilet that has slowly been created by all the shit, toilet paper, hair and sanitary pads. She goes slightly insane with the thought of it growing in her toilet while her family around her seem nonchalant. The titular story was no better, a literal rabbit curse that sends people twitching and sitting in roads. Another story involves a woman getting pregnant by taking too many contraceptive pills (I know?) and then having to find a father before the baby is born otherwise something, the doctors tell her, awful will happen to the baby/her. Some stories were slightly better. The premise of "Ruler of the Winds and Sands" was cool, but again, Chung just butchered it with boring prose and a rubbish ending. The 1-star is really just to rage against the longest story in the collection, "Scars", which is one of the worst short stories I've read in a long time. The entire thing felt utterly pointless and read like stories my classmates and I used to write on our BAs. Most of the story is spent describing fighting, a boy fighting animals and men and then a monster. I don't even know. Just bad. The other Hur translation I read was Park's Love in the Big City which was better than this and was left behind on the longlist. The fact Paradais didn't make the shortlist but this did is so beyond me I can't even begin to comprehend their thought process.
1.5. Extremely surprised this made the Man Booker International shortlist. I honestly have no idea how it managed it. The blurb informs that this is a 'genre-defying collection of short stories' that blur the lines between 'magical realism, horror and science-fiction,' which sounded instantly like something I would love. Not the case. Firstly, the prose is bland, so horribly bland. By the third story I was questioning the talent of the writer. I've read an Anton Hur translation before and enjoyed it so that's why I exclude them. The stories themselves, despite sounding fantastic, were on the most part just simply terrible.
To kick off the collection is a story about a head in a woman's toilet that has slowly been created by all the shit, toilet paper, hair and sanitary pads. She goes slightly insane with the thought of it growing in her toilet while her family around her seem nonchalant. The titular story was no better, a literal rabbit curse that sends people twitching and sitting in roads. Another story involves a woman getting pregnant by taking too many contraceptive pills (I know?) and then having to find a father before the baby is born otherwise something, the doctors tell her, awful will happen to the baby/her. Some stories were slightly better. The premise of "Ruler of the Winds and Sands" was cool, but again, Chung just butchered it with boring prose and a rubbish ending. The 1-star is really just to rage against the longest story in the collection, "Scars", which is one of the worst short stories I've read in a long time. The entire thing felt utterly pointless and read like stories my classmates and I used to write on our BAs. Most of the story is spent describing fighting, a boy fighting animals and men and then a monster. I don't even know. Just bad. The other Hur translation I read was Park's Love in the Big City which was better than this and was left behind on the longlist. The fact Paradais didn't make the shortlist but this did is so beyond me I can't even begin to comprehend their thought process.
November 2, 2023
Groteskowe, niepokojące, przeszywające. Po rereadzie tylko utwierdziłam się w przekonaniu, że to jeden z moich ulubionych zbiorów!
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August 12, 2022i usually struggle with anthologies but this one was such a marvelous exception to the rule ✨
April 20, 2023
One of the best things about Goodreads is that it broadens your reading horizons in baffling directions. If a few years ago you had told me that I would be reading — and enjoying! — a collection of horror stories, I would have probably just chuckled, suspecting a joke. It is not that I have anything against the genre. The problem is me: horror aesthetics and my sensitivity are not very compatible and I tend to mull over grisly scenes for weeks. Well, here I am, not only having finished Cursed Bunny (2017) but actually liking it.
Can something be disturbing yet oddly fascinating at the same time? Apparently, yes. I am not going to lie to you: there are unsettling, creepy and even sickening things, scenes, characters and events in Bora Chung's stories but the book is so absorbing that, to my amazement, I did not mind them most of the time. Some reviewers emphasize that they have never read anything like that before and I found the originality of Cursed Bunny striking. Truth be told, I am not very surprised it was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize last year. Bora Chung's intention was not only to entertain her readers and impress them with her imagination. She delves into some serious stuff also, for example, feministic issues, capitalism or animal abuse.
I have the impression that the Booker nomination was Cursed Bunny's curse: judging by some scathing reviews, a few people reached for this book not being aware of its domineering genre and ended up feeling utterly disgusted and unpleasantly shocked. If you do not like spicy food, you usually do not go to a Mexican restaurant and then complain that the food was piquant there.
