Human Acts A Novel

Human Acts by Han Kang is a devastating, formally extraordinary novel about the 1980 Gwangju Uprising in South Korea — the pro-democracy protests during which hundreds of civilians were killed by the military government — and its long aftermath in the lives of survivors, witnesses, and the dead themselves. Han Kang approaches her subject from multiple perspectives across time, giving voice to victims, perpetrators, survivors, and the dead, creating a meditation on violence, trauma, grief, and the capacity of human beings for both extraordinary cruelty and extraordinary solidarity. Published by Portobello Books, Human Acts is essential reading for anyone interested in Korean history, the literature of political violence, and the question of how fiction can approach atrocity — a novel of exceptional moral seriousness and artistic courage.