This novella presents yearning for love, yearning and grief for person rather as hunger. As we follow the protagonists Dam and Gu in their story, we get a glimpse of their raw feelings for each other. The korean title "구의 증명" (Proof of Gu) gives us further clues on the mind working of Dam and Gu. Who do we want us to remember after death? What proof of our lives will we leave behind after death? I was really suprised by this book. The premise seemed like horror, but I was met with a rather philosophical story about love and grief.

Anfangs wusste ich nicht, wie das Buch seine eigene Handlung aufgreifen wird, alles wirkte auch sehr abstrakt, aber interessant geschrieben. Ich kann nicht sagen, ob das Buch auf einige pseudo philosophisch wirkt, doch bei mir hat es mit vielen Aussagen einen bleibenden Eindruck hinterlassen und spannende Fragen in den Raum gestellt. Die Liebesgeschichte der beiden Protagonisten ist von vielen Hindernissen geprägt, wie auch das kalte, einsame Leben der Beiden. Die Gedanken beider über den Tod und die Liebe haben mich zum Nachdenken gebracht. Viele Szenen haben mich dabei sehr ergriffen, an manchen Stellen hat es mich traurig gestimmt. Das Buch ist aus der Perspektive beider geschrieben, manchmal in der Vergangenheit, manchmal in der Gegenwart. Beides war sehr interessant, trotz des Tagebuch artigen Schreibstils. Die letzte Seite des Buches wird mich auf jeden Fall noch eine Weile begleiten und die Themen des Buches, insbesondere der Tod des Partners und wie beide damit umgehen, haben ein starkes und unangenehmes Gefühl in mir ausgelöst. Jedoch war die Liebe der beiden, bis ins Jenseits, auch ein sehr hoffnungsvoller und hingebungsvoller Akt. Definitiv keine super leichte Kost, aber ein mal anderes Buch mit interessanten Fragestellungen und Theorien.

You can't forget that the English syntax can't grasp the reality of Korean and that's what makes translations so tricky but the prose just did not appeal to me and I kind of wish there weren't 2 POVs and just one. The little time spent in the short novel could have been utilized well to flesh out one character rather than leave them both shallow

Dam finds her man Gu dead on the street. Heartbroken and furious, she holds him in her arms and makes a shocking decision: she takes him home, cleans his body, and slowly begins to eat him. Not out of madness, but as an act of defiance. The capitalism that drained him all his life won’t get to claim him in death. The story then looks back on their shared life: how Dam and Gu met as children, how they endured hardship, lost each other, and eventually found their way back. Their love turns into something obsessive. Even though it starts with a horrific act, Hunger isn’t really a horror novel - it’s more of a tragic love story. The horror is mostly at the beginning and only appears briefly later on. Still, the book completely pulled me in. It’s full of raw reflections on life, love, exhaustion, poverty, and the feeling of running endlessly in a hamster wheel. The writing style is simple, even plain, but that makes it feel very real and direct. The author captures the characters’ thoughts and emotions in a quiet but powerful way. Hunger is less about gore and more about grief, love, and resistance against a system that devours people. I definitely recommend it - just don’t go in expecting a horror story.

I loved the gore, obsession and social criticism adressed in this book. Albeit that it got a little to much about love and them as a couple. It was an enjoyment to kind of have the MCs discribe how their obsession to them only felt like love. I did however struggle warming up to the writing style, which I contribute to it being original Korean work.