One of the things I liked most was the genre-bending aspect of the short stories in Cursed Bunny. For instance, Goodbye my love has some elements of science fiction, Scars of fantasy, Reunion of a ghost and love story, Snare of a myth or fairytale. Interestingly, Bora Chung's stories showcase even level which is not often the case in collections. As for my personal preferences, the closer to magical realism or fantasy and farther from typical horror, the better. The two stories which I liked the best are Scars and Ruler of the Winds and Sands. There was a big potential in Snare also but it turned out too dark for my liking. Oddly, the title story, Cursed Bunny, appealed to me the least. An added bonus for me: Reunion is set in an unnamed city in Poland which resembles Cracow and there are even some sentences in Polish.
I mustered my courage to dive into Bora Chung's collection thanks to Alan's unmissable and motivating review with succinct, informative and spoiler-free descriptions of every single short story in Cursed Bunny. I have the feeling my four-star rating for this book may be a bit overgenerous but I wanted to celebrate its uniqueness, the author's artistry at the grotesque, surrealist imagery and quirky humour evident even in the title of the collection.
Rabbit Tales — Wiggle Room, Robyn Ryan.
Can something be disturbing yet oddly fascinating at the same time? Apparently, yes. I am not going to lie to you: there are unsettling, creepy and even sickening things, scenes, characters and events in Bora Chung's stories but the book is so absorbing that, to my amazement, I did not mind them most of the time. Some reviewers emphasize that they have never read anything like that before and I found the originality of Cursed Bunny striking. Truth be told, I am not very surprised it was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize last year. Bora Chung's intention was not only to entertain her readers and impress them with her imagination. She delves into some serious stuff also, for example, feministic issues, capitalism or animal abuse.
I have the impression that the Booker nomination was Cursed Bunny's curse: judging by some scathing reviews, a few people reached for this book not being aware of its domineering genre and ended up feeling utterly disgusted and unpleasantly shocked. If you do not like spicy food, you usually do not go to a Mexican restaurant and then complain that the food was piquant there.
One of the things I liked most was the genre-bending aspect of the short stories in Cursed Bunny. For instance, Goodbye my love has some elements of science fiction, Scars of fantasy, Reunion of a ghost and love story, Snare of a myth or fairytale. Interestingly, Bora Chung's stories showcase even level which is not often the case in collections. As for my personal preferences, the closer to magical realism or fantasy and farther from typical horror, the better. The two stories which I liked the best are Scars and Ruler of the Winds and Sands. There was a big potential in Snare also but it turned out too dark for my liking. Oddly, the title story, Cursed Bunny, appealed to me the least. An added bonus for me: Reunion is set in an unnamed city in Poland which resembles Cracow and there are even some sentences in Polish.
I mustered my courage to dive into Bora Chung's collection thanks to Alan's unmissable and motivating review with succinct, informative and spoiler-free descriptions of every single short story in Cursed Bunny. I have the feeling my four-star rating for this book may be a bit overgenerous but I wanted to celebrate its uniqueness, the author's artistry at the grotesque, surrealist imagery and quirky humour evident even in the title of the collection.
Rabbit Tales — Wiggle Room, Robyn Ryan.
March 28, 2023
Esta es sin duda una de las antologías que más me gustaron en los últimos años. No sé si la definiría como terror, pero le pega en el palo. Son relatos extraños, sumamente fantásticos e impregnados de cultura coreana (que fue lo que más me gustó).
October 12, 2022
absurd, grotesque, weird, fairy-tale-adjacent body horror - and my 200th book of 2022! i am ceaselessly fascinated by bora chung's brain.
June 26, 2025
Dziwne.
Lubię dziwne.
Recenzja: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95Aa-...
Lubię dziwne.
Recenzja: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95Aa-...
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January 23, 2025Jakie to było dobre!
April 7, 2022
Deservedly shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2022
This is another book from the Mookse group's favourites of 2021 list, and is a strikingly imaginative collection of stories which mix reality with fantasy, horror and fairytale elements. I enjoyed reading it and would recommend it, but for me it was a little uneven, and though some of the stories are powerful and moving, others are rather difficult to comprehend.
This is another book from the Mookse group's favourites of 2021 list, and is a strikingly imaginative collection of stories which mix reality with fantasy, horror and fairytale elements. I enjoyed reading it and would recommend it, but for me it was a little uneven, and though some of the stories are powerful and moving, others are rather difficult to comprehend.
May 18, 2022
This is more or less my review of Cursed Bunny:
Marcel Duchamp's "Fountain" exhibited in 1917.
