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anusha_reads 's review for:
We Do Not Part
by Han Kang
dark
medium-paced
WE DO NOT PART, HAN KANG (KOREAN), Tr. BY E. YAEWON AND PAIGE ANIYAH MORRIS
Han Kang became the first Asian woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2024.
Whether it is Yeong-hye, the protagonist of The Vegetarian (winner of the 2016 International @bookerprize), or Kyungha from We Do Not Part, both suffer psychological trauma triggered by specific events. Both novels are dark and disturbing yet brilliantly written.
Kyungha, a writer who has recently published a book about a city called G-, is tormented by recurring nightmares in which a sea tries to engulf numerous black tree trunks. Unable to sleep, nauseated, and barely eating, she sets out to help her friend Inseon. Inseon, a documentary filmmaker, has been admitted to the hospital after seriously injuring herself. She calls Kyungha for help, asking her to go to her house in Jeju to feed her bird, which hasn’t been fed for two days. When Kyungha arrives, she becomes trapped in a snowstorm, engulfed in darkness.
Though the novel delves into the friendship between Kyungha and Inseon, there is an underlying sense of vagueness in its depiction of the boundaries between life and death, blurring the stark distinction between reality and the supernatural. The author seemingly aims to portray the haunting and lingering nature of historical traumas inflicted by humans. While not a traditional ghost story, the novel plays with the themes of spirits, memory, and loss in a way that feels spectral.
The protagonists wrestle with grief, guilt, and the weight of past suffering, creating an eerie and introspective narrative. The novel powerfully explores themes of isolation, the fragility of life, war, human experiences, memory, trauma, historical violence, and the atrocities humans inflict upon one another. It is a work of dark fiction that examines the lingering effects of the Jeju Massacre, making it feel as though the past remains ever-present in people’s lives. Kang’s signature lyrical yet haunting prose creates a dreamlike, almost otherworldly atmosphere, reinforcing the book’s dark tone.
The translator has done such an incredible job that it feels like I’m reading the original.
A tough read, but if you loved Han Kang’s The Vegetarian, this book will captivate you. It carries the same quiet intensity and emotional weight.
Could this be on the international @thebookerprize longlist?
Han Kang became the first Asian woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2024.
Whether it is Yeong-hye, the protagonist of The Vegetarian (winner of the 2016 International @bookerprize), or Kyungha from We Do Not Part, both suffer psychological trauma triggered by specific events. Both novels are dark and disturbing yet brilliantly written.
Kyungha, a writer who has recently published a book about a city called G-, is tormented by recurring nightmares in which a sea tries to engulf numerous black tree trunks. Unable to sleep, nauseated, and barely eating, she sets out to help her friend Inseon. Inseon, a documentary filmmaker, has been admitted to the hospital after seriously injuring herself. She calls Kyungha for help, asking her to go to her house in Jeju to feed her bird, which hasn’t been fed for two days. When Kyungha arrives, she becomes trapped in a snowstorm, engulfed in darkness.
Though the novel delves into the friendship between Kyungha and Inseon, there is an underlying sense of vagueness in its depiction of the boundaries between life and death, blurring the stark distinction between reality and the supernatural. The author seemingly aims to portray the haunting and lingering nature of historical traumas inflicted by humans. While not a traditional ghost story, the novel plays with the themes of spirits, memory, and loss in a way that feels spectral.
The protagonists wrestle with grief, guilt, and the weight of past suffering, creating an eerie and introspective narrative. The novel powerfully explores themes of isolation, the fragility of life, war, human experiences, memory, trauma, historical violence, and the atrocities humans inflict upon one another. It is a work of dark fiction that examines the lingering effects of the Jeju Massacre, making it feel as though the past remains ever-present in people’s lives. Kang’s signature lyrical yet haunting prose creates a dreamlike, almost otherworldly atmosphere, reinforcing the book’s dark tone.
The translator has done such an incredible job that it feels like I’m reading the original.
A tough read, but if you loved Han Kang’s The Vegetarian, this book will captivate you. It carries the same quiet intensity and emotional weight.
Could this be on the international @thebookerprize longlist?