Reviews

City of Ash and Red, by Hye-Young Pyun

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angiegladden's review

3.0

This was an interesting book to read during our own quarantine days. The story was really dark with several graphic and disturbing scenes. Not one I’d recommend to everyone, but interesting nonetheless.

Some of my favorite quotes...

“This despair at knowing he would never make his way back weighed heavily on him. And he grew unhappy at the thought that he might never again run his fingers along the fine grain of ordinary everyday life.”

“The biggest impact the epidemic had on people was not infection and death but rather suspicion of others for fear of exactly that. Every person except for themselves was a potential pathogen, and every place outside of their own homes was dirty beyond belief and had viruses floating in the air.”

“Fear and rumors and viruses shared a similar nature. They bore a tremendous vitality of their own, oblivious to human efforts to stamp them out. They could spread rapidly even while offering no clue to their routes of transmission. And they would burn for a long, long time, like dry grassland, only to vanish in an instant as if doused with water.”

nighteyesiv's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

zhy's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

spacestationtrustfund's review against another edition

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3.0

『재와 빨강』 (재, cendres + 와, avec + 빨강, rouge) par Pyeon Hyeyeong (편혜영). Traduction de Lim Yeong-Hee (임영희) et Françoise Nagel.

Celui-ci est un roman dégoûtant, et je le pense de la meilleure des manières : il dégoûte. Si on se demande : qui est-il qu'il dégoûte ? on peut répondre : il dégoûte tout le monde, il se dégoûte même lui-même, c'est ça l'intrigue, le but. Livre viscéral, aigre, fétide et choquant, qui laisse un goût écœurant dans la bouche.

vangluss's review against another edition

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4.0

Following the literary tradition of surreal (and often horrific) writers like Kobo Abe, Kafka, and a pinch of Indra Das, this horror novel by Mrs. Pyun is the worthwhile next of kin. The best parts of this book were how strong the mood and obedience to the themes were. In the style of Kafka, the Unnamed Protagonist, no matter where he goes, is endlessly besieged by forces, people, and situations he can barely begin to understand. He is always confused. He is constantly debased. He is consistently terrified. And near the end, he is dehumanized like none other. However, there was also another event in the end that made this novel's eerie, psychological horror mood all the better.

The worst part of this book was that the uMC (Unnamed Main Character) was a bit flat, and how gross things were from time to time. Things seem to happen more to the uMC rather than he causing them to start. Of course, this book is supposed to have that helplessness mood going on, but it can get pitiful to watch a man just sit down and rot. Maybe this is the wrong criticism for the right genre/book? Either way, one thing that's certain about this novel is how goddamn disgusting it can get. The uMC eats rotting trash, lives in rotting trash, and nearly becomes rotting trash. The few scenes where the uMC is described as literally mashing rats on the floor were...something to behold. I liked the more cerebral scenes where the author describes how society and everything in it is breaking down while getting coated in spooky white dust. Those were great.

All in all, CoAaR is a fine short psychological horror read if you can get past the beaten down protag and the consistent gross shit he endures as a result.