Human Acts

by HAN Kang, Han Kang

Hardcover, 218 pages

English language

Published Jan. 17, 2017 by Hogarth Press.

ISBN:: 978-1-101-90672-9

(14 reviews)

From the internationally bestselling author of “The Vegetarian,” a rare and astonishing (The Observer) portrait of political unrest and the universal struggle for justice.

In the midst of a violent student uprising in South Korea, a young boy named Dong-ho is shockingly killed.

The story of this tragic episode unfolds in a sequence of interconnected chapters as the victims and the bereaved encounter suppression, denial, and the echoing agony of the massacre. From Dong-ho's best friend who meets his own fateful end; to an editor struggling against censorship; to a prisoner and a factory worker, each suffering from traumatic memories; and to Dong-ho's own grief-stricken mother; and through their collective heartbreak and acts of hope is the tale of a brutalized people in search of a voice.

An award-winning, controversial bestseller, Human Acts is a timeless, pointillist portrait of an historic event with reverberations still being felt today, by turns …

From the internationally bestselling author of “The Vegetarian,” a rare and astonishing (The Observer) portrait of political unrest and the universal struggle for justice.

In the midst of a violent student uprising in South Korea, a young boy named Dong-ho is shockingly killed.

An award-winning, controversial bestseller, Human Acts is a timeless, pointillist portrait of an historic event with reverberations still being felt today, by turns tracing the harsh reality of oppression and the resounding, extraordinary poetry of humanity.

5 editions

Aaron reviewed Human Acts by Han Kang

Human Acts

4 stars

Han narrates, from multiple viewpoints and time periods, a 1980 uprising that was brutally put down by South Korea's military government. At the beginning of the book I was struck by how ordinary people banded together to help each other -- in this case, working tirelessly in a makeshift morgue to help families identify their loved ones, all the while listening for the army's return. Han evocatively carries the story through time and shows the lasting effects of the government's brutality. And yet, the novel also demonstrates that people can be moved to come together and fight for each other, even in the face of brutal, senseless violence.

tinderness reviewed Menschenwerk by Han Kang

Remembering and pain

4 stars

A book about remembering violence and death using the example of the student uprising in Gwangju in 1980. Review in German see here: mostindien.org/2024/10/18/han-kang-menschenwerk-2019/

Jim Brown reviewed Human Acts by Han Kang

Generational Trauma of Gwangju Uprising

No rating

I didn't know anything about the Gwangju Uprising in South Korea, but this book lays out the brutality of it by tracing the narratives of victims as well as victims' friends and families.

Kang is the writer for this task, and while I didn't find this "compulsively readable" (the NYT Book Review described it that way), it is an impressive and devastating novel.