I would definitely recommend this collection to anyone who loves magical realism (especially when it strays to the dark side). These particular stories also happen to be a tad shorter than some of the other ones – I think Chung truly succeeds when she’s more succinct in her storytelling. The only thing that kept this from being a five-star read for me was that I think perhaps a little bit of Chung’s authentic voice was lost in translation (how I wish I could read Korean to get the full gist!).įave stories: “The Embodiment,” “Cursed Bunny,” “The Frozen Finger,” “Reunion” – These run the gamut of a commentary on motherhood and the patriarchy to the effects of generational trauma. There were some stories that were a bit too gross (namely “The Head”) but I don’t often read books that get that tone of terror and magic that Chung so beautifully encapsulates. They’re flawed and selfish and dishonest, which makes them all too relatable. The characters are full human beings right from the get-go (which is often missing from some short stories). “Cursed Bunny” by Bora Chung (translated from Korean by Anton Hur) will definitely not be everyone’s taste, but I was super happy I read it.Ĭhung’s writing is often graphic and does tend to stray into the horror genre a bit, but there is so much depth in each story. There are some short story collections that just fit into my wheelhouse – they’re particularly weird and wonderful at the same time.
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