1.98k reviews for:

不做告别

Han Kang

4.1 AVERAGE

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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: No

A haunting story with beautiful prose to explore the long felt traumas of war and state violence. Incredibly moving, and difficult to read. Especiall given that those things are being shown on my social media and still happening to people right now.  I wonder how it reads in it's original Korean. Hang deserves all the praise she gets. I will be thinking about this for a long time.
challenging dark slow-paced
challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
challenging dark informative reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
dark reflective sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I wish I had much to say other than I am left speechless and devastated. We do not part, not any part of us.
dark informative mysterious sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This was the first time I'd learned about the Jeju massacre, and what may not be obvious from the book summary is that We Do Not Part is an exploration of the trauma wrought from the massacre and the brutalities of post-WWII Korean history. The first act genuinely feels as if it's about a woman (Kyungha) trudging through a snowstorm to feed an injured friend's (Inseon) bird, but the second act feels like a historical reportage or autofiction, as Kyungha delves through Inseon's house and finds evidence of a life's worth of investigation into the massacre. It's a tonal shift, one that's different from the magical realism that the first act seems to set us up for. The memories conjured up in the second act are unsparing in their brutality and reality. As a result, it hits hard.

With We Do Not Part, I had a similar experience with The Vegetarian where I was like, "Wait, what just happened?!" and I felt like I had lost control of my own interpretation of what was going on. In both instances, it wasn't a bad thing per se; having experienced it again, I'm guessing that Han Kang deliberately allows for a loose, hazy interpretation of the events that transpired in the book. It makes sense, as this story in particular calls for reflection and questioning.

I'm still unsure if framing the entire story with Kyungha and Inseon's friendship was entirely effective, especially since their relationship wasn't the eventual focal point of the book and it could have been expanded upon more. In spite of that, I found this to be an effective, haunting portrayal of trauma and a needed confrontation of brutality and violence.