So I'm guessing I need to explain my use of Duchamp's sculpture in connection with Bora Chung's book, Cursed Bunny. This book is on the shortlist for the International Booker prize 2022; with I believe 50,000 GBP of prize money. More importantly, however, a panel of judges have taken their time to evaluate and consider this book seriously, for presumably, its literary and artistic merits.
So, my question like Duchamp's question when he placed a urinal, a piece of plumbing in an art gallery in New York, and called it "Fountain" - is it art?
I think Damien Hirst, who's exhibited his half cows and calves and fly buzzed tables in Art Galleries world-wide, like Duchamp, is relying heavily on the "shock" factor of his work. A lot of people reacted strongly - they were shocked, and more came to see - for themselves etc. etc. But my point, like Duchamp - is it art?
To return to Chung; I couldn't help but ask is she also relying on the wow factor - to gain attention and notoriety? Her work is described as innovative, genre defying, an exuberant mix of styles - but IS IT ART?
I don't actively ask this question every time I pick up a book, but I do put an awful lot of books down, and leave them unread. Alan Hollinghurst's The Line of Beauty for example; it won the Booker prize in 2004 - Wow! is all I can say.
With the very real risk of being called a party pooper, a spoil-sport, old-fashioned and worse, I think Bora Chung's short story collection is bitter, sour, cruel, depressing, and yes ultimately evil. I took the first story seriously thinking that she was making a strong comparison between the haves and have nots - but by the end I was laughing because of the un-erasable image of that woman emerging from the toilet, with her wet hair hanging over her face - The Ring, horror film 2002 - anyone? Ok, so she's climbing out of a tv.
Is it art?
Marcel Duchamp's "Fountain" exhibited in 1917.
So I'm guessing I need to explain my use of Duchamp's sculpture in connection with Bora Chung's book, Cursed Bunny. This book is on the shortlist for the International Booker prize 2022; with I believe 50,000 GBP of prize money. More importantly, however, a panel of judges have taken their time to evaluate and consider this book seriously, for presumably, its literary and artistic merits.
So, my question like Duchamp's question when he placed a urinal, a piece of plumbing in an art gallery in New York, and called it "Fountain" - is it art?
I think Damien Hirst, who's exhibited his half cows and calves and fly buzzed tables in Art Galleries world-wide, like Duchamp, is relying heavily on the "shock" factor of his work. A lot of people reacted strongly - they were shocked, and more came to see - for themselves etc. etc. But my point, like Duchamp - is it art?
To return to Chung; I couldn't help but ask is she also relying on the wow factor - to gain attention and notoriety? Her work is described as innovative, genre defying, an exuberant mix of styles - but IS IT ART?
I don't actively ask this question every time I pick up a book, but I do put an awful lot of books down, and leave them unread. Alan Hollinghurst's The Line of Beauty for example; it won the Booker prize in 2004 - Wow! is all I can say.
With the very real risk of being called a party pooper, a spoil-sport, old-fashioned and worse, I think Bora Chung's short story collection is bitter, sour, cruel, depressing, and yes ultimately evil. I took the first story seriously thinking that she was making a strong comparison between the haves and have nots - but by the end I was laughing because of the un-erasable image of that woman emerging from the toilet, with her wet hair hanging over her face - The Ring, horror film 2002 - anyone? Ok, so she's climbing out of a tv.
Is it art?
March 15, 2023
Billed as a weird collection of genre-bending short stories, the International Booker Prize shortlisted Cursed Bunny made waves in 2022 upon the release of its English translation. It received recognition for its bold, disturbing, and thought-provoking stories. Bora Chung undoubtedly has a vivid imagination. These stories cross many worlds and experiences, often with little to no context or explanation. For readers that can embrace that ambiguity, this will surely compel them. I am not such a reader.
Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy nearly any of the stories in this collection. While I didn't hate them, I was always left at the end of each one wanting more. Not longer stories, but more depth. More context, more specificity, more explanation. The last story in the collection, ironically, was great! It felt like it had something to say and it used the subversion of genre and expectations to do so, giving the main character more depth than any of the others that had come before.
My biggest issues with this collection was its lack of detail. For me, when I read a short story, I need to connect with the main characters, even if it's just for a small moment of their life. I don't need every single detail but I need enough to feel like they are real people with experiences they are sharing with me. Instead, many of these characters felt hollow. They felt like mouthpieces for the weird and wacky ideas Bora Chung wanted to explore, but not true human beings with something to say.
