Reviews

The Hole by Pyun Hye-young

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3.5? 4? Hard to say. I picked this up based on a blog post from Book Riot that says "this book is not at all what you thought it was" and that it plays an "impressive magic trick." I have no idea what they're talking about, but the whole time I expected there to be some big reveal, and it really isn't that kind of book. So I was a little disappointed because of how my expectations were set up, but had I not been led to think that way I wouldn't have had that disappointment. It's dark though, and full of dread and questions and you *do* learn a lot more as time goes on which makes the story more complicated. A short, quick read about a nightmare scenario.

electricdistrict's review against another edition

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challenging tense

4.5

A short but engrossing book that raises a lot of interesting moral questions. I loved the way that information was revealed through the narrator's unreliable perspective. As we learn more and more about his unsavory actions prior to his accident, we're forced to reassess his condition and think about if he ultimately deserves it. His dismissal of his wife's concerns was particularly relevant to discussions of feminism in modern Korean society (and worldwide), and the ways women are mistreated in everyday situations rather than large acts of violence. The repetitive imagery of the hole and it's connection to the book's overall themes felt especially well-crafted.