Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Human Acts

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Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Human Acts by Han Kang

78 reviews

yilliun's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Stunning

Content Warnings

almostred's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

A haunting, horrifying, yet beautiful patchwork of stories, putting together the events and reflections on the Gwangju uprising and massacres of 1980s in South Korea. Han Kang does not spare us, not even one bit.

Content Warnings

princessazulaa's review against another edition

5.0

challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This was a truly sobering book. I think that the intertwining of the lives of all the narrators with the first narrator, Dong-ho, was a very impactful way in which to stitch the story together. I think that the author and the translator did a fantastic job of capturing the horror of the Gwangju Massacre and the long term affects it had on a community. Some of the stories of the characters were especially haunting.

As someone who studied genocide and mass atrocities this book was very stark reminder of the cruelty of people. I think beyond its purpose of educating people about the Gwangju Massacre and modern Korean politics and history, it is extremely insightful into the psychology of perpetrators, victims, and bystanders. A lot of the content of the book surrounding the characters’ experience during the uprising and in its aftermath is very reflective of the stories of people who experienced similar violence. Furthermore, the discussions of grief and hope were very beautiful.

I know that books that talk about these kinds of violence and traumas, and that navigate grief can be very hard to read. But I personally love to be challenged to confront what grief and hope and fear means. I find it to be very human. This is one of those books that will always be in the back of my mind, making me reflect on the world around me as well as my own life.

Content Warnings

fionnthesadboy's review against another edition

4.75

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Heart-wrenching but delicate. Fictionalised fact without embellishment. Brutal and touching. Single words and phrases are all that come to mind to describe this book in the white bluff of frost it has left in my mind. I am thankful that Hang Kang is never without words in the way her writing leaves me. This is my fourth experience of this authors work and surpasses all others despite their individual quality. This is not just a novel to me but a document of something both deeply specific and, terrifyingly, universal.

Content Warnings

orangewitchling's review against another edition

5.0

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

I loved the book from the start because the writing style. It's noticeable that the author is a poet, because the way she conveys emotions through simple well chosen descriptions and metaphors is unmatched.
The book destroyed me emotionally, but i enjoyed (for lack of a better word) the whole experience and I learned such a painful real life story. Books like this are important because they are a display of human nature in the extreme and how history has a tendency to repeat itself throughout the world.
I plan to reread it at some point, because even though I'm emotionally raw, it is a book that I will need to revisit.

Content Warnings

koreanlinda's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I read this book in its original language, South Korean, and I appreciated that Chapter 6 was written in the dialect of Dongho's mother.

This book is filled with atrocity and therefore pain. The English title is Human Acts, but it can easily be exchanged for Cruel Acts. That is how much the pages are filled with cruelty committed by the army of soldiers, which correctly reflects the 5.18 Gwangju Uprising in 1980.

The story follows a middle school boy Dong-ho according to the memories of people around him. Then it follows them after he is gone. It shows how people suffer from these memories; for some people, in addition to their own trauma from torture.

I highly value this book because Han Kang wrote it succinctly and "beautifully." The story is quite absorbing, making it a page-turner. However, be prepared to be filled with sorrow after witnessing an ocean of pain people carry page after page.

Review by Linda (Any Pronouns) in January 2025
Personal essays on DefinitelyNotOkay.com
Artwork on Instagram @KoreanLinda

Content Warnings