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There is something distinctive with Han Kang’s writing. She first captured me with The Vegetarian so I knew I had to watch out for her upcoming works.

Greek Lessons did not give a powerful beginning as I was struggling to understand what’s happening. Still, Han Kang managed to capture my attention through her beautiful prose and writing. This made me appreciate the two main characters in the story. Overall, the book explored themes of alienation, identity formation, and relationship building through language.

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What is the language to use when I cannot see and one cannot speak? How can you communicate? Do you revive an ancient language only to leave the right meaning on a piece of paper or do you rely on touch only? Does it make the love just a feeling or a necessity to share unspoken and unseen feelings?

How hard it must felt to look at someone with a declining vision and hope to see their lips move to speak words or open your mouth to not make sound when you can say them clearly in your mind. Two characters in this book were living exactly this. They were in so much pain and afraid of losing more yet they could not help each other.. They just sat there in each other presence

The Vegetarian was a tale of uncomfortable coexistence. This one is more of an agreeable, not sufficient but will do in absence of other options, coexistence. I applaud Han Kang to be able create both kind.

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Thank you to Net Galley and Random House for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.. A young woman in Seoul takes a Greek language class yet she loses her voice. The Greek teacher is attracted to the young woman and he is slowly losing his sight. They share the pain in their lives which bring them together - one of torn between two cultures and languages, the other one of loss of a mother and custody battle for her son. The storytelling goes between first person and third person. The passages sounded lyrical and beautiful but I found it difficult to follow the story line. I read the author's other book, The Vegetarian, and I felt the same about the writing. I think the thing that drew me in was the interesting cover.

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quick and thought-provoking. beautiful and slow. not the banger that The Vegetarian was, but I enjoyed my time reading it.

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GREEK LESSONS is an exploration of language and communication, told through the perspectives of a young woman who has lost her ability to speak and her teacher who is losing his ability to see. I picked this volume up because I had loved Kang's previous book, THE VEGETARIAN, in which she deftly conveyed the alienation and anguish that comes when people fail to understand one another. GREEK LESSONS was an opportunity to convey the opposite - the connection and intimacy that can form despite apparent barriers in communication.

Unfortunately, I found it difficult to get through this slim volume. Between sections, Kang shifts perspective between the two protagonists, but I sometimes found it difficult to follow the shifts. The language is poetic and frequently abstract, perhaps to convey a sense of universality - but this contributed to a difficulty in becoming invested in each character and their relationship. I think I would have enjoyed this better had I approached it with the understanding that it was poetic prose rather than long-form fiction.

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review here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CrOghpsv5rZ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

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Vague. Oh so vague. I think I got what Kang was doing here, but just a few more details would've made the reading experience so much better for me. Ultimately it's about the power of language in its many forms - written and spoken - and the affect it can have on people and their lives. A strong and important message, but the means of getting there was dreamlike and hazy.

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This was a strange little book, and I was expecting that, but I wasn’t expecting THIS if you know what I mean. (Not in a good way, sorry.) This book is about two people with limited ability to communicate, and there was lovely imagery and some really beautiful prose, and some interesting pondering about connection and intimacy… but it didn’t really grip me.

It was a little weird towards the end in a winding sort of way but it was never UPSETTING or ALARMING the way the weirdness of The Vegetarian was, and for that reason I enjoyed this far less.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Random House Publishing Group, for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for this honest review!!

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And Hang Kang does it again! When I first checked the length of the book (a little over 100 pages in ebook format) I admit I was a bit doubtful if she would be able to develop the story within such a limited space. Shame on me for ever doubting!
The book is, just like Hang Kang has already gotten us used to, beautifully written. More than once I thought that I needed to get a physical copy in order to underline and tab all the beautiful passages. The muted tones that accompany the reader throughout the novel perfectly match the personality of the main characters: two isolated souls, adrift in the city that meet thanks to Greek Lessons.
I can only say that after "Human Acts", this is my favorite novel of Hang Kang.

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Greek Lessons by Han Kang is a hauntingly beautiful novella that delves deep into themes of identity, loss, and the intricacies of human connection. Known for her poetic prose and poignant storytelling, Kang once again captivates readers with a narrative that lingers in the mind long after the final page.

