Human Acts
Han Kang · b. 1970 · South Korea
Originally Sonyeoni Onda (Korean) · translated by Deborah Smith
Why it matters
The 1980 Gwangju massacre told through the dead and the surviving: beginning in a gymnasium of bodies, ending in the author's own return. Han Kang's requiem; the Nobel citation's 'confront[ing] historical traumas' starts here.
At a glance
historical fictionwar novel
Difficulty 6/10medium pace218 pagesFractured multi-voiced structure spanning decades, including a second-person chapter.
