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Paul Fulcher's Reviews > Cursed Bunny
Cursed Bunny
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by
Paul Fulcher's review
bookshelves: korean-literature, 2021, ib-long-list-2022
Apr 17, 2021
bookshelves: korean-literature, 2021, ib-long-list-2022
Read 2 times. Last read April 14, 2022 to April 15, 2022.
Shortlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize
Longlisted for 2023 National Book Award for Translated Literature
“저주에 쓰이� 물건일수� 예쁘� 만들어야 하는 법이�.�
할아버지� � 이렇� 말씀하셨�,
Grandfather used to say “When we make our cursed fetishes, it’s important that they’re pretty�
Cursed Bunny is Anton Hur’s translation of 저주토� (2017) by 정보� (Romanised as Bora Chung).
It is published by Honford Star whose mission is to publish the best literature from East Asia, be it classic or contemporary ... By working with talented translators and exciting local artists, we hope to see more bookshelves containing beautiful editions of the East Asian literature we love.
Until this year their Korean literature had been classic literature from the 1st half of the 20th century - see my reviews:
/review/show... /review/show...
/review/show...
But for 2021, their K-lit focus turns to the contemporary, in terms of authors, and the future in terms of subject matter.
- Tower, translated by Sang Ryu from the original 타� by 배명� (Bae Myung-hoon) - my review: /review/show...
- the post-apocalyptic To the Warm Horizon translated by Soje from Jin-Young Choi
- and this collection of short stories.
As always with Honford Star, the reader is immediately struck by the stunning cover art, here by Choi Jaehoon/werkgraphic.com. See here for the press's general approach: . It is also great to see the translators named on the front cover, and the Korean title and author’s name, written in 한글 (hangeul) on the flaps.
The stories effectively mix genres (anti-realist would perhaps be a good label) and also horror with humour.
The first story (actually 2nd in the original) Head (머리) won the 1998 Yonsei Literature Prize, and was the author’s (successful) attempt to write a fantastical story in the style of Eastern European authors, the author herself having translated Bruno Schulz into Korean. It begins with a woman about to flush the toilet when she sees a head popping out, calling out to her ‘Mother�
어느 � 물을 내리� 화장실을 � 나오� � 때였�.
‵Ӗ머니�
She was about to flush the toilet.
“Mdzٳ?�
...
It was probably more accurate to refer to it as “a thing that vaguely looks like a head� than an actual head. It was about two-thirds the size of an adult’s head and resembled a lump of carelessly slapped-together yellow and gray clay, with a few scattered clumps of wet hair. No ears, no eyebrows. Two slits for eyes so narrow that she couldn’t tell if its eyes were open or closed. The crushed mound beneath was meant to be its nose. The mouth was also a lipless slit. Its strained speech mixed with the gurgling of a person drowning, making it difficult to understand.
“What the Hell are you?� she asked.
“I call myself the Head,� the Head replied.
“You would, obviously,� she said, “but why are you in my toilet? And why are you calling me ‘mother�?�
The Head strained as it formed its unpracticed speech with its lipless mouth. “My body was created with the things you dumped down the toilet, like your fallen-out hair and the feces you wiped off your behind.
She got angry. “I never gave the likes of you permission to live in my toilet. I never even created the likes of you in the first place, so stop calling me your mother. Leave before I call the exterminators.�
“I only want so little,� said the Head hastily, “I’m only asking that you keep dumping your body waste in the toilet so I can finish the rest of my body. Then I’ll go far away from here and live by my own means, so please, just keep using the toilet like you always have.�
And as her life proceeds, to parenthood and middle age, the Head constantly haunts her, finishing body all the time, until one day �
The title of the second story (third originally), Embodiment (몸하�) raises some translation issues as in Korean � means body, but the verb 몸하� - “to body�- can also mean to menstruate, which Hur deftly explains in the form of a dictionary entry style epigraph. A young woman has issues with her periods, and is advised to take birth control pills, only to find an odd side effect, that, despite being a virgin, she is pregnant. She is advised by the staff that her baby will only develop properly if she finds a father for it, so embarks on a series of ill-fated matchmaking dates - �, which Hur romanises as seon. The story here leans to the comic, with rather bemused suitors, when they realise her request, a blackmailer who says he will claim he is the father, an elderly Chaebol owner after a heir and one wannabe suitor who serenades her with Shakespeare in badly pronounced Konglish. Hur does a wonderful job of rendering this last in English e.g. “itseu my lobeu� for “it’s my love� (from Act 2 Scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet).
The title story Cursed Bunny (저� 토끼) begins with the quote that opens my review and tells the story of the narrator’s grandfather, who created cursed objects, such as the lamp shaped like a bunny rabbit, for his customers. In this case the cursed bunny was one he made to seek his own revenge (violating his own rules) on a company who had put a friend out of business by unscrupulous means, leading to the friend’s suicide. The lamp, once gifted to the CEO, creates chaos in the life of the CEO’s family and his business, but also with implications for the grandfather.
The Frozen Finger (차가� 손가�) is a rather surreal ghost story, and Snare (�) a genuinely creepy folk-tale type of story about a man who finds a fox, caught in a snare, that bleeds gold. He takes it home and uses it to build his wealth, but when the fox dies and his twins are born, his Midas-like obsession takes a sinister and disturbing turn, cursed perhaps by the fox.
Goodbye My Love (안녕, � 사랑) has a designer of artificial companions deciding it’s time to replace her first robot, and her one true love, although the androids have other ideas. The story is also noticeable for a reference to the uncanny valley concept - one that neatly summarises the collection.
Scars (흉터) is the longest story at 52 pages (the others typically 20) and is a satisfying story which begins with a boy, unsure of his own identity, taken to a cave as an offering to a mysterious creature.
Home Sweet Home (즐거� 나의 �) beings with a dispute about property tax between a young couple who own a small mixed-used building and one of their tenants, owners of a blood-sausage stew (순대국집) restaurant. But the building, which they were sold at a 복덕�, an old fashioned term for an estate-agent’s office which Hur romanises as bokdeokbang and also translates literally as fortune gainer, has secrets of its own.
Ruler of the Winds and Sands (바람� 모래� 지배자) takes us more in to the realm of legend, although with a science-fiction flavour. And the final story Reunion (재회) is set in Poland, with Polish text included (the author translates from the language) and is a love story of sorts with a ghostly twist.
The author’s own take on the collection explains how the characters, be that people, robots or rabbits, are typically alone and coping with a wild, unfamiliar, at times beautiful but at other times barbaric world:
“이 � 《저� 토끼》는 쓸쓸� 이야기들� 모음이다. 이야기의 주인공들은 모두 외롭�. 세상은 대체로 사납� 낯설� 가� 매혹적이거나 아름다울 때도 있지� 그럴 때조� 근본적으� 야만적인 곳이�, 등장인물(혹은 등장토끼 혹은 등장로봇)들은 사랑하거� 기뻐하기보다� 주로 좌절하고 절망하고 분노하고 욕망하고 분투하고 배신하고 배신당하거나 살해하거� 살해당하� 방식으로 타인과 관계를 맺고 세상� 교류한다.
Recommended, and in my view an early contender for the 2022 International Booker Prize.
Longlisted for 2023 National Book Award for Translated Literature
“저주에 쓰이� 물건일수� 예쁘� 만들어야 하는 법이�.�
할아버지� � 이렇� 말씀하셨�,
Grandfather used to say “When we make our cursed fetishes, it’s important that they’re pretty�
Cursed Bunny is Anton Hur’s translation of 저주토� (2017) by 정보� (Romanised as Bora Chung).
It is published by Honford Star whose mission is to publish the best literature from East Asia, be it classic or contemporary ... By working with talented translators and exciting local artists, we hope to see more bookshelves containing beautiful editions of the East Asian literature we love.
Until this year their Korean literature had been classic literature from the 1st half of the 20th century - see my reviews:
/review/show... /review/show...
/review/show...
