Human Acts

I don't think I've been this devastated reading a book since I read Night by Ellie Wiesel in High School. However, by the same token that that book is required reading, so too should Human Acts also be a required read.
It is much easier to sit and read facts about history, but much more difficult when the same event is told through the eyes of people; individuals with emotion, dreams, beliefs, hopes, friends, and family. Han Kang takes this brutal, horrific event and humanizes it so you don't see numbers or news articles, but flesh and blood people. People who just as easily could be your family or friends. And this is where her novel Human Acts excels. I was an absolute puddle of tears multiple times, but most especially at the end.
It has eerily fresh parallels to the current political climate, whether about the danger of suppression of media no matter what the political view, government control of the narrative of events or using martial law to shut down peaceful protest because the government doesn't agree with the protester's stance. It reminds us to be vigilant so history isn't repeated. And it can only do that by telling the story through the eyes of those who died because of it, lived through it and were left with a loss so deep that 40 years on they continue feel that devastation keenly.
A very powerful book, that deserves to be held in a high regard and to read by many.