Since these stories are structured like fairy-tales it makes a lot of sense that there is a moral tale embedded within the text.

Trauma becomes a key aspect of these stories, with characters pushed to their limits or reacting to the world around them as informed by the horrors visited upon them.She also translates Russian and Polish into Korean while having written three novels and story collections. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. But the grotesque is always in service of the themes Chung explores - womanhood, capitalism, patriarchy, gaslighting, and others. Bora Chung's glorious anglophone debut, enabled by award-winning Anton Hur, is poised to shock and delight . Anton Hur’s translation skillfully captures the way Chung’s prose effortlessly glides from being terrifying to wryly humorous.

There’s also a story about robots, “Goodbye, My Love”, that I enjoyed quite a lot that spoke to the process of aging. If you are a thrill seeker and have ever frequented amusement parks, then you may know that it’s best to save your favorite, most exhilarating rides for the end. I also don't know if it's the translation (done by Anton Hur) or Chung's writing style, but the repetition within the text and the constant use of the passive voice was very irritating to me.I don't generally enjoy short story collections as I like to spend a lot of time with fictional characters and get to know and love (or despise) them. The content isn’t for everyone (a lot of it is triggering) and the writing begins very very basic (with the English translation) however it picks up as you get further into the book. An added bonus for me: Reunion is set in an unnamed city in Poland which resembles Cracow and there are even some sentences in Polish. We offer 1st class (express) or 2nd class (standard) postage options, and use Royal Mail as our primary postal service. The reason I gave it four stars instead of five is that the quality of the short tales diminished after the first five, but each story is distinctive in its own way.