Dark tourism! monolithic corporations! ethical dilemmas! meta, surreal plotlines!
Thanks to Counterpoint Press and NetGalley for the free e-copy.
Yona works for Jungle, a travel company which designs vacation packages centering around various disasters. After Yona starts being targeted at work, she is encouraged to take a breather by going on a trip to one of Jungle’s less successful locations to assess if they should continue to offer the package. But soon after her trip to Mui begins, she realizes that this island is not willing to give up their partnership without a fight. This South Korean cli-fi (fiction about effects of climate change) is a compelling, chilling ride full of unexpected twists and turns, with striking, stark writing and a morally ambiguous narrator.

The book brought up so many themes that merit further discussion. It explores office culture and harassment, as well as one’s culpability in unconscionable situations as a “cog in the wheel.” It provides a deep dive into the many nuances about the problematic elements of tourism. From ecotourism to “ethical” tourism, many of these trips allow—and even encourage— travelers to leave a location pitying the residents and feeling grateful for their own lives. Who benefits from tourism in these communities? What facades are put up for visitors expecting a very specific experience?

My main critique is that some of the messages were a little heavy-handed, when I think the reader could have handled more subtlety. Overall, this was a unique, fast-paced read that I would classify as dystopia-lite (did y’all know disaster tourism already exists?!). This would be a great pick for August’s Women in Translation Month!

TW: sexual harassment and assault, ableist language, mass death, colonialism

THE DISASTER TOURIST is a new book in the climate fiction subgenre. This dark satire looks at workplace harassment, feminism, and disaster profiteering. The word “manufactured” sticks with me as a central theme, and not in the obvious way of being fake or unrealistic; I’m referring to the societal tendency to influence the future with our past and current actions. Mentally this book felt like it had three distinct phases, each one unraveling further.

Content warnings: sexual harassment.

Incredibly disturbing plot and sharp satirical bite make it worthy of a Bong Joon-ho film adaptation! This is the kind of feminist, post-capitalist, dystopian work I crave.

An interesting read that wavers between satire and cautionary tale. Yona is a 33 year old who has devoted her life to the travel industry. Jungle, her company, specializes in disaster travel - there's much to made of this. After she is sexually assaulted, she's persuade to go to Mui, an island off the coast of Vietnam to see if it's still worth sending clients there to see the infamous sinkhole. Things are fine when she arrives but then go off the rails. This is a compact novel, which is probably best because it felt as though the author ran out of steam near the end. Still, she's got some very sharp and pointed insight into the mindset of those who like to gawk at accidents. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. For fans of literary fiction and those who enjoy literature in translation.

Yona is in her early 30's and has worked at the same job for 10 years. Her job is as a travel program coordinator at Jungle, a Korea-based travel company. Jungle specializes in trips to areas that have been impacted by climate change or natural disaster. Want to visit that city that recently experienced a devastating earthquake so you can gawk at the rubble and the survivors? Jungle has the travel package for you!

Yona doesn't love her job and realizes her job is in danger when her supervisor starts sexually harassing her. Jungle makes a deal with Yona, she can pick from their list of least popular travel packages and go on a business trip as a tourist to review and assess the package. Yona opts to go to Mui, a small island that experienced sinkholes in the past. Yona and the rest of her tour group are seriously underwhelmed with their stay on Mui. While on the island, Yona learns of a plot by the resort to fabricate a new big disaster to bring in bigger disaster tourism crowds.

This was such a clever, quirky read. I really enjoyed it and it only took me a couple of hours total to read. It brings up issues like #metoo, the impact of tourism on small island destinations, the fascination many have with disasters. The story is satirical and contains many moments of biting humor.

This is the author's first novel translated into English and I would definitely check out more of her books if they became available in English.

Yun Ko-eun packs a lot into this relatively short novel. It's a scathing commentary on people's obsession with trauma and disasters, as well as commentary on how the capitalist system ruthlessly extorts people's lives--and the earth--for the selfish gain of few. "The Disaster Tourist" is eerie, surreal and disturbing, all the while being an un-put-downable page turner.

I am not sure if this book suffered at the hands of the translator or if it is just poorly written. There was nothing to enjoy about it. I gave it two stars just in case it is better in the language in which it was written.

THE DISASTER TOURIST by Jun Ko-eun was such a great read! This novel is translated from the Korean and it was so interesting to read the unique plot. We follow Yona, who works at a disaster tourism company and travels on one of their trips. There were so many surprising elements throughout the book until the very end! I loved all the twists and turns in the plot. I’d definitely read more from Ko-eun.

This book was truly fascinating and unique. I haven't read a lot of what I'd call eco-fiction but this book made me interested in exploring more in this genre. As the climate crisis grows in real life, it feels important to involve the ongoing environmental disaster into literature, and this book does that extremely well. The book is short and a fairly quick read, and had a great sense of pacing and the plot kept me interested. I did find the main character likable and relatable. I was excited to read a book that wasn't US-centric and this didn't disappoint at all. The book dealt with tourism, travel, and socioeconomic privileges and power in really bold and fascinating ways. It also handles sexual harassment in the workplace with deft, which feels particularly relevant in light of the MeToo movement. At times, the book felt more like an allegory than standard fiction, which isn't my usual taste, but that feels appropriate for my understanding of eco-fiction. I definitely recommend this book.

I loved this book. And I might be the only one.

Don't go in thinking that the main character, Yona, will save the day. Instead it takes a satirical look at dark tourism, which is a thing. Yona works for a company that creates packages for places that have been hit by disasters. As she fears that she will be fired, she agrees to go on a tour of the island of Mui to test the quality of the experience. Instead she finds people who are trying to trick the dark tourism system and ends up helping them.

This is a short fun read. Yona only cares about keeping her job and tries not to care about the lives that will be killed by this trick. It's biting satire of an industry that most people don't know exists.

This book was a quick, easy read about a travel agency employee who gets stuck at a disaster zone travel destination resort and is sucked into the island's mysterious history. Her trip ends up becoming more and more surreal and I kept wondering where the book would end up. The book was a quick read and definitely captured my attention. It highlighted certain issues that come up with disaster zone travel, but the way it was addressed felt a bit too abstract. The writer left me on the edge of my seat to figure out how Yona will deal with all of the obstacles and secrets she comes across.

It was definitely a fresh read and unlike any other book I have read.

I enjoyed this creepy and quirky novel. The plot and premise are incredible fresh and creative. While the narrative slowed down a bit in the middle, I recommend readers persevere for a funny and subversive ending.

I so enjoyed this satirical and horribly funny (in places) story of Yona, an employee of a travel agency who arranges tours to disaster zones. After her boss begins to sexually assault her at work and she tries to complain, she is sent as a punishment to a disaster resort that just isn't offering its guests enough misery-bang for their buck. As each step of her trip becomes more and more surreal, the reader is swept along, wondering how--and if--Yona will make it out of there alive.

While parts of the last section of the novel didn't quite work for me, overall this was a fresh and inventive story and one that made some pointed comments about how we live today, but made them in a sharp and often funny way. Recommended!

I wasn't able to finish this book. It just didn't hold my attention. I suspect that the translation wasn't great?

There are some books that flow well with a good translation and there are some books that no matter the translation don't flow well at all.

I felt the narrative rather clunky and I knew I was in a bit of trouble when the first chapter felt as if you were already in the middle of the story.

As much as I hoped to enjoy it, I felt distant from the main character due to the way the author chose to write the book.

Yona Ko works at a Korean travel company, where her job is ‘surveying disaster zones and turning them into vacations’ – putting together the most compelling and lucrative packages to inspire the adventurous traveller. Yona and her colleagues do very little to interrogate the exploitative nature of their work, instead framing it through a purely transactional lens: there is money to be made in disaster.

‘A package has to be powerful to survive. We’ve got earthquakes, typhoons, volcanoes, avalanches, floods, fires, massacres, wars, radioactivity…The packages Koreans like are those with something exotic, the spirit of adventure.’

After being sexually assaulted by her manager, Yona agrees to go on one of the trips to the remote island Mui, off the coast of Vietnam, where a sinkhole swallowed most of the island’s residents some years ago. It will be Yona’s job to experience the vacation as a tourist and assess whether it’s worth the company renewing their contract. Whilst she’s there, she gets drawn into a dark and twisted plot to sustain the cachet of the island – at any cost.

This short novel packs a punch, showing us a dystopian vision that takes our modern-day voyeurism to the extreme. It implicitly interrogates our consumption the twenty-four-hour news cycle and the never-ending exposure to global tragedy – whilst also recognising the desensitisation that occurs from such consumption.

‘The disaster has to be on a certain scale for busy people to take the time to sympathise and pay attention. The world is overrun with stimulation, so that’s just how it is.’

It’s an offbeat, quirky narrative, with a chilling nonchalance towards the bounds of behaviour in pursuit of profit – including on the part of our protagonist, who rarely self-reflects on her complicity in a way that I found somewhat frustrating. There is a precision to the language that I’ve seen in other works of translated Korean fiction, and I enjoyed having a non-Western protagonist guide the story. However, it veers off into the nightmarish surreal as the novel reaches its conclusion, and introduces plot points I felt were underdeveloped and rushed (e.g. the love interest). There’s a lot the novel is saying, with a fascinating premise to explore, but more could have been done for the novel to reach its potential.

Thank you to Counterpoint Press & NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Available August 4th 2020

Reminiscent of the film "Parasite", Yun Ko-eun's The Disaster Tourist is a fresh take on eco-tourism and the savior complex.

Meet The Jungle, a Korean tourism company that sends privileged tourists to disaster zones around the world. Whether it's the nuclear remnants of Chernobyl or the washed up remains of Nagasaki, these tours allow for individuals to experience both the macabre and the grit of the townspeople. When struggling Jungle employee Yona is sent to Mui, she hopes it can be the key to saving her career & perhaps the fate of the town itself. As she works with key players behind the scenes, Yona quickly learns just how much is at stake & what lengths the townspeople will go to make sure their town is a perfect disaster zone.

With a ever expanding narrative, Ko-eun's cleverly constructed narrative lends itself to the perfect metaphor. Just who or what is truly real and authentic anyway?

Highly recommend for a mind-bending read.