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Human Acts
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Human Acts Paperback - 2017

by Han Kang; Deborah Smith (Translator)

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This seller has earned a 4.33 of 5 Stars rating from internet customers.
4.33 / 5 (106 total reviews)

Reader reviews for Human Acts

Review summary

This seller has earned a 4.33 of 5 Stars rating from internet customers.
4.33 / 5 (106 total reviews)

Readers largely found Han Kang’s portrayal of the 1980 Gwangju Uprising harrowing and finely crafted, with an assured translation and lyrical, often second-person prose. The shifting chorus of narrators—living, dead, and surviving—struck many as emotionally overwhelming and historically illuminating. Others struggled with the graphic brutality, bleak tone, and fragmented structure, with a few abandoning the book or wishing for a clearer plot and conclusion. Overall, it’s praised more for its ethical and emotional impact than for conventional narrative comfort.

Readers say this book is:
harrowinglyrical prosegraphicemotionally intensehistorically illuminatingfragmented structuremulti-perspectivebleakchallenging readassured translation

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From the publisher

FROM HAN KANG, WINNER OF THE 2024 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE

"[Han Kang's] intense poetic prose . . . confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life."--The Nobel Committee for Literature, in the citation for the Nobel Prize

The internationally bestselling author of The Vegetarian presents a "rare and astonishing" (The Observer) portrait of political unrest and the universal struggle for justice.

"Compulsively readable, universally relevant, and deeply resonant . . . in equal parts beautiful and urgent."--The New York Times Book Review

Shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award - One of the Best Books of the Year: The Atlantic, San Francisco Chronicle, NPR, HuffPost, Medium, Library Journal

Amid a violent student uprising in South Korea, a young boy named Dong-ho is shockingly killed.

The story of this tragic episode unfolds in a sequence of interconnected chapters as the victims and the bereaved encounter suppression, denial, and the echoing agony of the massacre. From Dong-ho's best friend who meets his own fateful end; to an editor struggling against censorship; to a prisoner and a factory worker, each suffering from traumatic memories; and to Dong-ho's own grief-stricken mother; and through their collective heartbreak and acts of hope is the tale of a brutalized people in search of a voice.

An award-winning, controversial bestseller, Human Acts is a timeless, pointillist portrait of an historic event with reverberations still being felt today, by turns tracing the harsh reality of oppression and the resounding, extraordinary poetry of humanity.

Details

  • Title Human Acts
  • Author Han Kang; Deborah Smith (Translator)
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition Reprint
  • Pages 240
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Hogarth Press
  • Publication date 2017-10-17
  • ISBN 9781101906743 / 110190674X
  • Weight 0.45 lbs (0.20 kg)
  • Dimensions 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.8 in (20.07 x 12.95 x 2.03 cm)
  • Category Fiction - General
  • Library of Congress subjects Historical fiction, Political fiction
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC

About the author

Han Kang was born in 1970 in South Korea. She is the author of The Vegetarian, winner of the International Booker Prize, as well as Human Acts, The White Book, Greek Lessons, and We Do Not Part. In 2024, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
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Human Acts
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Human Acts

by Han Kang

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Human Acts: A Novel
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Human Acts: A Novel

by Han Kang

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Human Acts : A Novel

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Human Acts: A Novel

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Human Acts: A Novel
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Human Acts: A Novel

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Human Acts: A Novel

Human Acts: A Novel

by Kang, Han

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