I read this book for a group read in the group “Weird fiction” on Goodreads. I nominated it as it was supposed to be “blurring the lines between magical realism, horror and science fiction”. Having read it, I probably would’ve been better off nominating something else. The lines were blurry, but I wasn’t very impressed with the execution. If you like horror, there’s not enough horror elements to satisfy you. If you like science fiction, same deal. Weird fiction as well. I will say, though, that some of these stories were strange, unique, beautiful and creepy, (in a good way), and I did enjoy some of them quite a lot. Sadly, I rated three of them two stars, which kind of ruined it for me overall.

Here are my ratings of each story and a bit of commentary I made along the way:

“The Head” – Terningkast fire

I’ve read plenty of comments saying this one is repulsive and disgusting. As I mentioned in the group, I personally didn't find a head in a toilet that repulsive. I don't know if that's because of all the horror movies I've seen in my day, but I would call it comparatively or relatively mild when it comes to body horror or splatter or anything that ventures into the extreme kind. I think as a horror story, it needed more of everything, and whatever else it tried to express or convey beyond that didn’t particularly benefit from the nasty bit. It just added to the amalgamation of confusing statements.

“The Embodiment” – Terningkast to

A woman becomes pregnant from birth control pills and for whatever reason needs to find a man that’s willing to be the father. Her obstetrician puts it bluntly: “ You better find a father for that child, fast. If you don’t, things will really get bad for you” (27). And a little later: “if you want a normal child, you’ll do whatever it takes to find a father.” (32). My personal interpretation is that Chung herself puts it bluntly as well that a child needs both a father and a mother. It’s like she asked herself how she could write a story that conveyed this particular opinion, and the end result is a bit too apparent or even borderline basic. As an only child who grew up without a father myself, I strongly disagree with this sentiment as well. Disagreements like this are all fine and well; I can still enjoy a story even if I have different viewpoints or have a different cultural background than the author or characters of story. Most of the time, that's considered a good thing on several levels! But it was another element that grated on me here as I didn't really understand where that was coming from or what exactly the underlying arguments were. It was a shallow exploration of the topic, and I found it unconvincingly executed.

"What are you specializing in?"
"Slavic literature."
"How very unusual! I'm sure there can't be many people studying Norwegian literature in Korea?"
"Uh, that's not quite-"

Hah!

“Cursed Bunny” – Terningkast to

An anti-capitalist story where Chung basically just wants to say that corporate greed is evil and deserves punishment. Again, I don’t see any nuance or deeper exploration of the topic, so I just wanted the story to end.

“The Frozen Finger” – Terningkast fire

A woman, after having survived a car crash, finds herself in complete darkness with a shady stranger. To top it all off, she’s lost her memory. Unnerving!

“Snare” – Terningkast to

Another cautionary tale about greed. And the suffering of women, I suppose. This one was brutal, but it ultimately failed to keep my attention.

“Goodbye, My Love” – Terningkast seks

Absolutely lovely! I'd even call it tender. Chung explores what we all either want to know more about or want to try out: what’s it like having an AI companion? Is it possible to make a meaningful connection to one? What would that feel like? For some people, an AI companion will be a welcome reprieve from loneliness. For others, a way out of mental health issues. Not only does she explore that topic, she’s also showing us the value of emotional attachment to objects and the connection between our identity and our memories. Wonderful!

“Scars” – Terningkast seks

Another great story. Amazing, even. A boy finds himself in total darkness, in captivity and must endure … well, torture. It was very long, but it never felt boring. So much pain and distress, poor thing, and it kind of never stopped. It was like an excruciating bildungsroman. Not sure I understood the ending, but that's okay. It still left me with a glimmer of hope. Highly imaginative, emotional, epic, well-structured and action-packed. Cool

“Home Sweet Home” – Terningkast tre

A couple buys a building in the hopes of starting a new life together, but comes into conflict with neighbors, tenants and each other. It was like a murder mystery, a ghost story, a romance, a little bit of thriller and drama. A bit slow, perhaps, and nothing really grabbed me. It was okay, I guess.

“Ruler of the Winds and Sands” – Terningkast to

A fairytale about a princess who’s trying to break a curse for her prince. I don’t think I need to explain why I gave it two stars other than quoting the following:

"The gold is ours! All the world is ours!"

"One can break the curse, but it is impossible to cure their blindness from greed. They were always ready to wage another war"

Eye-roll. Boring.

“Reunion” – Terningkast fem

A haunting and powerful ghost story about trauma. Also, there’s some great poetry!

Final thoughts:

While I appreciated her style, her boldness and experimentation, there’s too much basic anti-capitalist spoon feeding, and the stories are stained with excessive social critique. I would consider myself a feminist, and I would definitely be the one to supply pitchforks and torches to furious villagers in an uprising against the greedy and selfish aristocracy, but approaching the subject in such a manner just makes it feel like she’s crudely underestimating her readers and overestimating the effects it makes on her stories.