City of Ash and Red, HyeYoung Pyun
City of Ash and Red, HyeYoung Pyun
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
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City of Ash and Red

Author: Hye-Young Pyun, Sora Kim-Russell

Narrator: Eric G. Dove

Unabridged: 5 hr 45 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/01/2020

Categories: Fiction, Dystopian


Synopsis

Distinguished for his talents as a rat killer, the nameless protagonist of Hye-young Pyun's City of Ash and Red is sent by the extermination company he works for on an extended assignment in C, a country descending into chaos and paranoia, swept by a contagious disease, and flooded with trash. No sooner does he disembark than he is whisked away by quarantine officials and detained overnight. Isolated and forgotten, he realizes that he is stranded with no means of contacting the outside world. Still worse, when he finally manages to reach an old friend, he is told that his ex-wife's body was found in his apartment and that hes the prime suspect. Barely managing to escape arrest, he must struggle to survive in the streets of this foreign city, gripped with fear of contamination, and reestablish contact with his company and friends in order to clear his reputation.But as the man's former life slips further and further from his grasp, he looks back on his time with his wife, and it becomes clear that he may not quite be who he seems. From the bestselling author of The Hole, City of Ash and Red is an apocalyptic account of the destructive impact of fear and paranoia on people's lives as well as a haunting novel about a mans loss of himself and his humanity.

About Hye-Young Pyun

Hye-young Pyun is the author of several short-story collections and novels. The recipient of many of Korea's most prestigious awards, including the Dong-in Literary Award, the Yi-sang Literary Award, and the Hyundae Munhak Award, she made her literary debut when she won Seoul Shinmun's annual New Writer's Contest with her short story "Shaking Off Dew" and has continued to publish short stories in publications such as The New Yorker and Harper's Magazine. She lives in Seoul, Korea.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Hannah on March 02, 2025

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 the......more

Goodreads review by Quân Khuê on January 07, 2018

Phảng phất Kafka và gợi nhớ Mù loà của Samarago. Một bất ngờ thú vị từ Hàn Quốc.......more

Goodreads review by Paul on December 31, 2023

City of Ash and Red is Sora Kim-Russell's 2018 translation of the 2010 Korean novel 재와 빨강 by 편혜영 (Hye-Young Pyun). This is the third novel I've read by the same translator-author after: The Hole (홀) - my review: [URL not allowed] The Law of Lines (선의 법칙) - my review: [URL not allowed]......more

Goodreads review by OutlawPoet on November 12, 2018

Sometimes you read and love a book, but when you have to explain it to someone, you fumble for words. This is one of those books. In City of Ash and Red, we have a pandemic. It's a quiet one, but a deadly one. Our main character, who remains nameless, is promoted, but that promotion takes into a coun......more