The story follows a young Korean woman who decides to learn Greek after witnessing the sudden death of her beloved older sister. As she immerses herself in the study of an ancient language, the protagonist embarks on a journey of self-discovery, grappling with questions of grief, memory, and the fragility of life. Kang's exploration of language as a means of healing and transformation is masterful, drawing parallels between the protagonist's pursuit of Greek and her own desire to find solace and understanding in the wake of tragedy.

Kang's prose is delicate and evocative, effortlessly capturing the protagonist's emotional turmoil and inner thoughts. The novella is a testament to Kang's skill as a writer, as she weaves together the personal and the universal in a way that feels profoundly relatable. The exploration of grief and the complexities of familial bonds will resonate deeply with readers who have experienced loss or grappled with their own sense of identity.

One of the standout aspects of Greek Lessons is Kang's ability to create a sense of atmosphere. The vivid descriptions of the Greek landscape and the use of mythology add an ethereal layer to the narrative, immersing the reader in a world that is both familiar and otherworldly. Kang effortlessly transports the reader to the protagonist's internal and external landscapes, inviting them to contemplate the interconnectedness of language, culture, and the human experience.

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I admired Han Kang's latest book, "Greek Lessons," an examination of speech, language and the ways we do and don't communicate with those around us, more than I enjoyed it. A young mother who has lost her ability to speak takes evening classes in ancient Greek--the idea of learning a language that is no longer spoken aloud resonates with her. The lessons are taught by a man with his own physical struggle: he is losing his eyesight to the same hereditary condition that robbed his father of vision years earlier. Although they are physically in the same room during classes, Kang keeps these two unnamed protagonists separate for much of the story, which is told largely in flashbacks to the woman's Korean childhood and the man's experiences as an ex-patriot Korean growing up in Germany. When they are finally brought together by an accident late in the book, Kang's characters manage a tenuous connection to each other, born from a mutual sense of loss, alienation and vulnerability. I have to say that I preferred "Intimacies," Katie Kitamura's 2021 novel about similar themes of language, translation and communication; "Greek Lessons" often broke down into fragments of language that made it hard to get hold of and process. But maybe that ultimately was the point--I feel like this would definitely benefit from a second read but I'm not ready to head back to it just yet.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Hogarth for providing me with an ARC of this title in return for my honest review.

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Poetic and abstract with rich prose, Greek Lessons is a dreamy meditation on connection, circling around two individuals, both hurting, both lonely. He's losing his sight, she's lost her ability to speak. Their stories dance around each other's as they go through their daily routines, intersected by the Greek Lessons of the title.

Kang supplements the conversations and inner thoughts, with exacting detail on the physical: the oppressive heat, the darkness of a stairwell, the chalk on a blackboard. The book rises to the sublime about 3/4 of the way through with a beautiful chapter that took my breath away. Just gorgeous.

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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i have a deep love and admiration for han kang’s prose in all previous works i’ve read, from the vegetarian to the white book (which is one of my favorite texts ever), but greek lessons fell short of my expectations. i am unsure if this is because of the lightness of the prose or the lack of narrative cohesion i felt throughout the book, but setting it down, i felt unfulfilled. it was as if i had missed some overarching theme or point, as if i had not reached the depth of emotion i am used to feeling with kang’s work, even though the prose itself was stunning and the imagery compelling. perhaps this is simply a book i am meant to re-read in order to catch that elusive point. perhaps it’s a matter of translation; of linguistic capability to understand or misunderstand (and looking back on the text now, maybe that is the point).

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Really skillful and intriguing read. I could not put it down and absolutely cannot wait to read more from this author.

