Cursed Bunny stirred up so many feelings, I can’t make sense of them :O
But I think I can. Errrm. IYKYK.
After reading Love in the Big City, Cursed Bunny became an obvious add-on to my TBR list. Anton Hur’s impeccable translation of Love in the Big City was one of the reasons and as expected Cursed Bunny was an absolute thrill ride. It blew my mind and it took a while for me to gather my thoughts and feelings about it. There were far too many of them, feelings I mean, and I was confused about them for a long time.
Am I going to make sense now? I am not sure yet. By the end of this blog post, we will both learn if I do! :D
This is not really a review
Cursed Bunny is a collection of 10 Korean short stories written by Chung Bora and translated into English by the cute, smart and intelligent Anton Hur. :P It was shortlisted for the 2022 Booker International Prize but didn’t win.
If there is one emotion that was constant through all the stories, it was shock. Then there were varying levels of, shivers through my body, shuddering, fascination, wondering how the author’s mind works or what is it made of and also awe, thinking about how wonderfully Chung Bora took magical realism to the next level. The feeling I had after I finished the book was similar to that of The Vegetarian. I was feeling weird, a lot, but as I continued to read, the stories grew on me. An acquired taste, very much like The Vegetarian.
I will tell you a little bit about the stories that stayed with me.
The first one, The Head, made my stomach turn. And that for me is powerful storytelling. I won’t share anything about the story, I urge you to read it. Some may find it disgusting, but I envy that level of creativity and imagination. Then, The Embodiment satiated the feminist in me. Oh, I love how many diverse ways there are to showcase patriarchy for the shit system that it is. On another note, you must also have the brain to be able to get it. Five stars for this one!. The title story Cursed Bunny is about capitalism and it was just okay for me. The others are intriguing too. There are ghosts, there is brutal violence, there is psychological manipulation, there is science fiction and other things that will make you feel so many feelings, I don’t know.
Read Cursed Bunny but be prepared for a wild ride. The stories are dark, disturbing, and twisted, and will surely make you feel uneasy.
As for me, I need to urgently speak to someone about it but my book best friend is busy and other bookish folks are not in the state of mind for this one. For now, I will wait.
