#bluebeard

Rating: ★★★★★

This is absolutely a new favorite book of mine. The novel provides a non-linear narrative of the life of Rabo Karabekian. An artist and veteran is writing his life story, talking about events in his life between the telling of real-time events. It’s about self-destruction as much as it is creation, and it’s humorous as much as it is bitterly ironic.
There are thoughts from Rabo periodically that really make you think about America and its people and about the role of others in our lives. This was a really great read that I couldn’t put down, I finished it in a matter of hours.

–

Saylor Rains

Find me and this review on Goodreads.

 directed by Lee Soo-yeon (Secret Forest), starring veteran actors Jo Jin-woong (The Handmaiden, Signal) and Shin Gu, Bluebeard was a film I really wanted to like. but unlike other Korean thrillers that I had watched before (Door Lock,The Truth Beneath), the suspense in Bluebeard never eventually took off and instead felt like such a letdown.

Bluebeard is a character study with an unreliable narrator. having failed at operating his own clinic in Gangnam, Dr Byun (a fantastic Jo Jin-woong) relocates to Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do and frequently conducts endoscopies for elderly patients. the choice of Hwaseong is no coincidence - it is where the notorious Gyeonggi serial murders, a case that was cold for ~15 years, took place. when Dr Byun, a fan of mystery conspiracies, notices his neighbouring butchers’ suspicious behaviour, he begins to suspect that the recent disappearances and the 15 year old serial murders are relate to them.

at 2 hours’ long, it is quite disappointing that we spent a good 1 hour lingering in Jo’s perspective, when we knew that eventually we will be presented the flipside. and while typically one is surprised with alternative perspectives when the unreliable narrator is revealed, there was surprisingly little tension or anything gripping during the revelation. the twists were either obvious or weak - we didn’t need 1.5h to know that the head in the black bag was a lamb’s head, and i didn’t care that the supposed detective was actually Jo’s senior. the second plot twist at the last 5 minutes of the film was even more unnecessary - *spoilers ahead* what was the point of adjusting the story such that the first filipino wife was actually not killed, Jo had actually killed his creditor, and the butchers had actually killed Jo’s wife?! 

Bluebeardsets out many plot turns and red herrings, but doesn’t execute any of them to satisfaction. Kim Dae-myung (Hospital Playlist), Lee Chung-ah & Song Yoon-ah (Sky Castle) feature in supporting roles too, but the film’s saving grace is undoubtedly Jo, who displayed fine detail and emotional range. –5/10

gloomycamomile:

new@skull-bearer​‘s Bluebeard chapter be like

I has a meme :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

voirlvmer:

The poem as prey, / as blood luscious, elusive. The poem as the locked room.

Minnie Bruce Pratt, from “The Relation Between Words and People: After Rilke”,magnified