denijaaa_s's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
no sākuma bija ļoti cerīgi - tika pastāstīts par jonas dzīvi & darbu, viņa aizbrauca ceļojumā uz kafastrofas vietu un apmeklēja dažādas vietas mui ar saviem grupas biedriem. bet no tā momenta, kad jona palika vilcienā un nošķīrās no grupas, es sāku nesaprast.
no sākuma likās, ka es lasu ceļojuma bukletu, tad tas viss vienā brīdī pārvērtās par dabaszinību grāmatu dažādu terminu aprakstu kā karsta kritenes utt. dēļ, un tad tā pārvērtās par eksistenciālisma literatūru, ka es beigu beigās neko nesapratu, kas vispār notiek. tikai beigās, izlasot par cunami un pāršķirot pēdējo lappusi, kad es beidzot sāku saprast sižetu, grāmata vienkārši beidzās - aprauti un bez nekāda paskaidrojuma. kā arī laka un jonas attiecībām nebija pilnīgi nekāda romantiskā pamata, kā tikai tas, ka pēkšņi viņi pēc 3 nedēļām ir pāris, like... HUH?!
tā arī beigās nesapratu, kas tas ir - eksistenciālisms, reālisms, fantastika vai vēl kas cits. viegli aizmirstams sižets.
no sākuma likās, ka es lasu ceļojuma bukletu, tad tas viss vienā brīdī pārvērtās par dabaszinību grāmatu dažādu terminu aprakstu kā karsta kritenes utt. dēļ, un tad tā pārvērtās par eksistenciālisma literatūru, ka es beigu beigās neko nesapratu, kas vispār notiek. tikai beigās, izlasot par cunami un pāršķirot pēdējo lappusi, kad es beidzot sāku saprast sižetu, grāmata vienkārši beidzās - aprauti un bez nekāda paskaidrojuma. kā arī laka un jonas attiecībām nebija pilnīgi nekāda romantiskā pamata, kā tikai tas, ka pēkšņi viņi pēc 3 nedēļām ir pāris, like... HUH?!
tā arī beigās nesapratu, kas tas ir - eksistenciālisms, reālisms, fantastika vai vēl kas cits. viegli aizmirstams sižets.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Sexual harassment, and Car accident
cherryblossomgirl's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Car accident, Violence, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Death of parent
morebedsidebooks's review against another edition
3.0
'Disaster and catastrophe aren’t just within the realm of the gods. Us humans, we can manipulate nature, too.’
This the first translated book by Korean author Yun Ko-eun is the sort of trim ecolit novel that begs the question of just how dark, dark tourism can get. Yona Ko works for Jungle which specializes in travel packages to disaster areas. If that sounds rather problematic it also has a corporate culture that’s unsurprisingly very much the kind with a missing stair. So, the ten-year company veteran ends up on a review trip to one of the least lucrative destinations in Southeast Asia. A tropical island that decades ago was the site of a genocide and giant sink hole, now a lake. Coming off more as a paradise, the island however is hiding an all too deadly side.
I feel like the English language publisher over states the thriller, (dark) humor and feminist aspects of this story. But The Disaster Tourist is still an interesting little book that should make one think about travel, disasters, capitalism and the dichotomy between the global north and south.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Car accident, Death, Murder, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, and Genocide
waybeyondblue's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexism, and Genocide
Moderate: Car accident and Sexual harassment
angelfireeast24's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Classism, Murder, and Bullying
Minor: Car accident
anna220310's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual assault, Murder, Genocide, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Death of parent, and Death
mengzhenreads's review
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Overall I thought this book had a lot of interesting things to say about the tourism industry and human impact on the environment, and there were a lot of descriptions in this book that were honestly, with no other way to describe it, really delicious to read. I do wish that some of the concepts could've been explore a little deeper, since there was so much to unpack in this book but overall I had a great time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Car accident, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Murder, and Genocide
Minor: Child death
laurahershel's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Car accident, Genocide, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Animal death and Child death
chiaralzr's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Classism, Violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Murder, and Car accident
nicoleava's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Our protagonist designs vacation package itineraries for a unique subset of destination - places struck by disaster. This book struck an immense chord with me. I am reminded of my unfortunate brushes with people who engage in voluntourism, and it's uglier cousin "mission trips". Being southern comes with many cultural quirks, good and bad, and the proliferation of "missionaries" is one of the bad. Cultural imperialism and conditional aid serve none but the proselytizer.
