A review by fe_lea
Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung

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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