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A review by littoral
Greek Lessons by Han Kang
Did not finish book.
GREEK LESSONS is an exploration of language and communication, told through the perspectives of a young woman who has lost her ability to speak and her teacher who is losing his ability to see. I picked this volume up because I had loved Kang's previous book, THE VEGETARIAN, in which she deftly conveyed the alienation and anguish that comes when people fail to understand one another. GREEK LESSONS was an opportunity to convey the opposite - the connection and intimacy that can form despite apparent barriers in communication.
Unfortunately, I found it difficult to get through this slim volume. Between sections, Kang shifts perspective between the two protagonists, but I sometimes found it difficult to follow the shifts. The language is poetic and frequently abstract, perhaps to convey a sense of universality - but this contributed to a difficulty in becoming invested in each character and their relationship. I think I would have enjoyed this better had I approached it with the understanding that it was poetic prose rather than long-form fiction.
Unfortunately, I found it difficult to get through this slim volume. Between sections, Kang shifts perspective between the two protagonists, but I sometimes found it difficult to follow the shifts. The language is poetic and frequently abstract, perhaps to convey a sense of universality - but this contributed to a difficulty in becoming invested in each character and their relationship. I think I would have enjoyed this better had I approached it with the understanding that it was poetic prose rather than long-form fiction.