Reviews with content warning for Violence - Human Acts

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Human Acts by Han Kang

191 reviews

jayisreading's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

I gave Deborah Smith some flak for her translation of The Vegetarian, and I admit that I entered Human Acts with some wariness (I mean, it didn’t help that the title alone is already a departure from the original title, which translates to The Boy Is Coming). However, unlike The Vegetarian, I found myself drawn into the quiet prose and translation of Human Acts. Perhaps it’s a result of how Kang decided to write the novel that it influenced Smith’s translation, but the writing felt more deliberate in getting the reader to slow down and think about the grief of each narrator across these chapters. As opposed to focusing on the Gwangju Uprising itself, Kang draws attention to the lasting grief and trauma of each narrator. In some ways, I have to admit that I think I actually prefer the title Smith decided to run with: Human Acts. Because, at its core, the novel reflects on the nature of humans and their actions, both violent and vulnerable.

I think some readers may find the different writing styles for each chapter a little off-putting (especially when it enters the second-person perspective), but I found it very effective in establishing the distinct voices of each narrator and how they were processing the shared connection they had across time. It was especially poignant to me that the novel ended with Kang herself as the narrator, who is from Gwangju.

This is definitely a novel I’d like to revisit in the future, perhaps in the original Korean, because I’m sure I will have missed some details. Overall, though, I found that this novel was utterly evocative and, at the time of reading this, timely, considering the ongoing protests and state violence that some protesters have faced.

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emerentina's review against another edition

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challenging dark hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense

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

4.25

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thirdtimesacharm's review against another edition

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dark informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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georgw's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad medium-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? Yes

2.0

It's a well-written novel but it's not my genre. I also think it's a bit weird to mix historical tales of horror and torture with ghost stories and spiritualism. I want to learn more about this event but with the mix of fact and fiction I'd do better just reading Wikipedia.

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ana_reads's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.75

this book was both beautiful and deeply upsetting. Han Kang is an incredible writer and Deborah Smith's translation is fantastic. The story structure was really cool. While it was a little strange to get used to at first, the second-person perspective turned out to be one of my favourite things about this story. The way the pov shifts between each chapter from 2nd person to 1st to 3rd was really clever. The flow of time was also really well done, going between past and present somewhat interchangeably. Some of them survive the initial event, but through the flow of their current experience interweaved with their past experience, it highlighted how much they didn't really get to move on in a way that feels very realistic to how trauma and ptsd can affect people.

This is a really powerful story, with a well written framework and writing style and interesting characters. A truly incredible read!

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krystalgaia's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

So heavy.. reminded me of the martial law period in my own country. This book is a very good exploration of the effects of dictatorship in a state, as well as the multiple perspectives of those who lost their loved ones in the fight for justice.

Sufficiently gory, did not overdo the depiction of trauma.

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