Han Kang's Human Acts (2014) | Book Review and Analysis

[@varmaraviajay]

Thanks for the structural analysis Jorge! Very useful

[@JorgesCorner]

So glad you enjoyed it, my friend! 😃 Thank you so much for watching and commenting. Have an amazing day, and happy reading!

[@jamesdakrn]

As a Korean American born in Korea and someone who majored in history, I loved taking Latin American history classes in college because it was eerily similar to what I knew from Korea. Halfway around the world, but the same right-wing dictatorships, human rights abuses and torture, and perseverance despite the face of oppression for human rights. I read Human Acts in both the original Korean and English- and was haunted for days. Even when I KNEW what was going on historically it was such a harrowing read - in fact, my dad is from Gwangju, and was 23 years old at the time (thankfully he was in Seoul at the time, but some of his friends were caught up in this and I remember hearing that one of his friends lost his mind from the torture sadly). My dad has also been reading this after putting it off for many years (must be different for someone from Gwangju who lived through it all), and said he's been crying reading the book. I just love how Han Kang left out the grand big-picture historical narratives that many male authors would try to do, and just focused on the individual traumas in a hauntingly beautiful poetic language.

[@JorgesCorner]

Thank you so much for watching and for sharing your perspective, my friend! 😃 You're absolutely right about the connections, which in this case hit very close to home. I can only imagine how difficult a read this must be for your dad. My father has a similar connection to the Argentine book I show in the video (Nunca más), as he was young during those difficult years. It really is a tremendous achievement to approach and to tell this story the way Han Kang did. I'm waiting for a copy of The White Book, which I have just requested from my library. I look forward to reading this great author again. Thanks again, and have an amazing day!

[@chrislee2576]

Thank you for your great analysis of the book, I am reading it now.

[@JorgesCorner]

Thank you so much, my friend! 😃 Hope you have a memorable reading experience, and a wonderful week!

[@gedeon3917]

Hello Jorge, glad to see you again! Yes, I had heard of Han Kang before, “The Vegetarian” has been quite popular. I was not tempted by her books but now you pick my curiosity, as usual :) I’m currently reading Rulfo’s “Pedro Paramo”, halfway through and loving every sentence. Extraordinary and masterful book!🖤 (You’re right, in literature, we sometimes use the expression “écriture intime”, and we routinely use the word in “journal intime”).

[@JorgesCorner]

Hello, my friend! So nice to talk to you again. 😃 Thank you for confirming the "intimista" issue. Hope you enjoy Han Kang. About Pedro Páramo, yes, what a brilliant gem of a book. I reread it recently, but I already want to read it again, haha. Have a wonderful day, and happy reading!

[@armandof6453]

Out of the latest laureate’s published works this one stood out to me precisely because of the subject matter. Like you said, it seems to be a regrettably universal topic and for us in Mexico that was the student movement of 1968 and the tragic massacre of Tlatelolco that underpins it. So I’m very interested in comparing Human Acts with Elena Poniatowska’s La Noche de Tlatelolco even though the latter is an oral history rather than a novel. The rest of Hang Kang’s output really doesn’t do much for me at least at first glance but thanks to your video I hold higher hopes for this one. Cheers!

[@JorgesCorner]

Hello, Armando! 😃 What an amazing idea, to compare Poniatowska and Han Kang. I definitely should have mentioned the massacre of Tlatelolco in the video. (I've just remembered watching Rojo amanecer for a Mexican Cinema class I took years ago.) Regrettably universal, for sure. It would also be interesting to compare Poniatowska's book to something by Svetlana Alexievich, in terms of the method and the historical/testimonial quality. Thank you so much for watching and commenting, my friend, and have a wonderful day!

[@waitingforapril]

Hola Jorge, acabo de leer su última novela (soy coreana-Argentina) que va a salir traducida en inglés este enero. Me pareció aún más lograda, como que transmite lo emocional y lo no-verbal más directamente y con menos esfuerzo. Espero que puedas leerla y reseñarla también. Gracias!

[@JorgesCorner]

¡Buenísimo! 😃 Mil gracias a vos, por la visita y la recomendación. Voy a buscarla en cuanto se publique. Hace poco leí La clase de griego (en español) y luego The White Book (en inglés). Por ahora, me quedo con Human Acts. Aun tengo que leer The Vegetarian. Iba a empezar por esa, pero justo en ese momento andaba con problemas del estómago, y no estaba como para leer nada que tuviera que ver con el aparato digestivo, jaja. ¡Gracias nuevamente, amiga, y muchos saludos!

[@waitingforapril]

@ jaja se entiende. Gracias x tu trabajo, y felices fiestas!

[@Gonzalo_Broto]

Hola, Jorge. No soy un seguidor ávido del Premio Nobel, y generalmente no le presto mucha atención, pero este año la ganadora me ha llamado bastante la atención, así que quiero leer alguna de sus obras. He decidido comenzar por esta, "Human Acts" (también voy a leerla en inglés), así que de momento no he visto tu vídeo porque no quiero saber nada sobre ella más allá de la premisa básica de la que parte. De todas formas, me va a tocar esperar un poco, puesto que donde vivo se han agotado todas las copias en papel de todas sus obras y tardarán un poco en reimprimirlas, así que cuando eso suceda y lea la novela, volveré para escuchar tu opinión y comentar. ¡Saludos, amigo!

[@JorgesCorner]

¡Hola, Gonzalo! 😃 Yo hago exactamente lo mismo, como he comentado (creo, jaja) en algún video: me gusta tener una experiencia lo más "pura" posible de un texto, hasta el punto que a veces ni leo la contraportada. Creo que te va a gustar Human Acts, no en el sentido de una lectura que se "disfruta," por supuesto, sino por el acercamiento al tema. Después contame qué te pareció. ¡Mil gracias por la visita y el comentario, amigo, y muchos saludos!

[@fayrouzmoustafa8981]

Is there a website for the korean novels?

[@elegant1010]

www.google.com/search?q=korean+novel+lists&rlz=1C1ASUM_enKR1104KR1104&oq=korean+novel+lists&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIICAEQABgWGB4yDQgCEAAYhgMYgAQYigUyDQgDEAAYhgMYgAQYigUyDQgEEAAYhgMYgAQYigUyBwgFEAAY7wUyCggGEAAYgAQYogQyCggHEAAYgAQYogTSAQgyMzExajBqN6gCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

[@fazalrahman4591]

I too read The Vegetarian and Human Acts.. and I thought these two books joins the spectrum of experiences the Nobel academy mentioned in the citation: historical traumas in Human Acts and sufferings of mainly social and familial nature in The Vegetarian… I have also started reading Greek Lessons… ❤

[@JorgesCorner]

Thank you so much, Fazal, for watching and commenting! 😃 I like your interpretation of the Nobel citation and how it relates to these two works. It seemed to me that Human Acts might be a richer text, due to the historical dimension. I'm halfway through Greek Lessons (in Spanish) and have read the opening pages of The Vegetarian, which I may leave for another time. I'm also interested in The White Book, so we shall see. Have an amazing day, my friend!

[@fazalrahman4591]

@@JorgesCorner Indeed. Human Acts does have a richness and variety with its historical content and delineation of characters. The emotional unity is so well maintained in the novel with each section so endearingly evoking the image of such loveable young martyr and we seldom get carried awry in the sweep of so many years. The Vegetarian, for me, seemed more of a feminist awakening thing in an overtly patriarchal society, where autonomy over female body is the mirror of female emancipation.

[@MarinaMacca-i2t]

Welcome back, my friend! How are you?

[@JorgesCorner]

Thank you so much, Marina! 😃 I'm doing better, thanks for asking; getting back to some kind of normal, little by little. How are you doing? Hope all is going great. Thank you for watching and commenting, my friend, and have a fantastic day!

[@Paromita_M]

Very nice discussion. I saw the video on the day of the release only but wasn't able to write a detailed comment which I wanted to do. Personally 2024 Nobel winner came as a complete surprise to me but after thinking about it, I was happy. I had three books by Kang upto that point - The Vegetarian, The White Book and Human Acts of which my favourite was the last one. I also liked The Vegetarian, only The White Book was not for me. After she won, I got a copy of Greek Lessons and read it, nice book but my favourite is still Human Acts. She has a new book coming out in English in January 2025, We Do Not Part, published by Penguin Random House and translated by a new translator duo, not Deborah Smith for the first time. Looking forward to that one as I saw in a comment on reddit that it is a worthy successor to Human Acts. I like her sparse, seemingly unassuming style of writing (of course acknowledging that I am getting it through a translation). I went back and read some female Japanese authors' works after her win. One was Revenge by Yoko Ogawa, interconnected collection of short stories, nice work. Another was Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, also very good. The one I liked most and I would recommend to you if you haven't already read it is All The Lovers In The Night by Mieko Kawakami. It's not terribly long, say 200ish pages but such a worthwhile read I found. I also wanted to share some other Nobel or Nobel-related reading projects I am doing. I actually read Empusium, Olga Tokarczuk's take on The Magic Mountain setting and it was such a clever book. In contrast, I didn't care for The Magic Mountain that much! I wonder if I should retry it. The other book I read is also by Tokarczuk, its called Primeval and it was such a powerful read. The best book I've read by her so far. Other than this, I want to read Octavio Paz' Labyrinths of Solitude. I confess to enjoying a bit of literary gossip and the rumour is that Paz and Fuentes were both frontrunners for the prize in 1990 but Paz got it - was it a literary reason or something else? This is something I'm trying to investigate on my own by reading their works. Happy reading! Very nice discussion as always.

[@JorgesCorner]

Thank you so much for watching and for your amazing comments, Paromita, which are always a pleasure to read! 😃 I had a similar experience with Greek Lessons, which I read in Spanish. Very good, but Human Acts spoke to me more. I've ordered The White Book from my library, so we'll see. You won't believe this, but today, before I read your comment, I randomly picked up my copy of Ogawa's Revenge! She's an excellent writer, and I enjoyed that book very much. I remember buying it and reading it when it came out. I still need to read Sayaka Murata and Mieko Kawakami. I'm interested in the Tokarczuk books you mention too. (I'm a huge fan of Flights.) About The Magic Mountain... hm... more to come about that, haha. It's turning 100 years old right now, btw. The Paz-Fuentes connection is complex and fascinating, though I can't claim to know much about it. I need to revisit Paz soon. Thank you once again, my friend, and happy reading!

[@Paromita_M]

@JorgesCorner Lot's of books to read! If I had to pick one, I would recommend All The Lovers In The Night by Mieko Kawakami, yes even over Revenge by Yoko Ogawa though she is a favourite writer and Revenge has its own magic! I wanted to share some thoughts and suggestions with you regarding Bengali literature which I have slowly been getting back into (very slowly...😁). 1. The first, for Tagore: Farewell Song (Bengali: Shesher Kabita), translated by Radha Chakravarty. Finally I found a lyrical prose translation and this work is one of his best in my opinion. I think you might like it, specially the poem...well I won't say more. Think it is published by Penguin Random House India. 2. A poet with whom I connected anew and who made me wonder - what was I doing all this time without this voice? My mother who is an avid reader and a student of literature felt the same. This is Jibanananda Das, extraordinary poet (some say he is at par with or even beyond Tagore, he certainly was essential in the post-Tagore era) who sadly did not receive his due recognition in his lifetime and left us too early. His Selected Poems is published by Penguin India, there is also a book called The Scent of Sunlight where the translation is done by Clinton Ceely. 3. One Hundred Years Of Solitude is essential to the conversation about magical realism in literature. Plus it is a seminal work about the history of a nation ensconced in the microcosm of a village. As you know, Rushdie was inspired by this work to write Midnight's Children - a work about the history and myth of a different nation (mine!) with elements of magical realism. But what if I told you that there has been a work which incorporated magical realist elements and discussed the history and culture of a people who were also fragmented by Partition - Bangla? The book is Khwabnama by Akhteruzzaman Elias, translated from Bangla by Arunava Sinha and published by Penguin Random House. First time I have seen story of Partition on Bengal side in English (it also has many other elements like the peasants' movement) - most Partition novels in English and in translation into English are about the Punjab side. So it might be of interest. 4. Finally a book which is written in English but it is quintessentially about Bengal and about a part of Bengal which most of us don't "see" yet it keeps us alive (the Sundarban mangrove forest, kind of like how the Amazon rainforest are the lungs of the world). The book is The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh. Sorry for the very long comment. I don't have the flair to prepare a video or podcast so I ramble away in the comments section hehe. Hope you find some of these suggestions interesting! Please let me know if there is anything more you want to know about these titles. Happy reading!

