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I read Chung's collection “Cursed Bunny“ over the weekend. I have read a lot of short story collections this year & this easily ranks among the best. Body horror, dark fantasy, stories of modern tech run amok. As several reviewers have commented, “no two stories are alike,“ Chung's stories are shocking & weird as the best Asian lit & cinerma can be. I'm thinking of Bong Joon-ho's “Okja“ or the traumatizing “The Wailing“ by Na Hong-jin. Despite..

Today‘s book mail is very exciting as I continue my deep dive into fiction from South Korea. And I have to say that the cover of the tagged book is really beautiful. 😍

Our Korean meal was Ojingeo Bokkeum (Korean Spicy Stir-fried Squid), Korean Cucumber Salad (Oi Muchim), and kimchi from lidl (not buying it again - it was bland and seemed cooked, for some reason?) Will make everything again.

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Gochujang chicken, stir-fried leek and rice. Very nice 😁
I haven't started The Nine Cloud Dream, and I'm not sure I'll manage to before the end of the month, but I did read another Korean book last week: The Story of Hong Gildong

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Creepy Korean short stories? Bunny on the cover? Sold!

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Started out well, fizzled off at the end. Predictable for the most part and relying on common horror tropes (common if you consume enough horror content elsewhere).

However, stories like “The Head”, “The Embodiment”, “Snare” and “Goodbye, My Love” were well-written and I did enjoy them.

Won‘t dismiss this author - I do want to read her new book “Your Utopia”.

I did not like the translation - it lacked soul and perhaps made this book meh (?)

I finished the Story of Hong Gildong, a classic tale first written by anonymous Korean authors in the 19th c. It relates the woes, adventures and rise to power of the son of a high-born minister and his lowly concubine. The story was very interesting for its cultural/historical insights (Kang Minsoo's translation, notes and introduction are invaluable), but I can't say I was taken by Hong Gildong as a hero.

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I am all set for #FoodandLit in #SouthKorea in March! And in #Venezuela in April 😁
I must say the animé-type illustration on the cover of a classic work is rather disconcerting, but then the hero is compared to Robin Hood, and I can think of plenty of cartoon representations of him, so...

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3.5 Stars

A collection of short stories. The Head, the first story in the book was the most unsettling for me. Truthfully, I enjoyed the first 3 stories the most. After that, the rest of the book just felt average to me. Not bad, but the stories weren't that engaging either. I would give this author another try.

This one was rough up front. Advertised as Korean magical realism, instead it‘s satirical weird disturbing stuff, told with a humorous tone. But…if you can hang in there, it gives a scope of 20th-century Korean history, and a scathing view on South Korean capitalism and autocracy. This was published in 2004, translated only in 2023, and made the International #Booker2023 shortlist.