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krystalgaia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Sufficiently gory, did not overdo the depiction of trauma.
Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicide
lauren_epub's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence
kenyoncannotread's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
emergencily's review against another edition
5.0
- a set of interconnected stories revolving around different characters as they live through the bloody gwangju student uprisings & subsequent massacres in 1980, and the aftermath of its grief and trauma throughtout the decades.
- extremely visceral & raw, with a focus on bodies -- examining the marks of both physical and intangible violence left on the body, what we do with the bodies of the dead (washing & dressing, family burials, dumping in mass graves), and how we remember those bodies. there's a chapter told from the perspective of a corpse as the soul watches its own body being dumped into a mass grave and beginning to decompose
- all about emotion, memory, grief and loss. the book really makes you feel the loss of these young protestors and the emptiness they leave behind in the lives of their loved ones and in the collective nation
“After you died I could not hold a funeral,
And so my life became a funeral.
Oh, return to me.
Oh, return to me when I call your name.
Do not delay any longer. Return to me now.
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.”
Graphic: Child death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, and Police brutality
wong_jyi'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
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Classism
minary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
romerojoel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Sexual assault, and Torture
claireh6's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug abuse
nuii's review against another edition
4.0
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.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Murder
Moderate: Suicide
emilosophy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail