**From the internationally bestselling author of The Vegetarian, a
"rare and astonishing" (The Observer) portrait of political unrest and
the universal struggle for justice.
**
"Compulsively readable, universally relevant, and deeply resonant . .
. in equal parts beautiful and urgent."--The New York Times Book
Review
Shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award - One of the
Best Books of the Year: The Atlantic, San Francisco Chronicle, NPR,
HuffPost, Medium, Library Journal
Amid a violent student uprising in South Korea, a young boy named
Dong-ho is shockingly killed.
The story of this tragic episode unfolds in a sequence of interconnected
chapters as the victims and the bereaved encounter suppression, denial,
and the echoing agony of the massacre. From Dong-ho's best friend who
meets his own fateful end; to an editor struggling against censorship;
to a prisoner and a factory worker, each suffering from traumatic
memories; and to Dong-ho's own grief-stricken mother; and through their
collective heartbreak and acts of hope is the tale of a brutalized
people in search of a voice.
An award-winning, controversial bestseller, Human Acts is a timeless,
pointillist portrait of an historic event with reverberations still
being felt today, by turns tracing the harsh reality of oppression and
the resounding, extraordinary poetry of humanity.
