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tamtam01's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, Torture, Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Murder, Gun violence, Grief, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Body horror
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Genocide, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Rape, and Vomit
thisbookbelongstopam's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Told from six interconnected perspectives of different victims of the 1980 Gwangju uprising, Human Acts paints a harrowing picture of how the greed and desire of a brutal and greedy government can create so much suffering for many. And how that suffering can be deep and far-reaching.
Each chapter tells the story of a specific person and how the trauma and suffering manifested in their life.
Chapter 2 stood out to me because it was from the perspective of a boy who was killed in one of the clashes with the government forces and whose body was dumped in a mass grave that was later burned. It's visceral and graphic; it will make you mad and frustrated.
"Why would you sing the national anthem for people who’d been killed by soldiers? Why cover the coffin with the Taegukgi? As though it wasn’t the nation itself that had murdered them."
The stories in this book also hit a little bit close to home. In the Philippines, we also had a brutal dictator and to this day, people are still divided on whether or not his dictatorship benefited the country. Despite all the unjust deaths, despite all the acts of human abuse, despite all the hurt and suffering.
Han Kang wrote each chapter with care and even though I know that I can never truly understand the pain that each character went through, I got a tiny glimpse of their painful experiences. Definitely a very difficult to read but significant especially now.
Each chapter tells the story of a specific person and how the trauma and suffering manifested in their life.
"Why would you sing the national anthem for people who’d been killed by soldiers? Why cover the coffin with the Taegukgi? As though it wasn’t the nation itself that had murdered them."
The stories in this book also hit a little bit close to home. In the Philippines, we also had a brutal dictator and to this day, people are still divided on whether or not his dictatorship benefited the country. Despite all the unjust deaths, despite all the acts of human abuse, despite all the hurt and suffering.
Han Kang wrote each chapter with care and even though I know that I can never truly understand the pain that each character went through, I got a tiny glimpse of their painful experiences. Definitely a very difficult to read but significant especially now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Torture
carstairsqueen's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Police brutality, Violence, and Torture
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts
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