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This book was so interesting and full of emotions. It surprised me that it was that way, as I was expecting a more composed story due to the plot.
I enjoyed the dual perspective and how the storyline merged in a non-obvious way, while still making you doubt your own impressions. My favorite piece is how no one is named, as if names are not important in comparison to the narrative and feelings present in the book.
The narrative is beautiful and the book has haunting lines, truly masterful quotes. It made my heart ache and soar in different moments.
It missed on being a 5 stars because there were pieces left uncovered that got in the way of my comprehension of the full story - for example, I’m not sure I fully understood how many characters were present in the book, or sometimes who the narrator was. If this was a plot point, then it’s my fault, but it did impact my enjoyment a couple of times.
Overall great book and one I’ll remember for a long time. I’ll definitely check out other works by Han Kang.
Thanks Netgalley and Hogarth/Penguin Random House for the advanced e-book in exchange for my honest opinion.

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Kang's previous novel "The Vegetarian" remains one of my favorite books of all time and I was happy to see this almost novella size book was soon to be published. Not as accessible or emotional as "The Vegetarian". this story is more a poetic exploration on what it means to have senses, and what it means when those senses are lost. The book is about two characters; a woman who has lost the ability to speak, and a man who is slowly losing his sight. Both of these characters spend much of the book pondering both speech and sight along with reliving memories and experiences that affected their lives and their adjustments to loss.

The two individuals meet in a class on Ancient Greek. The man is the professor and the woman is a student, she is drawn to learning this ancient language as perhaps a way she may be able to at last communicate. The two don't interact though until the very end of the book, and before that are simply two people lost in their thoughts and at times their navel gazing. The woman reminded me of the main character of "The Vegetarian"; she was beaten down by life, by Korea where men are favored over women and like the first character had a traumatic experience with a dog as a child. The woman has recently lost her mother and custody of her son, since she can no longer speak she has also lost her job as a professor. The man has not told his employer of his diminishing sight and his family is in Germany, he is all alone. Many of the man's thoughts concern a relationship with the child of his former optician, a person he fell in love with to a terrible conclusion.

I think parts of the book was not understandable to me even as I enjoyed the beautiful images and language. I think that is part of the "Greek Lessons". that perhaps many things fall into the old adage as "It's Greek to me." I also did not get a real connection with either character although I felt bad for their afflictions and fates. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this ARC in exchange for a review.

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While Greek Lesson was only recently released in English, Kang wrote it prior to some of her big breakthrough English titles like The Vegetarian and Human Acts. You can tell reading this that it’s an earlier work because it doesn’t quite have the heft and vibrancy of her more recent books. However, this is still one of the best books I’ve read this year—a tender exploration of love, loss, and language written in meticulous prose. This is the story of a professor of Ancient Greek who is losing his sight and one of his Korean students, a mother in the midst of a trauma that has left her mute. Readers discover both nameless characters’ backstories as we watch them circle each other and finally come together. Read this book if you read for writing.

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A powerful novel about the saving grace of language and human connection.

About this one -

📌 This is the fourth book I’ve read by Han Kang. I admire her writing and the depth of her powerful thought processes.
📌 This Novel was published before even she wrote Vegetarian in 2011.
📌 This story follows a young woman who signs up for Ancient Greek Language lessons after losing her voice. Meanwhile, her Greek Language instructor is losing his sight and the story circles around them.
📌 By switching between these two individuals Kang draws a parallel between their experiences and realities.
📌 If you enjoy philosophy and languages, you will enjoy this novel.

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Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an eARC of this book)

"Ink overlays ink, memory overlays memory, bloodstain overlays bloodstain. Serenity over serenity, smile over smile, bears down."

In Greek Lessons we follow two characters, a woman experiencing unexplained mutism who is taking a Greek class because she hopes being surrounded by an unfamiliar language will coax her to rediscover the language skills she has inexplicably lost, and the man who is teaching the Greek class. He is also facing his own challenges as he has had a lifelong impairment vision that will lead to blindness. We learn about each of their pasts and presents and towards the end, their stories become more intertwined.

I loved the almost poetic language of this book. It was so beautiful and impressive. I thought the musings on Greek words and phrases, as well as Korean, very interesting.

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This book is hard to rate. I enjoyed the message and got through the book relatively quickly. I'm not a huge fan of stream of consciousness and that's what most of this book felt like so there were times where my attention wasn't there but I thought the two main characters were well developed and I understood their backgrounds and their motivations throughout the novel. The moments that showcased language, both Korean and Greek were my favorite parts.

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