I also don't know if it's the translation (done by Anton Hur) or Chung's writing style, but the repetition within the text and the constant use of the passive voice was very irritating to me. I'm usually not a stickler for writing style; if it does the job then I am on board. But after about half of the stories I had this itching feeling that something about the writing wasn't sitting with me, and I realized it was the stilted verb tenses and odd word choices that kept tripping me up while reading and taking me out of the story. Again, for many others, this isn't a noticeable issue and they enjoyed the stories immensely. I fully acknowledge this was a personal issue with the writing, but nevertheless it took away from my reading experience.
Sad to say, this was disappointing. I can't bring myself to give it 1 star, because I did like the last story and I can see what Chung was trying to do with this, it just really didn't work for me.
Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy nearly any of the stories in this collection. While I didn't hate them, I was always left at the end of each one wanting more. Not longer stories, but more depth. More context, more specificity, more explanation. The last story in the collection, ironically, was great! It felt like it had something to say and it used the subversion of genre and expectations to do so, giving the main character more depth than any of the others that had come before.
My biggest issues with this collection was its lack of detail. For me, when I read a short story, I need to connect with the main characters, even if it's just for a small moment of their life. I don't need every single detail but I need enough to feel like they are real people with experiences they are sharing with me. Instead, many of these characters felt hollow. They felt like mouthpieces for the weird and wacky ideas Bora Chung wanted to explore, but not true human beings with something to say.
I also don't know if it's the translation (done by Anton Hur) or Chung's writing style, but the repetition within the text and the constant use of the passive voice was very irritating to me. I'm usually not a stickler for writing style; if it does the job then I am on board. But after about half of the stories I had this itching feeling that something about the writing wasn't sitting with me, and I realized it was the stilted verb tenses and odd word choices that kept tripping me up while reading and taking me out of the story. Again, for many others, this isn't a noticeable issue and they enjoyed the stories immensely. I fully acknowledge this was a personal issue with the writing, but nevertheless it took away from my reading experience.
Sad to say, this was disappointing. I can't bring myself to give it 1 star, because I did like the last story and I can see what Chung was trying to do with this, it just really didn't work for me.
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March 12, 2022LOVED the head, goodbye my love, the embodiment and cursed bunny... the other short stories did not especially stand out but overall good for you bora chung <3
September 17, 2023
immediately bought this book in korean after reading it.
the only two times i've felt patriotic this year are when i saw kim soo hyun on the street and also when i read frozen finger from this collection.
full review to come.
the only two times i've felt patriotic this year are when i saw kim soo hyun on the street and also when i read frozen finger from this collection.
full review to come.
February 22, 2025
مجموعة قصصية غريبة لكن جميلة والاسلوب عجبني وترجمة محمد نجيب كالعادة مميزة وكلمته في النهاية وتحليله للقصص عجبوني .
١٩ / ٩ / ٢٠٢٤
١٩ / ٩ / ٢٠٢٤
January 9, 2023
These ten stories by South Korean author Bora Chung started off with somewhat lighter, surreal, yet meaningful horror - the opening stories were just breathtaking: “The Head”, the story of a woman whose remains of all sorts, hair, skin, nails, feces assemble to form a new being; “The Embodiment”, in which a woman falls pregnant mysteriously to an even more mysterious “child”; and the titular “Cursed Bunny” in which karma finds its place through cursed objects. I liked the kind of sharp critique creeping through this intro, along with a very visual kind of storytelling. Alas, this intro was also the highlight for me.
The stories then moved towards heavier, somewhat sadder dark fantasy territory. I am not a great fan of fantasy or fairy tales and that was prevalent in the longer writings of “Ruler of the Winds and Sands”, “Snare” or “Scars” which can teach much about the exploitative nature of humans. There’s even some good science fiction hidden in the scary folds of AI brains.
Nevertheless, no matter whether you do or don’t like singular stories, you need to give Chung her due; her work has something to say, offers a highly original style and when the stories are good, they are truly striking.
The stories then moved towards heavier, somewhat sadder dark fantasy territory. I am not a great fan of fantasy or fairy tales and that was prevalent in the longer writings of “Ruler of the Winds and Sands”, “Snare” or “Scars” which can teach much about the exploitative nature of humans. There’s even some good science fiction hidden in the scary folds of AI brains.
Nevertheless, no matter whether you do or don’t like singular stories, you need to give Chung her due; her work has something to say, offers a highly original style and when the stories are good, they are truly striking.
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