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A review by janaaier
City of Ash and Red by Pyun Hye-young
4.0
[b:City of Ash and Red|39331853|City of Ash and Red|Hye-Young Pyun|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1521569975l/39331853._SX50_.jpg|60960153] follows an unnamed man as his circumstances change following a work transfer to a branch in another country. An epidemic sweeps through his new home and causes a major upheaval in his life, taking us on a journey through the underbelly of society during a crisis.
[a:Hye-Young Pyun|7203201|Hye-Young Pyun|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1468808460p2/7203201.jpg] has a talent for writing unsympathetic protagonists. The man at the centre of this story is no hero; with every revelation, his character is rendered more morally disgusting. The implicit and explicit comparisons with rats and other "vermin" may feel heavy-handed to some but I found it effective. The situation reminded me of Pyun's [b:The Hole|31213272|The Hole|Hye-Young Pyun|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1473929444l/31213272._SX50_.jpg|51867833] in that an irredeemable man, guilty of the worst of the common sins, experiences a punishing level of oppression and abuse. In [b:The Hole|31213272|The Hole|Hye-Young Pyun|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1473929444l/31213272._SX50_.jpg|51867833], an awful, unrepentant misogynist experiences ableist abuse at the hands of his vengeful mother-in-law while in [b:City of Ash and Red|39331853|City of Ash and Red|Hye-Young Pyun|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1521569975l/39331853._SX50_.jpg|60960153] a craven misogynist is brought low by xenophobia and natural disaster. Make no mistake, a retributive sense of divine justice is not part of the story. I felt no sense of schadenfreude as the rat killer is brought low. There is a sense that the moral inferiority of the man is as random as any of the misfortunes that befall him. Does he deserve consequences for his actions? Yes, but these are not the kind of consequences that come with tragic or dramatic irony. They are a random catastrophic sequence of events that could happen to anyone, they've just happened to a terrible person.
The unfolding of the story is less about the grand melodrama of the newly-dystopian world and more about the ordinariness of a horrific experience. I thought what the author chooses to concentrate on describing: namely, the minutiae of how everyday life is affected makes the horror feel grounded in social realism. I would recommend [b:City of Ash and Red|39331853|City of Ash and Red|Hye-Young Pyun|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1521569975l/39331853._SX50_.jpg|60960153] to people who have enjoyed Pyun's [b:The Hole|31213272|The Hole|Hye-Young Pyun|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1473929444l/31213272._SX50_.jpg|51867833] and [b:Tender is the Flesh|49090884|Tender is the Flesh|Agustina Bazterrica|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1594563107l/49090884._SY75_.jpg|58496867].
[a:Hye-Young Pyun|7203201|Hye-Young Pyun|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1468808460p2/7203201.jpg] has a talent for writing unsympathetic protagonists. The man at the centre of this story is no hero; with every revelation, his character is rendered more morally disgusting. The implicit and explicit comparisons with rats and other "vermin" may feel heavy-handed to some but I found it effective. The situation reminded me of Pyun's [b:The Hole|31213272|The Hole|Hye-Young Pyun|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1473929444l/31213272._SX50_.jpg|51867833] in that an irredeemable man, guilty of the worst of the common sins, experiences a punishing level of oppression and abuse. In [b:The Hole|31213272|The Hole|Hye-Young Pyun|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1473929444l/31213272._SX50_.jpg|51867833], an awful, unrepentant misogynist experiences ableist abuse at the hands of his vengeful mother-in-law while in [b:City of Ash and Red|39331853|City of Ash and Red|Hye-Young Pyun|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1521569975l/39331853._SX50_.jpg|60960153] a craven misogynist is brought low by xenophobia and natural disaster. Make no mistake, a retributive sense of divine justice is not part of the story. I felt no sense of schadenfreude as the rat killer is brought low. There is a sense that the moral inferiority of the man is as random as any of the misfortunes that befall him. Does he deserve consequences for his actions? Yes, but these are not the kind of consequences that come with tragic or dramatic irony. They are a random catastrophic sequence of events that could happen to anyone, they've just happened to a terrible person.
The unfolding of the story is less about the grand melodrama of the newly-dystopian world and more about the ordinariness of a horrific experience. I thought what the author chooses to concentrate on describing: namely, the minutiae of how everyday life is affected makes the horror feel grounded in social realism. I would recommend [b:City of Ash and Red|39331853|City of Ash and Red|Hye-Young Pyun|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1521569975l/39331853._SX50_.jpg|60960153] to people who have enjoyed Pyun's [b:The Hole|31213272|The Hole|Hye-Young Pyun|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1473929444l/31213272._SX50_.jpg|51867833] and [b:Tender is the Flesh|49090884|Tender is the Flesh|Agustina Bazterrica|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1594563107l/49090884._SY75_.jpg|58496867].