While the is convenient, there is a case to be made for the experience of the book. The power of Human Acts lies in its structure. Han Kang uses the second person ("you") and the first-person plural ("we") to dissolve the barrier between reader and victim.
Published in South Korea in 2014 (English translation 2016), Human Acts is a fictionalized reckoning with the of May 1980. When pro-democracy protesters challenged the military junta of Chun Doo-hwan, army troops opened fire on civilians. The official death toll is disputed, but hundreds were killed, and thousands wounded. han kang human acts pdf