Reviews tagging 'Death'

Greek Lessons by Han Kang

4 reviews

anh_read's review against another edition

emotional reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

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

3.75

Die Audiobook-Version war schön vorgelesen. Dennoch wünsche ich mir, ich hätte es doch gelesen statt anzuhören. Viele Stellen waren sehr poetisch, aber was den Plot anging, passierte recht wenig. Ich musste immer wieder zurückspulen, weil ich schnell die Aufmerksamkeit verlor.

Die Idee des Buches, wie eine stumme Frau und ein blinder Mann miteinander agieren und kommunizieren, fand ich faszinierend, dazu die Schilderungen, wie die Protagonisten ihre Einschränkungen wahrnehmen und wie sie damit umgehen, sehr greifbar dank der bildhaften Beschreibungen. Leider kommt erst zum Ende die erste richtige Interaktion zwischen beiden Protagonisten. Deshalb bin ich da etwas enttäuscht, da ich mehr davon erwartet habe. Nichtsdestotrotz kann ich das Buch weiter empfehlen.

Content Warnings

vik88's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

rieviolet's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

I struggled to engage with the story and the characters, I think mostly because their past experiences and life circumstances are narrated in a very disjointed way, and it wasn't easy to match the pieces and get a complete picture. It was an overly ambiguous and blurred type of storytelling that didn't work very well, for me at least.

However, I can still appreciate the beautiful writing style. There were many moments when I re-read sentences and reflections just to savour how expertly and poetically they were constructed.

In the end, I think I was more disappointed because I've previously read and absolutely loved other books by Han Kang (namely Human Acts and The White Book) and I started this one with a lot of expectations.

Content Warnings

savvylit's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

Greek Lessons contains many absolutely beautiful passages about language and expression. Like in her other work, Han Kang has excelled at creating characters whose sorrow is palpable and heart-wrenching.

Despite the beauty of the writing and the characters, though, I found it difficult to stay connected with this story. The dual perspective was sometimes confusing. Several times, I had to stop my reading and flip backwards to confirm which character was the focus of a particular section. Furthermore, the connection between the two characters was ultimately minimal. Other than in classes (where they don't communicate), it's not until the very end of Greek Lessons that they have an opportunity to connect in a way that transcends spoken language.

Ultimately, I was disappointed by this novel because I wanted much more from it. Every other Han Kang book that I have read has become an all-time favorite. Perhaps my expectations for Greek Lessons were just too high?

Thank you @netgalley and @hogarthbooks for the advanced reader copy of Greek Lessons in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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