Having started the novel Human Acts today I have a few key take aways, most of which are emotional in essence. The first is even coming to terms with the fact that an uprising happened in South Korea that most of the world is oblivious to. The way in which the government censored the truth and did not allow local journalists to educate their citizens about the truth appals me.
Another thing I found particularly interesting is how we compared the sadness in Human Acts to that of Handmaid’s Tale. I mentioned how in Handmaid’s Tale the sadness seemed to be more of frustration because we could see the progressive nature of Offred and Mayday, which meant we knew that there was hope. However with Human Acts, we are left with an empty feeling in our gut knowing that even the characters succumbed to their situation.
Something I find quite interesting is the various book covers for Human Acts. There is one of a bird sitting on a skeletal rib cage, the idea of someone’s spirit as a bird sitting on the hollow of their body. Another is that of legs that are open at the top with no body attached to it, almost symbolising the many that fell yet are not even identified, no owner to the path tread by the nameless legs.