This novel, however, stretches beyond that which I find immediately personal and recognizable. It is unflinching look at gawkers.
"On a disaster trip, travellers’ reactions to their surroundings usually went through the following stages: shock → sympathy and compassion, and maybe discomfort → gratefulness for their own lives → a sense of responsibility and the feeling that they’d learned a lesson, and maybe an inkling of superiority for having survived. [...] Even though I came close to disaster, I escaped unscathed: those were the selfish words of solace you told yourself after returning home."
Jungle, the travel company our protagonist works for, has categories of trip for basically every type of natural disaster - but also things like murder, violence, and other human-initiated disaster. It is a disturbing concept, idly referenced at times, including Nagasaki.
My father has actually been to Hiroshima, in the midst of a month long trip he was sent on by work. He visited many places, due to the convenience of bullet train. Going to see a site where disaster struck isn't inherently distasteful. A trip like that is juxtaposed with the description of a trip to Japan in this novel - with the sole intention of touring the post-nuclear horrors of Nagasaki.
Essentially, I mean that travel is complicated. There's nothing wrong with, say, taking a murder or ghost tour in a large city you may be visiting. But perhaps there is something distasteful about travel designed for rubbernecking.
This novel also has a lot to say about the stifling grasp of capitalism:
"Man 20 had volunteered because, like so many others, he needed money more than he needed life."
This is an undeniable reality. A disgusting reality that is as hard to look at as some of Jungle's destinations. And yet, the disaster tourists don't appear to be interested in that facet of cataclysm, that shadow that follows forever after.
"Small actions like looking for your coat or grabbing your bag, like saving the data on your laptop or pressing buttons on your phone: they divided the living and the dead."
As of writing this review, footage of a police officer looking at his phone while lives were lost is in the news. I lost my breath when I read this sentence. I will think about it for a very long time.
I feel inclined, after a comment by my husband, to check out Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. This book fits hand in hand with the concept.
This novel, however, stretches beyond that which I find immediately personal and recognizable. It is unflinching look at gawkers.
"On a disaster trip, travellers’ reactions to their surroundings usually went through the following stages: shock → sympathy and compassion, and maybe discomfort → gratefulness for their own lives → a sense of responsibility and the feeling that they’d learned a lesson, and maybe an inkling of superiority for having survived. [...] Even though I came close to disaster, I escaped unscathed: those were the selfish words of solace you told yourself after returning home."
Jungle, the travel company our protagonist works for, has categories of trip for basically every type of natural disaster - but also things like murder, violence, and other human-initiated disaster. It is a disturbing concept, idly referenced at times, including Nagasaki.
My father has actually been to Hiroshima, in the midst of a month long trip he was sent on by work. He visited many places, due to the convenience of bullet train. Going to see a site where disaster struck isn't inherently distasteful. A trip like that is juxtaposed with the description of a trip to Japan in this novel - with the sole intention of touring the post-nuclear horrors of Nagasaki.
Essentially, I mean that travel is complicated. There's nothing wrong with, say, taking a murder or ghost tour in a large city you may be visiting. But perhaps there is something distasteful about travel designed for rubbernecking.
This novel also has a lot to say about the stifling grasp of capitalism:
"Man 20 had volunteered because, like so many others, he needed money more than he needed life."
This is an undeniable reality. A disgusting reality that is as hard to look at as some of Jungle's destinations. And yet, the disaster tourists don't appear to be interested in that facet of cataclysm, that shadow that follows forever after.
"Small actions like looking for your coat or grabbing your bag, like saving the data on your laptop or pressing buttons on your phone: they divided the living and the dead."
As of writing this review, footage of a police officer looking at his phone while lives were lost is in the news. I lost my breath when I read this sentence. I will think about it for a very long time.
I feel inclined, after a comment by my husband, to check out Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. This book fits hand in hand with the concept.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Car accident