Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Ihmisen teot by Han Kang

94 reviews

kenyoncannotread's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

One of the hardest reads for me, emotionally, ever. Check the content warnings first, but this will be one of the best books you’ll ever read if you pick it up.

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Content Warnings

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

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

feleesi's review against another edition

dark emotional sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.5

The book takes place during the uprising in Gwangju, South Korea in the 1980s. Personally, I think that Han Kang perfectly describes the devastation that happens under oppression; the lack of dignity faced by citizens— as well as the shame, trauma, and grief that they carry. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual violence and Suicide

claireh6's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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

emilosophy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

this book was hard to pick up once i put it down. and i had to put it down often because of the graphic or horrifying content that was hard to take in. the writing style was interesting (different POVs, including “you”. though judging by the prose, you sometimes cant tell these are all different people talking, different people’s thoughts. the only one that felt clearly like a different voice was the mother’s pov, written in what i assume to be “dialect” translated over to english). the descriptions of violence, corpses, nightmares, sensations, etc, are extremely vivid and feel real. some chapters/POVs were more engaging than others.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail

moonshine__'s review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide and Torture

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

panicpoet's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide

ledablanca's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.75

"Is it true that human beings are fundamentally cruel? Is the experience of cruelty the only thing we share as a species? Is the dignity that we cling to nothing but self-delusion, masking from ourselves the single truth: that each one of us is capable of being reduced to an insect, a ravening beast, a lump of meat? To be degraded, slaughtered - is this the essential of humankind, one which history has confirmed as inevitable?"

Beautiful prose but harrowing. This took me two months to finish. I intentionally spaced out my reading of this book because it dealt with a deeply upsetting subject matter on political violence and its aftereffects. Please check trigger warnings before reading this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail

cyberhavok's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Mass/school shootings, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Alcoholism, Infertility, Suicide, and Death of parent