Name: Human Acts
Rating: 4.448795180722891 (83 reviews)
ISBN: 9781783781621

Han Kang

Gwangju, South Korea, 1980. In the wake of a viciously suppressed student uprising, a boy searches for his friend's corpse, a consciousness searches for its abandoned body, and a brutalised country searches for a voice. In a sequence of interconnected chapters the victims and the bereaved encounter censorship, denial, forgiveness and the echoing agony of the original trauma. Human Acts is a universal book, utterly modern and profoundly timeless. Already a controversial bestseller and award-winning book in Korea, it confirms Han Kang as a writer of immense importance.

Human Acts

Sonyeoni onda

A story examining different perspectives of people affected by the Gwangju Massacre in South Korea in 1980, tragic tragic tragic. I started this over a year ago so I can’t remember the stories in full, but heartbreaking nonetheless… from Korea, to Taiwan, and maybe everywhere in the world, how can humans be so inhumane? Does it always have to be this way?

Tiff W

Quiero que todos lean este libro y al mismo tiempo quiero que nadie sufra como yo al leerlo.

Jazmín Mejía

This was devastating. Jesus Christ. I wish I could articulate it better, but all I can say is: you should read it.

Milo

nina 

Mario Menti 

Tragic, upsetting, beautiful, and inspiring. I cried literal tears reading this. 

Brandon

"After you died I could not hold a funeral, 

by Han Kang is based on real life historical events during the suppressed students uprisings and Gwangju massacre in South Korea in 1980 with seven different perspectives, each incredibly painful and gutwrenching in their own way.

In the beginning, the novel was fragmentary and distant and I had a hard time keeping up with it until it became a chronicle of human emotions, of how humans act. Everything about this book is so poetic and real, a just review would not be possible, at least not by me.

"Why would you sing the national anthem for people who’d been killed by soldiers? Why cover the coffin with the Taegukgi? As though it wasn’t the nation itself that had murdered them."

This book is going to haunt me till the end times.

The only problem with this book (maybe it's a problem with 

instead and not the book) but the writing felt distant and impersonal. And it is possible that it might be because I've been reading the translated english version and not the original text, but this thing was a little bit off putting for me. Overall, it was a worthy read and I want to delve deeper into Kang's other works. 

sani

"After you died I could not hold a funeral, 
And so my life became a funeral."

Human Acts by Han Kang is based on real life historical events during the suppressed students uprisings and Gwangju massacre in South Korea in 1980 with seven different perspectives, each incredibly painful and gutwrenching in their own way.

In the beginning, the novel was fragmentary and distant and I had a hard time keeping up with it until it became a chronicle of human emotions, of how humans act. Everything about this book is so poetic and real, a just review would not be possible, at least not by me.

"Why would you sing the national anthem for people who’d been killed by soldiers? Why cover the coffin with the Taegukgi? As though it wasn’t the nation itself that had murdered them."

This book is going to haunt me till the end times.

The only problem with this book (maybe it's a problem with me instead and not the book) but the writing felt distant and impersonal. And it is possible that it might be because I've been reading the translated english version and not the original text, but this thing was a little bit off putting for me. Overall, it was a worthy read and I want to delve deeper into Kang's other works. 

"Now do you understand? The kids in this photo aren't lying side by side because their corpses were lined up like that after they were killed. It's because they were walking in a line. 

They were walking in a straight line, with both arms in the air, just like we'd told them to."

so much can be said, but should be left to the reader to experience. sometimes words tend to spill out in utter silence.

diya

"Now do you understand? The kids in this photo aren't lying side by side because their corpses were lined up like that after they were killed. It's because they were walking in a line. 

They were walking in a straight line, with both arms in the air, just like we'd told them to."

so much can be said, but should be left to the reader to experience. sometimes words tend to spill out in utter silence.



Kang Han

Follows the aftermath of a young boy's shocking death during a violent student uprising as told from the perspectives of the event's victims and their loved ones.

