Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Human Acts by Han Kang

207 reviews

craggsya's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, and Suicide attempt

rosenbrook's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Emotional, gripping, and informative.
Human Acts is about the inhuman acts that we can perpetrate. This book describes graphic events, but never feels sadistic. What occurs is shocking, but not for shock value. The moments of darkness are nicely balanced with moments of humanity.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

desireewoodwhite's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Finally a good book !!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Police brutality, and Murder

gi_gi_g's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence

emstermeegs's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Haunting and starkly written, darkly poetic. Pacing was all I wish had been better done towards the end, but this will stick with me for some time to come. Not a light story at all, but an important one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

airr's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit

literautres's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

i understand now why the cover is bones..... ya Allah bener2 pemerintah zalim di mana2

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Murder

jayisreading's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

I gave Deborah Smith some flak for her translation of The Vegetarian, and I admit that I entered Human Acts with some wariness (I mean, it didn’t help that the title alone is already a departure from the original title, which translates to The Boy Is Coming). However, unlike The Vegetarian, I found myself drawn into the quiet prose and translation of Human Acts. Perhaps it’s a result of how Kang decided to write the novel that it influenced Smith’s translation, but the writing felt more deliberate in getting the reader to slow down and think about the grief of each narrator across these chapters. As opposed to focusing on the Gwangju Uprising itself, Kang draws attention to the lasting grief and trauma of each narrator. In some ways, I have to admit that I think I actually prefer the title Smith decided to run with: Human Acts. Because, at its core, the novel reflects on the nature of humans and their actions, both violent and vulnerable.

I think some readers may find the different writing styles for each chapter a little off-putting (especially when it enters the second-person perspective), but I found it very effective in establishing the distinct voices of each narrator and how they were processing the shared connection they had across time. It was especially poignant to me that the novel ended with Kang herself as the narrator, who is from Gwangju.

This is definitely a novel I’d like to revisit in the future, perhaps in the original Korean, because I’m sure I will have missed some details. Overall, though, I found that this novel was utterly evocative and, at the time of reading this, timely, considering the ongoing protests and state violence that some protesters have faced.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Self harm and Alcohol

emerentina's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

thirdtimesacharm's review against another edition

dark informative reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Medical content, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail