Human Acts by Han Kang

Novel: "Human Acts" by Han Kang (한강의 "소년이 온다")

Summary: A tragic story about an uprising in South Korea called the Gwangju Uprising or Gwangju Massacre in 1980 told through the perspective of seven (7) different characters, including the author herself.

Thoughts: I read this book not knowing too much about the Gwangju Uprising or Gwangju Massacre, only that it was a controversial incident that people avoided talking about. My mom immigrated to the United States in 1978 and my dad followed shortly after in 1982 after living in Seoul, so neither of them really saw this incident unfold first-hand. It was really interesting and difficult to read different perspectives about what happened between May 18- 27, 1980. The inhumane treatment of Korea's citizens really shocked me and it was extremely heartbreaking to read. Below is an excerpt from the book that I found really powerful:

"The one stage in the process that you couldn’t quite get your head around was the singing of the national anthem, which took place at a brief, informal memorial service for the bereaved families, after their dead had been formally placed in the coffins. It was also strange to see the Taegukgi, the national flag, being spread over each coffin and tied tightly in place. Why would you sing the national anthem for people who’d been killed by soldiers? Why cover the coffin with the Taegukgi? As though it wasn’t the nation itself that had murdered them."

I personally found the translation by Deborah Smith slightly distracting. While I commend her for translating a book from Korean to English, I feel like there were parts of the book that weren't represented well. I would like to read this book in Korean later to get a better sense of the author's writing style. One thing I really appreciated about the author's research was that she purposely didn't interview any survivors of the Gwangju Uprising because she didn't want them to relive the horrifying memories that took the lives of their loved ones. Instead, she did hours and hours of research on what happened by reading documents. It's extremely thoughtful and respectable, shows that she wasn't just out to write a story.

Resources: If you want to learn more about the Gwangju Uprising or Gwangju Massacre, CLICK HERE. I also highly recommend watching the Korean film, Taxi Driver HERE.