Human Acts by Han Kang

Human Acts

Han Kang

The toxic fallout of cruelty and suffering is unflinchingly portrayed. We are the witnesses of massacre and degradation and it is as if the sentences have nerve endings and we too feel the pain. Told from the viewpoint of different characters, the writing lacerates and haunts, questioning humanity and implicating everyone. This is harrowing storytelling and yet compulsively readable and deeply resonant.

Extract

Glass is transparent, right? And fragile. That's the fundamental nature of glass. And that's why objects that are made of glass have to be handled with care. After all, if they end up smashed or cracked or chipped then they're good for nothing, right, you just have to chuck them away.

Before, we used to have a kind of glass that couldn't be broken. A truth so hard and clear it might as well have been made of glass. So when you think about it, it was only when we were shattered that we proved we had souls. That what we really were was humans made of glass.

Parallels
  • Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo
  • The Mountains Sing by Nguyen Phan Que Mai
  • I'll Be Right There by Shin Kyung-sook
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Violence