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ruval296's review against another edition
challenging
dark
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
dknippling's review against another edition
5.0
A tale of madness, woe, trash, and rats.
This is a particular type of story that one sees from time to time, sometimes overt, but more usually hidden. I hadn't seen a Korean one before, so I wasn't expecting it, and didn't catch on until I finished. Everything in the book is nicely calculated to that particular story, but may be too deeply hidden in Western audiences to pick up on. (The clues would have to be slightly different.)
So, without spoiling too much, let us say that this is a Kafkaesque or Wolfian tale in which nothing is what it seems, bureaucracy is king, and one may indeed be one's own worst enemy. I just reread Poe's "The Man of the Crowd," and this has a similarly hidden, mysterious, and open-ended feel. I particularly liked the ending once things sort of slipped into place: isn't that just how it goes?
Recommended if you like creepy atmospheric writing that doesn't, at first glimpse, make sense, Gene Wolfe, Poe, and Kafka. A VERY dark fairy tale. Avoid if you're looking for something straightforward.
This is a particular type of story that one sees from time to time, sometimes overt, but more usually hidden. I hadn't seen a Korean one before, so I wasn't expecting it, and didn't catch on until I finished. Everything in the book is nicely calculated to that particular story, but may be too deeply hidden in Western audiences to pick up on. (The clues would have to be slightly different.)
So, without spoiling too much, let us say that this is a Kafkaesque or Wolfian tale in which nothing is what it seems, bureaucracy is king, and one may indeed be one's own worst enemy. I just reread Poe's "The Man of the Crowd," and this has a similarly hidden, mysterious, and open-ended feel. I particularly liked the ending once things sort of slipped into place: isn't that just how it goes?
Recommended if you like creepy atmospheric writing that doesn't, at first glimpse, make sense, Gene Wolfe, Poe, and Kafka. A VERY dark fairy tale. Avoid if you're looking for something straightforward.
himpersonal's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Such a weird book! I think I need to read it again to get it, really, really get it. It was worn during COVID, and given the subject matter, that makes sense.
Protagonist was deplorable. In many ways, I feel like he represents a lot of men I’ve known - the ones who delude themselves into thinking they aren’t the bad guys (probably took online classes on how to be men from the Tate brothers). So I had no sympathy for him as he tried to figure out his life.
I’m just gonna say it again. It was a weird book.
Protagonist was deplorable. In many ways, I feel like he represents a lot of men I’ve known - the ones who delude themselves into thinking they aren’t the bad guys (probably took online classes on how to be men from the Tate brothers). So I had no sympathy for him as he tried to figure out his life.
I’m just gonna say it again. It was a weird book.
mrspdb's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
grayjay's review against another edition
4.0
**minor spoilers
The City of Ash and Red is a grim parable in which a man is set upon by circumstances that seem beyond his control, or are they?
The man is a product developer for a rat extermination company who is transferred for training to head office in another country where he doesn't speak the language. When he gets there he is quarantined due to a raging pandemic and is put on leave from work.
He is trapped in the limbo of a foreign country with no communication and nothing to do. When he contacts home he finds out his ex-wife has been murdered and he is the prime suspect.
I was reminded frequently of Kafka's The Trial in its preoccupation with unfathomable bureaucratic processes and events which are seemingly out of the protagonists hands, but it goes to a much darker place.
The pandemic stuff was too close to reality at the the time I read this. Face masks, officials taking people's temperatures, information changing too quickly to keep up with.
The City of Ash and Red is a grim parable in which a man is set upon by circumstances that seem beyond his control, or are they?
The man is a product developer for a rat extermination company who is transferred for training to head office in another country where he doesn't speak the language. When he gets there he is quarantined due to a raging pandemic and is put on leave from work.
He is trapped in the limbo of a foreign country with no communication and nothing to do. When he contacts home he finds out his ex-wife has been murdered and he is the prime suspect.
I was reminded frequently of Kafka's The Trial in its preoccupation with unfathomable bureaucratic processes and events which are seemingly out of the protagonists hands, but it goes to a much darker place.
The pandemic stuff was too close to reality at the the time I read this. Face masks, officials taking people's temperatures, information changing too quickly to keep up with.
tiiria's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
I had to read this for a class and absolutely hated it. It is full of vivid descriptions of living in absolute squalor during a pandemic. The main character literally lives on an island made of garbage, and it only gets worse from there. It is constantly disgusting and the main character is a horrible person.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Excrement, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Body horror, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, and Murder
Minor: Stalking and Toxic friendship
The worst (imo) disgusting thing that happens in the book istoto8's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
at first I wasn't too sure about this book and had only picked it up because of a friend's insistence that I should read it.
with the plot taking a while to pick up and the characters being very unlikeable I had to bite through it for at least the first third. if I weren't such a fast reader I might have abandoned it but it really wasn't time lost for me.
while the characters remained unlikeable the plot really did pick up in a very Korean way if that makes sense to anybody else. truly kafkaesque and overrun with rat metaphors this turned out to be a good read after all. probably not for everyone and maybe not the best start into Korean literature but altogether a book worth rereading.
but I'll be honest, for a long time the only thing that kept me going was my seething hatred of the main character which I had to air out by writing mean comments into the margins. maybe I'll add a few of those to my review at a later time
with the plot taking a while to pick up and the characters being very unlikeable I had to bite through it for at least the first third. if I weren't such a fast reader I might have abandoned it but it really wasn't time lost for me.
while the characters remained unlikeable the plot really did pick up in a very Korean way if that makes sense to anybody else. truly kafkaesque and overrun with rat metaphors this turned out to be a good read after all. probably not for everyone and maybe not the best start into Korean literature but altogether a book worth rereading.
but I'll be honest, for a long time the only thing that kept me going was my seething hatred of the main character which I had to air out by writing mean comments into the margins. maybe I'll add a few of those to my review at a later time
rysack's review against another edition
2.0
A tough yet easy read, every page grim if not atmospheric. Kafkaesque, as everyone has rightly pointed out, but with more grotesqueness.
Very happy I got to read a relatively recent Korean novel whilst in the country, but not one I’ll likely pick up again.
4/10
Very happy I got to read a relatively recent Korean novel whilst in the country, but not one I’ll likely pick up again.
4/10
nyarlathotep's review against another edition
3.0
This is a difficult review to write because I didn't like much about this book except the writing. The protagonist had no redeeming qualities that I could discern, and just haplessly bumbled his way through the events of this story. After reading this book I have been left feeling soiled by it, it featured some very unpleasant elements, namely animal cruelty (among others), but these elements were not gratuitous but integral to the narrative. Despite all of the negatives I could not put this book down, it was utterly compulsive reading.