Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Bản Chất Của Người by Han Kang

104 reviews

misuki's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Torture, Blood, and War

Moderate: Sexual violence

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

kaleidosaur's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

1.25

This was tough to get through. I don't know if I just lacked the historical context to fully understand this novel, but I found myself constantly zoning out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Murder, and War

alicekorchard's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Suicide

anh_read's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Anhand verschiedener Charaktere und Perspektiven beschreibt dieser Roman eindrucksvoll die Geschehnisse um Gwangju-Massaker in 1980 und ihre Auswirkungen auf Überlebende und die Angehörigen der Opfer. Da ich zuvor noch nie davon gehört habe, war ich schockiert, mit welcher Brutalität man versucht hat, Demonstrationen zu unterdrücken. 

Es ist definitiv kein einfaches Buch. Man sollte sich definitiv die Triggerwarnungen unbedingt vorher durchlesen. Ansonsten lässt sich das Buch gut und schnell lesen. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infertility

Minor: Suicide

lisvxdro's review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

I was given this book by a coworker and a companion during my time in South Korea. On the surface level, I was a bit conflicted as I didn’t have enough information on the Gwangju Uprisings. But that’s the beauty of this book. Han Kang uses real-life stories and create a sort of nonfiction-esque novel where we learn about the issues of that time through the eyes of multiple characters. Each character, having some connection to the boy Dong-ho, adds to this sense of shared experience unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The closest thing to this is like Babel. 

Han’s writing style for this book does well to give you impactful introspection in a way that’s not familiar in the west. By spending the entire 1/3-1/2 of the chosen chapter setting up that chapter’s character worldview, the rest is the truth revealed in the most honest way possible. This book stings, it’s raw and often picturesque to the point that it might make you queasy. But the book is worth the read.

Favorite chapters: 
-The Boy’s Friend read like a very dark and doomed Miyazaki story. I felt hopeless after.
-The Prisoner was definitely a hard one to get through, especially the reveal at the end with the young boys. Such innocence lost.
-The Boy’s Mother: I felt empty and deeply emotional. This chapter reminded me of my own fears.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, War, and Injury/Injury detail

nuii's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

4.0

I went in blind, which was my mistake because this isn't sth you just casually read...
It's a very difficult book (lots of graphic descriptions. PLEASE check TW), so brutal, so disgusting and raw...the crime that was commited, the pain and traumas it caused, the lives it had ruined... 
Han Kang writes with such haunting intensity yet, at times, there's also sth tender and delicate about it...
The 4☆ is due to the fact that I'm not a fan of this particular structure, where 1 main plot being divided into short stories among a cast. I always find it's disruptive to the flow and the connection toward each characters doesnt go deep enough -BUT- i do get why it was used here and it's a reasonable choice to have a variety of accounts for this (historical) topic. 
Overall, I cant bring myself to say I enjoy the book, it feels wrong saying that. But I'm glad I read it eventhough it breaks my heart thoroughly... still much to think about. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide

ayaminerva's review against another edition

dark informative reflective 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

5.0

After you died, I couldn't hold a funeral.
So these eyes that once beheld you became a shrine.
These ears that once heard your voice became a shrine.
These lungs that once inhaled your breath became a shrine.
The flowers that bloom in spring, the willows, the raindrops and snowflakes became shrines.
The mornings ushering in each day, the evenings that daily darken, became shrines.
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Han Kang weaves their history through the lens of the aftermath. She gives weight to stories behind the frontline and highlights the convoluted relationship of loss and memory, particularly those of survivors, especially those of survivors.

Standout pieces for me were The Editor, The Boy's Friend, and The Factory Girl.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Violence, and Blood

bubbles23b's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense slow-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: Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and War

makennadykstra's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail