Human Acts - General Discussion, No Spoilers (June 2017)

[Whitney]

This is for general “spoiler-free” discussion of Human Acts; interesting links, background, first impressions, and such. I will open the rest of the discussion this weekend. Since it’s a fairly short book, there will be one discussion topic to cover the entire book rather than ones breaking it up into sections.

Here are a few interesting links. Please feel to add your own:

A short history of the Gwangju (Kwangju) uprising, and its lasting effect within Korea as well as on other democracy movements in Asia. By George Katsiaficas.
https://libcom.org/files/1980%20The%2...

Tim Shorrock’s article from The Nation. The article is primarily a condemnation of the US role in supporting the military’s crushing of the rebellion, but is also a personal story of one journalist’s involvement with Korean politics and the uprising. Unfortunately, many of the hyperlinks in this article are now broken. https://www.thenation.com/article/kwa...

I couldn’t find any good Korean sourced articles about Gwangju that were in English, if anyone has found any, please post. People are also welcome to post articles in Korean as well, natch.

A very interesting interview with Han Kang, Violence and Being Human: A Conversation with Han Kang . This contains discussions about the inspiration for The Vegetarian, as well.

An article from the Guardian on Han Kang and Human Acts, based on interviews with Kang and her translator, Deborah Smith: https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...

This was a tough book to read. I had to set it down for extended periods of time. What did people think of it? How about those of you who read The Vegetarian as well?

[Hugh]

Thanks Whitney. I agree that it was a tough book to read, but I found it very moving - I read it over Christmas last year, which made for an uneasy juxtaposition during a family celebration. It is very different to The Vegetarian, much bleaker and more harrowing, and probably less of a work of imagination. Overall I found it very moving and powerful. I knew nothing about Gwangju or the uprising before reading the book.

[Molly]

I agree with you Hugh. It is very different from The Vegetarian probably because Human Acts is so strongly based on experiences people had during the Gwangju uprising. I also did not know anything about the uprising before reading this book. I thought the writing was so beautiful. Even though it is a very sad, gut-wrenching story, I couldn't stop reading it. I want to read the articles you posted, Whitney, since there wasn't much written about the book when I first read it. Thank you!

[Kay]

This book definitely put Han Kang on my list of favorite authors. It was a difficult read but I connected strongly with all the characters, which doesn't happen often.
It also posed a question that I don't think is often asked - we agree that we should bear witness to those who have suffered, but is there a responsibility for the victims to tell their stories? Should they be asked to share their traumas? Is that sharing making them suffer twice? On the other hand, can you really bear "witness" to terrible violence you have never experienced yourself?

[Beverly]

I read Human Acts at the beginning of the year.
I was much anxious to read because of my enjoyment of The Vegetarian.

Yes, they are different but I so enjoy historical fiction, especially when it explores a part of history that I am not that familiar with.

Once again, I was mesmerized by the author’s incredible storytelling and the seamless translation. I started 2016, reading The Vegetarian which was one of my top reads for the year and I started 2017 reading Human Acts which will be a top read for me, so I am hoping that this talented author/narrator team will have another incredible book to start my 2018 reading year.

[PS]

I loved The Vegetarian, so I'm really looking forward to this. I hope to start reading this by the end of this week. I know very little about South Korea - thank goodness for Deborah Smith's introduction!

[Paul]

Beverly wrote: " I am hoping that this talented author/narrator team will have another incredible book to start my 2018 reading year. ."

The White Book is due out in November this year, at least in the UK.

I similarly read Human Acts as soon as it came out - and also rated in even higher than The Vegetarian.

I am perhaps atypical in this discussion of being familiar with South Korea (I spend 3 weeks each summer there) and aware of the historical background to this particular novel, but I don't think either is necessary to appreciate the book.

[June]

I absolutely loved The Vegetarian, but have been dreading reading Human Acts because of the harrowing subject matter. You all are inspiring me to take the plunge....

[Luella]

June wrote: "I absolutely loved The Vegetarian, but have been dreading reading Human Acts because of the harrowing subject matter. You all are inspiring me to take the plunge...."

Yes you totally should. I read it over a day and a half and I am not disappointed. I made it through Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers last year and that was a lot harder to read than this has been as far as that part of the story goes.

[Whitney]

I would amend that a little. For me, I don't have any problems with explicit descriptions of putrescence and damaged bodies, but I do find explicit descriptions of torture difficult. This book has both. This isn't intended as any criticism, both are absolutely necessary to the book, just meant as a 'trigger' warning.

[Julie]

I can read just about anything. Show it to me on tv or a movie though, and that is a totally different thing!
That said, I am 40% done and....enjoying?....the book. I don't want to use that word due to the death, but you know what I mean.

[Ernie]

I have not commented on this novel yet, but did indeed finish it in early June. I need to comment...but wanted to share the following, which I also posted on the discussion on the novel from last year.

From the Man Booker website:

Mantel's Cromwell . . . still alive
Submitted by Arthur on Fri, 2017-07-07 19:19

A reflection of modern academia or of the importance of the Man Booker International Prize? One of the papers presented at a conference at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea, was a forensic examination of how faithful the translator Deborah Smith had been to the original text of Han Kang's 2016 MBI-winning The Vegetarian. Apparently 10.9 per cent of the first part of the novel was mistranslated while another 5.7 per cent of the original text was omitted. But does this actually matter? A carefully-argued study of the Korean reaction to the Smith-Han collaboration argues that in some instances the translation actually intensifies the effect of the original and makes Han’s narrative 'stronger and more complex . . . and hence, more provocative to read'. What's more, the writer notes, 'It would serve us well to remember that 'unfaithfulness to the original' doesn’t necessarily mean betrayal, as if the translator carried out wilful acts of mistranslation.' Absolute fidelity to a text remains a knotty subject but “ultimately, Smith carried out perhaps the most important task of all: she successfully introduced a work of literature to people who might otherwise never have had a chance to read it. In that regard, Smith was faithful to the end.”

[Jessica]

Finally got this book from the library, that hold took longer than I expected.
I read the Vegetarian previously with the group and I was very excited to read Han's new book. Her voice is so powerful in that book and this book as well. I just started but I am already very invested in this book.
I didn't know anything about the Uprising before but it is also touching a very close subject to me at this moment. I am Venezuelan but I have been living in Philadelphia for the past 8 years. Venezuela is going through very tough times and like South Korea we are trying to overthrow a dictator, even though he doesn't want to call himself that way. So many youth dying in protests and everything being masked by the government. So very very sad. I feel Human Acts expresses all these feelings very well.

[Jessica]

Ernie wrote: "I have not commented on this novel yet, but did indeed finish it in early June. I need to comment...but wanted to share the following, which I also posted on the discussion on the novel from last y..."

Thanks for sharing this! Very interesting to think about what a translation work should really be and do in the end.