Human Acts is undoubtedly a heavy book, focusing on the vicious suppression and aftermath of the student uprising in Gwangju, South Korea in the 1980s. The book follows one young boy in his search for his friend's corpse and then follows the voices of various individuals brutalized by the government's response to the uprising.

The translation is introduced by Deborah Smith who provides some context to the book and the nuances of translation which really helps to understand the novel. Smith talks about the importance of the translation and the book to Han Kang who was born and raised in Gwangju. "She is a writer who takes things deeply to heart, and was anxious that the translation maintain moral ambivalence of the original, and avoid sensationalising the sorrow and shame which her home town was made to bear." This moral ambivalence comes through most strongly in the choice of the second person narrative style which builds distance from the reader. I know some readers have commented that this made it difficult to connect emotionally with the book, but I thought there was still a great deal of emotion and experience packed into the book.

The strength of Han Kang's work is the way in which she approaches her storytelling. She never simply describes an event, she talks about the experiences, the sights, smells, emotions, and flashes of memory. She brings history to the readers through vivid imagery and descriptions and at times this is very visceral and dark. However it is the rawness and the power of her words that I appreciated in The Vegetarian that continues to shine through in Human Acts.

The duo of Han Kang and Deborah Smith as translator works really well (although I obviously cannot speak for how this reads compared to the original Korean). However as a translated novel it serves to be powerful, beautiful and very haunting.