[@JorgesCorner]

A million thanks for these recommendations, Paromita! 😃 They all sound amazing, and I do want to read another translation of Tagore's work. It may take me a while, but I will explore these books, as this is an area I definitely need to become more familiar with. Thank you so much once again, my friend, and happy reading!

[@Gonzalo_Broto]

Hola, compañero. Acabo de terminar "Human Acts" (en una edición de bolsillo en tapa blanda mucho más fea que la tuya y sin introducción) y me ha parecido una novela notable y descarnada. El multiperspectivismo puede hacerla un tanto confusa (eso me ha sucedido por los nombres de los personajes, difíciles de recordar y asociar a personajes que ya han aparecido anteriormente), pero su estilo poético, como mencionas, a la par que muy gráfico, ayuda a digerir las atrocidades que se cuentan. En mi opinión, la novela pierde un poquito de fuelle conforme avanzan los capítulos y el tiempo (continuar con el impacto de los dos primeros capítulos era difícil, de todas formas), pero, aún así, es un grito desgarrador contra la violencia ejercida por gobiernos autoritarios que, como bien explicas, es aplicable a cualquier parte del mundo y a cualquier época. Entiendo que esté posicionada desde el lado de las víctimas, puesto que su objetivo es dignificarlas y limpiar su recuerdo contra el relato oficial, que tanto las ha denostado y demonizado desde que sucedieron los actos, pero me habría gustado que se reflejara un poco más la psicología de los soldados que llevaron a cabo tales actos atroces, muchos de los cuales, seguramente (como menciona una vez de pasada la autora), eran compasivos y seguramente no comulgaban con las órdenes que recibían. De todas formas, es una obra de denuncia que deja bastante huella. ¡Saludos!

[@JorgesCorner]

¡Hola, Gonzalo! 😃 Me encantan tus ideas sobre esta novela. Es cierto que pierde un poco la fuerza a medida que uno lee. Me pregunto si esto será algo común en las novelas que tratan de este tipo de violencia. Pienso, por ejemplo, en aquella parte de 2666 en la que las descripciones de los crímenes se repiten y se repiten. También concuerdo con vos en lo que respecta a la ausencia del punto de vista de los soldados. Ya que se trataba de una novela de perspectiva múltiple... Al final, La clase de griego me gustó hasta ahí nomás, no lo suficiente como para hacer un video. Estoy esperando una copia de The White Book de mi biblioteca. Veremos qué tal. ¡Mil gracias nuevamente por la visita, amigo, y un abrazo grande!

[@FrankTrouble]

Hey Arnold t-shirt with a grotesque cruxifiction just dangling there? Dude you’re so weird. I used to be the weirdest person I’d ever met. Now it’s you. Nobel prize for weird, weirdo.

[@JorgesCorner]

😄 Have an amazing day, my friend!

[@sgayathri7180]

Human Acts is a powerful novel, but let us not forget that the killings are far less brutal than what is happening in Palestine. Kang herself is conscious of this and reminds us of it.

[@JorgesCorner]

Thank you so much for watching and commenting, my friend! I could relate to the novel from an Argentine perspective, thinking about the late 70s. Such a devastating read... Have an excellent day! 😃