A Novel

"After you died I couldn't hold a funeral, so my life became a funeral. After you were wrapped in a tarpaulin and carted away in a garbage truck. After sparkling jets of water sprayed unforgivably from the fountain. Everywhere the lights of the temple shrines are burning. In the flowers that bloom in spring, in the snowflakes. In the evenings that draw each day to a close. Sparks from the candles, burning in empty drink bottles."

If I had loved this book less, I might be able to talk about it more. Human Acts tells the story of South Korea's Gwangju Student Uprising of 1980 that led to the deaths of over two thousand people. Written in succint, seemingly innocent proses, Han Kang writes so simply yet so beautifully, we get swept away in a torrent of emotions. 

Each chapter follows a different character and their lives before, during and after the uprising. We get full view of their experiences: their pain, the torture and suffering they went through, the sleepless night that follows, the grief they breathe with every breath, their guilt, their lives—forever changed by the events that transpired. 

This book left me feeling so empty and hollow. I simply could not fathom the acts done by these so called 'humans'. To call them violence is not enough, the mere attempt to express them with words is a travesty.

Trisa P

"After you died I couldn't hold a funeral, so my life became a funeral. After you were wrapped in a tarpaulin and carted away in a garbage truck. After sparkling jets of water sprayed unforgivably from the fountain. Everywhere the lights of the temple shrines are burning. In the flowers that bloom in spring, in the snowflakes. In the evenings that draw each day to a close. Sparks from the candles, burning in empty drink bottles." 

If I had loved this book less, I might be able to talk about it more. Human Acts tells the story of South Korea's Gwangju Student Uprising of 1980 that led to the deaths of over two thousand people. Written in succint, seemingly innocent proses, Han Kang writes so simply yet so beautifully, we get swept away in a torrent of emotions. 

Each chapter follows a different character and their lives before, during and after the uprising. We get full view of their experiences: their pain, the torture and suffering they went through, the sleepless night that follows, the grief they breathe with every breath, their guilt, their lives—forever changed by the events that transpired. 


This book left me feeling so empty and hollow. I simply could not fathom the acts done by these so called 'humans'. To call them violence is not enough, the mere attempt to express them with words is a travesty.

mori

one of the best i've ever read, i think everyone should read it

kemi

Gwangju, South Korea, 1980. In the wake of a viciously suppressed student uprising, a boy searches for his friend's corpse, a consciousness searches for its abandoned body, and a brutalised country searches for a voice. In a sequence of interconnected chapters the victims and the bereaved encounter censorship, denial, forgiveness and the echoing agony of the original trauma.

this was a profound and absolutely engulfing read, my compliments to han kang for her work (as well as to the translator for hers). han kang has done a fantastic job of depicting the events from 1980 and their echo through the following decades by creating a detailed and complex psychological portrait of the gwangju uprising.

in order to truly impress that impact of the uprising on the reader, han kang has chosen to depict multiple points of view of multiple different characters (each with varying connections to the event itself). such a feat could have been disastrous in the hands of a less capable author - however, here, it is impactful and effective in relaying both the events and the scars they have left in the social psyche.

a particularly admirable quality of the book is that it never aims to depict the uprising or the participants as infallible heroes, as that would be to simplify the complex history of gwangju and south korea and further distance the reader from it. instead it substitutes the pathos usually characteristic for such works with honesty and truthfulness. it does not seek to tug on any heart strings or revel in the gruesomeness of the violent suppression of the uprising (like some other authors are tempted to do) - it is simply stating the facts of history, and that history is horrifying. but this approach is infinitely more important and respectful of all those who have been scarred by this tragedy.

Naomi P

Images of martial law are the same for every country that has experienced it. It was painful to read the acts of violence done to the citizens as they try to stay alive while still fighting for freedom.

Ghita B

It was rich in emotions and often hard to read. I had to take a few breaks during my read. If the translated work hits this hard, I can only imagine the weight of the emotions conveyed by the author in its original language.

Human Acts

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