Scan barcode
A review by mareikereads
Human Acts by Han Kang
4.0
3.5
I picked this book up during my exchange in South Korea. I wanted to challenge myself to read books from local author. As someone that enjoys learning about the history of the countries that she visits, I thought this would be a good choice.
I did not start out with that much factual background on the student uprising besides the little info that I got while visiting Gwangju for 1.5 days and seing the museum for the uprising from the outside (it was a monday *sigh*).
I loved the different perspectives that were given. Really emotional and poignant. For me, the most eye opening chapter was the last one, where the author explains her own personal feelings and emotions. It also tied all the other chapters together.
After scrolling through some reviews after finishing the book, I need to agree with two smaller criticisms:
The missing perspectives of the perpetrators or the ones that were forced to pull the trigger on those students.
The second person perspectives is not really my cup of tea. Even though it was masterfully done and at some point really surprised me how well it fit. At other times, it did confuse me and slowed down my reading experience.
All in all it is a great book! Sooo many profound quotes. Wished I would have had a pen with me to underline while reading it. Ohh well good reason to read excerpts again. It did take me some time to finish it because it is not the most easy literature there is. However it kind of made we want to get out of my reading slump....and also study up some more of the history behind the uprising.
I picked this book up during my exchange in South Korea. I wanted to challenge myself to read books from local author. As someone that enjoys learning about the history of the countries that she visits, I thought this would be a good choice.
I did not start out with that much factual background on the student uprising besides the little info that I got while visiting Gwangju for 1.5 days and seing the museum for the uprising from the outside (it was a monday *sigh*).
I loved the different perspectives that were given. Really emotional and poignant. For me, the most eye opening chapter was the last one, where the author explains her own personal feelings and emotions. It also tied all the other chapters together.
After scrolling through some reviews after finishing the book, I need to agree with two smaller criticisms:
The missing perspectives of the perpetrators or the ones that were forced to pull the trigger on those students.
The second person perspectives is not really my cup of tea. Even though it was masterfully done and at some point really surprised me how well it fit. At other times, it did confuse me and slowed down my reading experience.
All in all it is a great book! Sooo many profound quotes. Wished I would have had a pen with me to underline while reading it. Ohh well good reason to read excerpts again. It did take me some time to finish it because it is not the most easy literature there is. However it kind of made we want to get out of my reading slump....and also study up some more of the history behind the uprising.