I had read the KLN special features when Han Kang won the Nobel Prize in Literature, but this is the first of her books that I've read. We love the Jeju island trope in K Dramas, and reading its history I had come across the 4.3 Massacre. So when P mentioned that this book was about that, it was obvious that this would be the one I would check out.
The writing, description and pacing, are so good- I loved it from the first two pages. It isn't historical fiction, the setting is present day Korea (2021 is when it was published). It has a ghost story vibe- like a haunting of the entire island, the nation, the world. Too much for me to unpack.
One small point I especially loved, is that the characters gain understanding about each other, but also remain mysterious to each other and to the reader. There's a Korean saying: “We may know the depths of the deepest waters, but not of the shallowest person.” (“열 길 물속은 알아도 한 길 사람 속은 모른다.” I think? Or that could be a cut and paste mistake) I felt like the books says that's true, but still it is possible to know each other a bit more, it's still worthwhile to understand each other a bit more.
I totally recommend this book. Totally. Read it in English, Korean and/or French. Even though I can only read English, this story would be worth reading in any language.