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challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A dark, winding, and surreal story of generational trauma. I'm not entirely sure I was smart enough to read it, or at the very least get out of it what the author intended. Still, beautifully written.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Violence, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Mental illness, Dementia, Death of parent, War
Construir memoria es una forma de resistir.
Me impactó la manera en que explora la memoria como un recurso esencial para no olvidar a quienes fueron borrados y silenciados de la historia, especialmente por su capacidad de narrar ese "otro lado" de Corea del Sur que pocos conocemos. Es una historia cruda, sin finales felices ni eufemismos innecesarios; es una historia que te obliga a mirar y oír, aunque no quieras, que te revuelve el estómago y te genera ansiedad.
Aquí se ve a la memoria como sujeto partícipe en el conflicto, como tejido esencial para mantener la conexión entre el pasado y el futuro, y como mecanismo para construir una cultura de la no repetición. Como colombiana, que ha visto y vivido el conflicto armado en mi país, leer este libro fue darme cuenta de que la memoria, el perdón y la paz son pilares de todas las sociedades, y que no podemos permitir que nos borren del mapa.
Quedé fascinada con la narrativa de Han Kang en este libro, definitivamente mi favorito de la autora.
Me impactó la manera en que explora la memoria como un recurso esencial para no olvidar a quienes fueron borrados y silenciados de la historia, especialmente por su capacidad de narrar ese "otro lado" de Corea del Sur que pocos conocemos. Es una historia cruda, sin finales felices ni eufemismos innecesarios; es una historia que te obliga a mirar y oír, aunque no quieras, que te revuelve el estómago y te genera ansiedad.
Aquí se ve a la memoria como sujeto partícipe en el conflicto, como tejido esencial para mantener la conexión entre el pasado y el futuro, y como mecanismo para construir una cultura de la no repetición. Como colombiana, que ha visto y vivido el conflicto armado en mi país, leer este libro fue darme cuenta de que la memoria, el perdón y la paz son pilares de todas las sociedades, y que no podemos permitir que nos borren del mapa.
Quedé fascinada con la narrativa de Han Kang en este libro, definitivamente mi favorito de la autora.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Surreal dreamscape blending the horrors of history, the beauty and power of nature, and the force of of friend and family love. The duty of the living is to remember and understand the past, and to understand how generational traumas shape both person and place
Han Kang’s writing is absolutely exquisite. The whole book reads like a poem in prose. I learned a lot about the Jeju Island massacre and the world events surrounding it both from this book and from Googling terms and events I didn’t know while reading - and during AAPI Heritage Month!
This is a beautiful story of deep love in the face of rampant violence and generational trauma. I did find some of the perspective switching to be confusing, sometimes due to the total lack of use of quotation marks. This may be due to translation from Korean to English, so I tried my best to keep things straight. Overall, this was a beautiful read that felt like a dark yet exquisite dreamscape rooted deep in the history of Jeju Island and its people. No wonder it won the Nobel Prize in Literature!
This is a beautiful story of deep love in the face of rampant violence and generational trauma. I did find some of the perspective switching to be confusing, sometimes due to the total lack of use of quotation marks. This may be due to translation from Korean to English, so I tried my best to keep things straight. Overall, this was a beautiful read that felt like a dark yet exquisite dreamscape rooted deep in the history of Jeju Island and its people. No wonder it won the Nobel Prize in Literature!
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
given that i had to race against my library’s due date to finish this, i didn’t give it the attention it clearly deserved. that being said, kang’s prose is the definition of hauntingly beautiful. she dedicates so many words to her descriptions of the mundane and i’m just in awe of how she as a writer managed to make us notice every little thing. i struggled to understand the plot itself once part two rolled in. there’s definitely something spooky to this. maybe i’ll reread it once i brush up on the historical context + its connection to the earlier plot line
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Grief, War
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I have no idea how to rate this book. It was unsettling and compelling and fascinating. It answered so few of the questions I had. It was beautiful and sad. I wasn’t sure what was happening a lot of time and yet I was very invested. I will probably think about it for a long, long time. But I could not say I enjoyed it. I might need to let it sit before I really know what I think. And that says a lot all on its own— how many books feel so beyond definition or containment?