But for 2021, their K-lit focus turns to the contemporary, in terms of authors, and the future in terms of subject matter.
- Tower, translated by Sang Ryu from the original 타� by 배명� (Bae Myung-hoon) - my review: /review/show...
- the post-apocalyptic To the Warm Horizon translated by Soje from Jin-Young Choi
- and this collection of short stories.
As always with Honford Star, the reader is immediately struck by the stunning cover art, here by Choi Jaehoon/werkgraphic.com. See here for the press's general approach: . It is also great to see the translators named on the front cover, and the Korean title and author’s name, written in 한글 (hangeul) on the flaps.
The stories effectively mix genres (anti-realist would perhaps be a good label) and also horror with humour.
The first story (actually 2nd in the original) Head (머리) won the 1998 Yonsei Literature Prize, and was the author’s (successful) attempt to write a fantastical story in the style of Eastern European authors, the author herself having translated Bruno Schulz into Korean. It begins with a woman about to flush the toilet when she sees a head popping out, calling out to her ‘Mother�
어느 � 물을 내리� 화장실을 � 나오� � 때였�.
‵Ӗ머니�
She was about to flush the toilet.
“Mdzٳ?�
...
It was probably more accurate to refer to it as “a thing that vaguely looks like a head� than an actual head. It was about two-thirds the size of an adult’s head and resembled a lump of carelessly slapped-together yellow and gray clay, with a few scattered clumps of wet hair. No ears, no eyebrows. Two slits for eyes so narrow that she couldn’t tell if its eyes were open or closed. The crushed mound beneath was meant to be its nose. The mouth was also a lipless slit. Its strained speech mixed with the gurgling of a person drowning, making it difficult to understand.
“What the Hell are you?� she asked.
“I call myself the Head,� the Head replied.
“You would, obviously,� she said, “but why are you in my toilet? And why are you calling me ‘mother�?�
The Head strained as it formed its unpracticed speech with its lipless mouth. “My body was created with the things you dumped down the toilet, like your fallen-out hair and the feces you wiped off your behind.
She got angry. “I never gave the likes of you permission to live in my toilet. I never even created the likes of you in the first place, so stop calling me your mother. Leave before I call the exterminators.�
“I only want so little,� said the Head hastily, “I’m only asking that you keep dumping your body waste in the toilet so I can finish the rest of my body. Then I’ll go far away from here and live by my own means, so please, just keep using the toilet like you always have.�
And as her life proceeds, to parenthood and middle age, the Head constantly haunts her, finishing body all the time, until one day �
The title of the second story (third originally), Embodiment (몸하�) raises some translation issues as in Korean � means body, but the verb 몸하� - “to body�- can also mean to menstruate, which Hur deftly explains in the form of a dictionary entry style epigraph. A young woman has issues with her periods, and is advised to take birth control pills, only to find an odd side effect, that, despite being a virgin, she is pregnant. She is advised by the staff that her baby will only develop properly if she finds a father for it, so embarks on a series of ill-fated matchmaking dates - �, which Hur romanises as seon. The story here leans to the comic, with rather bemused suitors, when they realise her request, a blackmailer who says he will claim he is the father, an elderly Chaebol owner after a heir and one wannabe suitor who serenades her with Shakespeare in badly pronounced Konglish. Hur does a wonderful job of rendering this last in English e.g. “itseu my lobeu� for “it’s my love� (from Act 2 Scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet).
The title story Cursed Bunny (저� 토끼) begins with the quote that opens my review and tells the story of the narrator’s grandfather, who created cursed objects, such as the lamp shaped like a bunny rabbit, for his customers. In this case the cursed bunny was one he made to seek his own revenge (violating his own rules) on a company who had put a friend out of business by unscrupulous means, leading to the friend’s suicide. The lamp, once gifted to the CEO, creates chaos in the life of the CEO’s family and his business, but also with implications for the grandfather.
