Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

저주토끼 by Bora Chung

57 reviews

fe_lea's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

4.25

 
“If I could make one wish 
I want to be just a little bit happier 
If I’m too happy 
I will miss the sadness” 

Cursed Bunny by Chung Bora (translated by Anton Hur) is a solid collection of stories that blends horror, magical realism, and scifi to talk about the real horrors of society: misogyny, patriarchy, capitalism, and greed. 

“You birthed me even when I didn’t want it, and did you not try at every turn to destroy me out of hatred and disgust? What have you given me besides your feces trash? I had to bear all sorts of humiliations and degradations to get what I needed from you to complete a human-like body.” 

The stories ranged from disgusting to darkly funny to fable-like to creepy to sad and all with an unsettling undertone. I have to commend Anton Hur with the translation. The english prose was beautiful and I loved how the tone of the prose changed with each story. 

The book started off strong with The Head, which I nicknamed as the talking poop, and ended on a somber note with Reunion. Both of these were my top stories as well. The former was a grotesque and disgusting (literally) commentary about misogyny. I read this story twice, and I liked it better the second time when I realized the talking poop was representative of how women were treated in society more than the woman in the story - this made the ending more impactful for me. Reunion, on the other hand, had a very melancholic tone to it. It was a sad ghost story that touched on loneliness and existentialism. Stylistically, I think this was the best story of the bunch. 

Other favorites included the titular story Cursed Bunny, which basically had shapeshifting bunnies fighting capitalism; Snare, a disturbing story about greed; and Frozen Finger and Home Sweet Home, both of which got me confused but I loved the eerie undertones in them. 

While the book started strong, my enjoyment started to taper towards the middle to second half. Some were too long like Scars, and others just didn’t have the same impact as the other stories, like Goodbye My Love and Ruler of the Winds and Sands. 

Still, I consider this a solid collection and am looking forward to read the english translation of Chung’s new book that's coming out this year. 

“I could finally understand the horrific and cruel clarity of what he considered to be meaningful. 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 toward satisfying that one person.” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Child abuse, and Excrement

Moderate: Misogyny

virginplatonic's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Miscarriage, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Child abuse, and Torture

Moderate: Confinement, Pregnancy, Gore, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Incest, and Grief

Minor: Excrement, Suicide, Eating disorder, Vomit, Cursing, and War

toastrats's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Excrement

Moderate: Pregnancy, Misogyny, and Incest

Minor: War and Suicide

scifi_rat's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Child abuse

Moderate: Child death, Gore, Medical content, Excrement, Slavery, Body horror, Grief, Violence, War, Abandonment, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Murder, Torture, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Sexism, Suicide, and Vomit

Minor: Blood, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Rape, Emotional abuse, Incest, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Animal death, Alcohol, Abortion, Infertility, Animal cruelty, and Infidelity

jayisreading's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

This was an interesting short story collection to read, with the reader drifting from one unsettling story to the next, never quite knowing what's around the corner. Perhaps what made the horror of these stories come alive as well as they did—even if fantastical—was the everyday nature of them. The horror isn't the eerie or supernatural; it's the people around you and what they're capable of doing to others for their own benefit. 

Chung explores different styles and genres in this collection; I found this interesting, but it also added to the density of this collection. I have given him praise before, but I have to give it again: Anton Hur did a phenomenal job handling these changes with his translation. 

While I didn't think all the stories were particularly memorable, the ones that really stick with you, well, will stick.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Excrement, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Suicide

Minor: Incest

maggieoc_x's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Excrement

jillaay_h's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Torture, Pregnancy, Blood, Domestic abuse, Violence, Suicide, Excrement, Gore, and Animal death

medini_l's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Excrement, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Car accident, Gore, Abortion, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Blood, Cannibalism, and Violence

introverted_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death, Murder, Body horror, and Excrement

Moderate: War, Genocide, Pregnancy, and Violence

poempelnator's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Dark and twisted short stories with some fiction, some feminism, some feces, some torture and a lot more.
And (for me) lots of horror (like really body horror right on the first short story) and that's not fully my jam. 
I found some story's amazing and others really not, but overall interesting. So 3.5 is the middle ground for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Abortion, Medical content, Miscarriage, Body shaming, Cursing, Sexism, Murder, Violence, Colonisation, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Car accident, Death, Pregnancy, Excrement, and Animal death