Title: Hunger
Author: Choi Jin-Young
Translator: Soje
Publisher: Brazen
Publication Date: 2025
CONTENT WARNING: ‘Hunger’ contains scenes and discussions on cannibalism.
Hunger is a work of literary fiction by South Korean author Choi Jin-Young. It includes elements of body horror, romance, psychology, and social commentary.
This novella features a dual narrative perspective. Dam is a young woman who discovers Gu, her boyfriend, dead in the street. In order to remain close to him forever, Dam decides to take Gu home and consume his body. Throughout the story the pair recount their life together as Dam describes her feelings as she ‘takes care’ of Gu’s body. Gu’s spirit explains his feelings as he watches what happens to his own corpse.
I feel Hunger is one of those books that readers are either going to describe as a work of literary genius or just weird. I’m afraid I definitely fall into the ‘this is weird’ camp but for this novella it is important to place yourself in the characters’ shoes.
While the inclusion of cannibalism does serve as a shock talking point in the book’s blurb to lure readers in, it is not the primary focus of the story. Instead Hunger is first and foremost an intense love story between two people who have felt since childhood that they were destined to be together. We follow Dam and Gu’s journey as they grow up, learn to navigate life, and never give up on their feelings for each other. Although the thought of eating someone you love (or anyone for that matter) sounds utterly perverse to us, to Dam it is the ultimate act of love and devotion. In the scenes that do feature cannibalism, Dam’s actions and grief are romanticised by both her and Gu’s watching spirit.
Despite the book’s disturbing body horror content, at no point does Hunger focus on the gore of what Dam is doing or even include bloody details. The scenes that do contain cannibalism simply mention what Dam does in light, matter-of-fact-terms and then moves on.
The novella also features strong elements of social commentary – in this case, poor versus rich. Neither Dam nor Gu are wealthy. With her parents absent, Dam is raised by her loving aunt who gives up on being a nun to look after her and works multiple jobs to put food on the table. Gu’s parents spend all their time arguing rather than looking after their son. They build up considerable debt with loan sharks which passes to Gu when they suddenly die. Both protagonists want to escape the lives they have been born into but neither truly believe they can. They best they can hope for is to escape urban society altogether and start a brand new life together in the mountains. There is a deep sadness to their acceptance that they cannot change their fates.
I do have to applaud Micaela Alcaino who created the book’s front cover. It is an image that makes you want to find out the story behind it and I love how the title and author’s name were cleverly incorporated into the image of the noodle pot rather than simply stamping them across the top and bottom of the cover.
At only 129 pages, Hunger is a quick read. While I’m pleased to challenged myself to read a book outside of my normal go-to genres, I don’t believe Hunger is a book that I will feel compelled to read again. For me it was different and odd but I’m sure other readers will find it intriguing.
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