cyberhavok's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Mass/school shootings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Gun violence
Minor: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Infertility, and Suicide
raacchhh's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Alcohol, Child death, Sexual violence, Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Grief, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Confinement, Death, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
wovenquiry's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, Child death, Torture, Blood, Sexual violence, and Gun violence
danielles_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
After you died I could not hold a funeral,
And so my life became a funeral.
Damn, this book!
I didn't necessarily enjoy reading this, but I'm seriously impressed. This is the type of book that is so depressing and brutal that it was difficult for me to make myself pick it up and continue. I'm not a huge mood reader normally, but I felt like I had to read a more lighthearted book at the same time to get through this! However, while I was reading, I was completely absorbed.
Han Kang took a historical event where the government brutalized its own people, and showed us its lasting impacts on both the murdered and the survivors. This book is so important to read just for that alone. But Kang (along with the translator, Deborah Smith) also created a hauntingly beautiful story that's hard to look away from.
My favorite chapters were "The Boy's Friend" and "The Boy's Mother".
Spoiler
Seeing Jeong-dae narrate the experience of his body after death, and how he so badly wanted to connect with the other souls nearby him while the soldiers still alive threw around their bodies like trash, was so heartbreaking. I suppose this would be considered magical realism, and I think it was utilized to a truly strong effect! And I could really feel for Dong-ho's mother in her chapter, and her eternal guilt and hopelessness. Her holding the banner and screaming on top of the hospital made me cry. Chun Doo-hwan, you murdered my son. Let's tear that bloodthirsty butcher to pieces.I'm finding it difficult to express the strengths of this book, so I'll end with the fact that I'm really glad I read this. I just need to detox with happier books now.
DOWN WITH THE BUTCHER CHUN DOO-HWAN.
Those words feel seared onto her chest as she gazes up now at the photograph of the president hung on the plaster wall. How is it, she wonders, that a face can so effectively conceal what lies behind it? How is it not indelibly marked by such callousness, brutality, murderousness?
It was also strange to see the Taegukgi, the national flag, being spread over each coffin and tied tightly in place. 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.
Graphic: Death, Murder, Police brutality, Torture, and Violence
rockin_robyn's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Police brutality, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Torture
lindcherry's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Violence, Torture, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Alcoholism
mcfay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Torture, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Death, Confinement, Alcoholism, and Blood
samarakroeger's review
4.0
it's haunting and terrifying, mostly because it's real. a book you won't be likely to forget anytime soon.
Graphic: Confinement, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Child death, Mass/school shootings, Police brutality, and Death
jiao_li's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Torture, Death, and War
sakisreads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Wow. What a challenging set of stories 🥲 It is incredibly gory and harsh and so I found it quite challenging to get through.
I didn’t have a clue about the historical events so it was eye-opening to read fictionalised accounts on it.
When I first read Han Kang’s The Vegetarian, I wasn’t sure how to process it as it was so heavy. This one was definitely the same but I managed it in the end. Trigger warnings are included below 🥺
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Bullying, Self harm, Blood, and Police brutality