Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Ihmisen teot by Han Kang

205 reviews

frooblie's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Sometimes I read books in translation and feel like I’m watching a movie through a foggy window. This isn’t a reflection of the translation, but how much is lost when a story leaves its cultural and historical context. Han Kang isn’t writing for me, overseas, born the year after. There are pieces of the story her audience doesn’t need filled in that I floundered with. But the emotional rawness, the wounds, the loss…that hit me in the heart. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Torture, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and War

Moderate: Suicide

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

dreamingpages's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

This book is heartbreaking. Check the trigger warnings before reading.

I knew nothing about the Gwangju Uprising or the labor movement in South Korea before reading this book. It was really eye opening to see the hardships South Korea has faced in recent history. 

Each chapter of this book takes place from a different character's perspective, each loosely tied to a central character: a boy who was killed during the Uprising. The chapters expand out in time, from 1980 to 2013. Choosing to write the book in this way encapsulates how these events ripple through time and S. Korean society; trauma like this doesn't just go away.

Han Kang examines the sheer staggering human capacity for cruelty and questions the existence of the soul. I cried several times and felt this book in my core.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Police brutality, Grief, and Murder

petals4pages's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Police brutality, and Mass/school shootings

Minor: Self harm

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

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

georgw's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

2.0

It's a well-written novel but it's not my genre. I also think it's a bit weird to mix historical tales of horror and torture with ghost stories and spiritualism. I want to learn more about this event but with the mix of fact and fiction I'd do better just reading Wikipedia.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual violence

Minor: Rape and Suicide

sara277's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

To me this book is the definition of “raw”. It’s honest and brutal with descriptions of violence and rotten corpses. It’s also beautiful at times, and very very sad. 
Human Acts is a window to a very dark chapter of Korean history, and learning about it through these characters and the author’s own connections to the massacre is horrible but so important.
I loved that all the stories were connected, not just through the event but through the characters knowing each other. I need to read it again to appreciate those connections better.
Also, wonderful writing, can’t wait to read the Vegetarian.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Police brutality

ana_reads's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

4.75

this book was both beautiful and deeply upsetting. Han Kang is an incredible writer and Deborah Smith's translation is fantastic. The story structure was really cool. While it was a little strange to get used to at first, the second-person perspective turned out to be one of my favourite things about this story. The way the pov shifts between each chapter from 2nd person to 1st to 3rd was really clever. The flow of time was also really well done, going between past and present somewhat interchangeably. Some of them survive the initial event, but through the flow of their current experience interweaved with their past experience, it highlighted how much they didn't really get to move on in a way that feels very realistic to how trauma and ptsd can affect people. 

This is a really powerful story, with a well written framework and writing style and interesting characters. A truly incredible read! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, and Police brutality

Moderate: Sexual violence

Minor: Suicide