The Frozen Finger (차가� 손가�) is a rather surreal ghost story, and Snare (�) a genuinely creepy folk-tale type of story about a man who finds a fox, caught in a snare, that bleeds gold. He takes it home and uses it to build his wealth, but when the fox dies and his twins are born, his Midas-like obsession takes a sinister and disturbing turn, cursed perhaps by the fox.
Goodbye My Love (안녕, � 사랑) has a designer of artificial companions deciding it’s time to replace her first robot, and her one true love, although the androids have other ideas. The story is also noticeable for a reference to the uncanny valley concept - one that neatly summarises the collection.
Scars (흉터) is the longest story at 52 pages (the others typically 20) and is a satisfying story which begins with a boy, unsure of his own identity, taken to a cave as an offering to a mysterious creature.
Home Sweet Home (즐거� 나의 �) beings with a dispute about property tax between a young couple who own a small mixed-used building and one of their tenants, owners of a blood-sausage stew (순대국집) restaurant. But the building, which they were sold at a 복덕�, an old fashioned term for an estate-agent’s office which Hur romanises as bokdeokbang and also translates literally as fortune gainer, has secrets of its own.
Ruler of the Winds and Sands (바람� 모래� 지배자) takes us more in to the realm of legend, although with a science-fiction flavour. And the final story Reunion (재회) is set in Poland, with Polish text included (the author translates from the language) and is a love story of sorts with a ghostly twist.
The author’s own take on the collection explains how the characters, be that people, robots or rabbits, are typically alone and coping with a wild, unfamiliar, at times beautiful but at other times barbaric world:
“이 � 《저� 토끼》는 쓸쓸� 이야기들� 모음이다. 이야기의 주인공들은 모두 외롭�. 세상은 대체로 사납� 낯설� 가� 매혹적이거나 아름다울 때도 있지� 그럴 때조� 근본적으� 야만적인 곳이�, 등장인물(혹은 등장토끼 혹은 등장로봇)들은 사랑하거� 기뻐하기보다� 주로 좌절하고 절망하고 분노하고 욕망하고 분투하고 배신하고 배신당하거나 살해하거� 살해당하� 방식으로 타인과 관계를 맺고 세상� 교류한다.
Recommended, and in my view an early contender for the 2022 International Booker Prize.
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Reading Progress
January 12, 2021
– Shelved as:
awaiting
January 12, 2021
– Shelved
January 12, 2021
– Shelved as:
awaiting-honford-star
January 12, 2021
– Shelved as:
korean-literature
April 13, 2021
– Shelved as:
to-read
April 17, 2021
–
Started Reading
April 17, 2021
– Shelved as:
2021
April 17, 2021
–
Finished Reading
March 11, 2022
– Shelved as:
ib-long-list-2022
April 14, 2022
–
Started Reading
April 15, 2022
–
Finished Reading
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by
Lee
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Apr 17, 2021 11:39AM
I can only imagine the poor exterminator who might be called to get rid of the Head. Sounds like a fascinating collection!
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Oddly no one else seems particularly bothered by it. When she later marries her husband tells her not to worry about not! But yes it is a great collection.
You can actually read that story online to get a taste
A-ha, thanks. Horrifying yet I also laughed. Brings new meaning to flushing away your potential.
My knowledge of Korean literature and culture is skimpy, but your review is enticing, and your understanding of Korean literature and culture is reassuring. Thanks.
This is the review that might just make me pick up the book! Thanks, Paul! Kudos for this very detailed review.
If you want another review to convince you "[a] magnificently disturbing collection" - that's from Frank Wynne, translator extraordinaire, champion of translated literature and chair of judges for the 2022 International Booker Prize.
What caught my attention is how Hur chose to translate that very first line, essentially taking out the 일수� and changing the meaning from "the more something is used as a curse." I think this book is too gnarly for me, but I do love studying translations!
Nicole wrote: "What caught my attention is how Hur chose to translate that very first line, essentially taking out the 일수� and changing the meaning from "the more something is used as a curse." I think this book ..."Good point. It's an interesting one isn't it - as in English "the more something is..." would read a little oddly here (it either is or isn't used as a fetish) but then that may also be true in Korean (what is natural there I am less clear)
