Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - Actos humanos

Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Actos humanos by Han Kang, Álvaro Colomer, Mar Abad

31 reviews

erd's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This is incredibly tragic, especially since it is based on a lot of true events from the Gwanju Uprising. The mix of narration (different people, different point of view format) was really engaging and steered the story in a very unique way. A very important read, but proceed with caution.

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rieviolet's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I can only say that this book wrecked me, it was a superb and heartbreaking punch to the stomach.

I really loved the writing style, I think it struck a very good balance between direct/matter-of-fact and poetic. A lot of scenes deeply moved me and I can still picture them so vividly in my mind because the author crafted them with such powerful and evocative words.

One of the things that I appreciated the most was the choice to include different point of views. It was so very interesting to follow the story through different eyes and I think that the author did a really good job at inhabiting the characters.
Each chapter includes and expands on a character that we have already briefly met before in the story; I think it is a very artful narrative choice and it will certainly make for a meaningful re-read, once one is already aware of all the interconnections. I also really loved the final chapter from the author's POV.

As you can see from the long list of trigger warnings, the author does not shy away from the more graphic details of those horrific events. Not once while reading, I thought that it is was overdone just for the sake of it, it is simply an honest depiction of brutal happenings, but please keep that in mind and look after yourself.

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thuyr98's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

What struck and stayed with me the most was the fact that these civilians were asking for their human rights, to work and live in better and more humane conditions. They came forward asking for a shred of humanity, thinking that the soldiers wouldn’t kill unarmed kids, that they wouldn’t be so cruel. But the soldiers were rewarded for their violent acts. So one side was asking for and relying on their belief of humanity, while the other was just focusing on preserving power.

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petudc's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

It happened in Gwangju just as it did on Jeju Island, in Kwantung and Nanjing, in Bosnia, and all across the American continent(...)

Estoy llorando. Llorando de bronca, la tristeza es secundaria. Es que, cuando me enojo, lloro.
"Human Acts" es un libro que te recuerda que por mucha distancia cultural y geográfica que haya entre países como Argentina y Corea del Sur, las atrocidades que los seres humanos pueden cometer son algo que tenemos en común. En especial cuando se trata de milicos y Dictaduras.
Este libro nos narra el levantamiento de Gwangju de una forma no lineal y enfocada en un pibe de 14/15 años.
A lo largo del libro, la narración pasa por 1era, 2da y 3era persona, lo cual es bastante peculiar, pero no confuso. El libro se entiende perfecto, es de comprensión bastante amigable, muy claro y directo. Gráfico. Y eso lo hace una lectura terrible, que no te endulza nada, te dice las cosas como fueron y como son.
Y lo recomiendo. Pero no para cualquiera en cualquier momento. Porque es duro, muy duro de leer. Como ya dije, me tuvo llorando de la bronca durante el 95% del libro. De todos modos, lo vale.

I felt the blood of a hundred thousand hearts surging together into one enormous artery, fresh and clean…the sublime enormity of a single heart, pulsing blood through that vessel and into my own. I dared to feel a part of it.

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cindimoon's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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boomwormbrittany's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Trigger Warnings: Death, Death of a child, sexual assault, physical violence
I want to say that I will be basing this book purely off how it made me feel and how the story was told. I am not a Korean historian and thus cannot speak on the historical context of this story though I am sure that Han Kang did a fantastic job.
Human Acts takes place in Gwangju, South Korea in the 1980's during a student uprising. This story follows many people after a young boy is killed in the uprising and the impact it has upon them.
Have you ever had a book emotionally devastate you and you fall completely in love with it? That is me with this book. I have been studying Korean for about four years now and wanted to expand my knowledge of Korean history. I had heard fantastic things about this book and knew I had to pick it up. I will admit that I was a little scared going into this as it is such a heavy topic we are following.
I don't know what to say beyond throwing this book at people and screaming read it. This book was so amazing in such a short page count. Han Kang's writing was astoundingly beautiful. I love how she told this story and the way she used narrative. She would switch narrative positions with each person we followed so you would have first person, second person, third person, etc. Each chapter was structured differently according to the character which made them so distinct.
She managed to capture not only a time of people's lives but also the after effect of what happened. She was able to show that the scars the characters carried didn't end when the violence ended, it continued on for the rest of their lives which I really appreciated. I was absolutely blown away by this book and how Han Kang seemed to perfectly know her characters and the story she was telling. This had a lot of philosophical questions about death and life and how we treat our dead. It was so interesting to read.
Han Kang did a fantastic job of showing the emotions people felt during this uprising. There was fear and anger and so many different emotions piled on top of each other. There was layers to this tragedy and I think she did an amazing job showing how it affected the characters and the greater community that went through this horrific event.
Honestly, I could gush about this book forever but I don't want to spoil it. Just know that this book is a fantastic look into how tragedy and trauma lives on inside of us even when its over. This was such an interesting read and I will be educating myself more on the uprising that happened. Definitely read this book.

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k8digsthings's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I think I read it pretty fast-paced (within half a day), but even then I had to take a lot of breaks in between reading because the material was really gut-wrenching and devastating. I had a semblance of an idea what it was about, but did not know the extent of the pain. It reminds me of similar dictatorship ruling that occurred in my own country in roughly the same time period, and how we've got similar stories like this as well that are no less painful. I really recommend reading this not only to reflect on the meaning of humanity, but also to reinforce the importance of prohibiting historical distortion. There's a specific line mentioned in the epilogue about this, actually, but to avoid spoilers I won't mention it here. Just, wow. What a read. What a way to start my reading challenge for the year as well.

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