Devastating, beautiful, terribly sad fictional account of the 5.18 uprising, exploring the lives taken and irrevocably changed during the conflict and its aftermath and the effect on their loved ones through multiple accounts, each from the point of view of a different involved party. As in The Vegetarian, Kang (aided by an excellent translation by Deborah Smith) presents a complicated, horrific situation with a tenderness and understanding which makes it at once individual and universal. Perfectly crafted and aptly titled, this book, while never diverting from the specifics of the uprising, uses them to consider what makes humanity, whether humanity is innately cruel, kind, noble, or anything. I could go on but will stop here because I cannot do the book justice - It is a heavy read, so before reading make sure that you are in a place to read about massacres, horrific torture, and the strongest human connections. If you are, then I cannot recommend this enough.