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warloujoyce's review
4.5
I didn’t know anything about Gwangju before encountering Han Kang’s works. Well, as a BTS fan, I knew that it’s J-hope’s hometown. Then I read about the city’s history.
May 1980: The Gwangju Uprising was a protest against the installment of a military dictator who implemented martial law. A military crackdown led to a massacre of student protesters. Han Kang, the author, used to live in Gwangju and discovered the tragic events as a young girl.
TW: mass death, violence, torture, suicide, sexual abuse
Human Acts starts with a scene showing bodies waiting to be identified by their families. In this story, we follow a boy named Dong-ho, the events leading up to his death, and how it impacts other characters’ lives. Each chapter is dedicated to a different POV—a different lens to view the atrocities that occurred and their lingering nightmare. The last chapter is from the author’s POV.
…that room—had the boy used to spread out his homework on its cold paper floor, then lie stomach-down just as I had? The middle-school kid I’d heard the grown-ups whispering about. How had the seasons kept on turning for me, when time had stopped forever for him that May?
I expected this story to be harrowing, that’s why I postponed reading it. I can see why the content would be desensitizing but as a slow and emotional reader, I absorbed every page and it made me so sad.
Oddly enough, it wasn’t the graphic scenes that wrenched me, though these were unsettling and infuriating.
It was the quiet moments that made me cry: student volunteers tending to the mutilated bodies; kids barely out of school organizing funeral ceremonies; a friend complaining about the functional fountain (because how can the world go back to normal after a horror happened in this site?); a boy looking out for the safety of other kids; a survivor saying he’s worn out; a mother remembering that she buried her youngest with her own two hands; and a writer honoring her people the way she knows how.
I didn’t particularly connect with the characters, but I easily imagined the people that they represented—a friend, a sibling, a peer, or a parent.
Human Acts asks the question, is cruelty our base impulse? It’s saddening to be reminded that it is. This book holds a mirror to our face and makes us look at the evil that we’re capable of, and the pain we can and do inflict on each other. :((
Ok stopping here because this is getting bleaker. Human Acts is powerful but heavy stuff, so I’d recommend it but only in times of enough emotional bandwidth.
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Death, Child death, Torture, Sexual violence, and Suicide
ayaminerva's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
So these eyes that once beheld you became a shrine.
These ears that once heard your voice became a shrine.
These lungs that once inhaled your breath became a shrine.
The flowers that bloom in spring, the willows, the raindrops and snowflakes became shrines.
The mornings ushering in each day, the evenings that daily darken, became shrines.
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Han Kang weaves their history through the lens of the aftermath. She gives weight to stories behind the frontline and highlights the convoluted relationship of loss and memory, particularly those of survivors, especially those of survivors.
Standout pieces for me were The Editor, The Boy's Friend, and The Factory Girl.
Moderate: Violence, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Rape, Self harm, and Blood
moonshine__'s review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Death, Grief, Gun violence, and Mass/school shootings
Moderate: Torture and Suicide
bubbles23b's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: War, Murder, Blood, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Genocide, Physical abuse, Violence, Gun violence, Torture, and Death
makennadykstra's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Torture, Hate crime, Medical content, Body horror, Death of parent, Genocide, Murder, Police brutality, Violence, and War
panicpoet's review
4.5
Graphic: Rape, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Sexual violence, Death, Alcoholism, Violence, Torture, Police brutality, and Gun violence
Moderate: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts
ledablanca's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Beautiful prose but harrowing. This took me two months to finish. I intentionally spaced out my reading of this book because it dealt with a deeply upsetting subject matter on political violence and its aftereffects. Please check trigger warnings before reading this book.
Graphic: Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Police brutality, and Violence
areen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
5.0
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Police brutality, Rape, and Sexual assault
chelstell's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, Child death, Grief, Infertility, Death, Torture, Police brutality, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Violence
insoolee's review
- 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? N/A
5.0
Minor: Torture, Police brutality, Death, Murder, Violence, and Suicide