We Talk About WE DO NOT PART by Han Kang [Teaser]

Summary

Book Riot - The Podcast Summary

Episode: We Talk About WE DO NOT PART by Han Kang [Teaser]
Release Date: February 4, 2025
Hosts: Jeff O'Neal and Rebecca Schinsky
Book Discussed: We Do Not Part by Han Kang

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1. Introduction to We Do Not Part

The hosts, Jeff O'Neal and Rebecca Schinsky, delve into Han Kang's latest novel, We Do Not Part. As a prelude to their full discussion available to premium subscribers, they provide an insightful overview of the book's themes, plot, and its connection to Han Kang's previous work.

Jeff on Han Kang's Background:

"Han Kang is best known for The Vegetarian which I read right after its release in 2018... It was creepy, elusive with an A, not an E."
[00:23]

2. Comparing We Do Not Part to The Vegetarian

Jeff reflects on his experience with Han Kang's earlier novel, The Vegetarian, highlighting its fable-like and culturally rich narrative. He contrasts this with We Do Not Part, suggesting that while both novels possess a dark and strange quality, the new book expands into a more complex cultural and historical context.

Jeff on The Vegetarian vs. We Do Not Part:

"The Vegetarian felt smaller to me, but We Do Not Part breaks into a wider cultural and historical context."
[01:08]

3. Rebecca’s Initial Impressions

Rebecca shares her immediate reaction to We Do Not Part, emphasizing the book's dreamy and surreal elements. She appreciates how Han Kang unfolds a lesser-known tragic event in South Korean history without overwhelming the reader with prior knowledge, allowing the narrative to reveal itself organically.

Rebecca on Approaching the Book:

"I want to be untainted and kind of have the pure experience that the author is trying to give me... I did not do any homework because I didn't want to know again what the event was that Kang was writing to."
[02:20]

4. Plot Overview and Themes

Jeff provides a broad overview of the novel's plot, centered around a middle-aged woman grappling with personal turmoil and societal pressures. The protagonist experiences recurring dreams and navigates a fragile state of mind, leading her on a quest triggered by a cryptic message from an old friend.

Jeff on the Protagonist’s Struggles:

"There's a real tension between the suffering she's experiencing and a desire for the end of that suffering, but also that she doesn't really want to die."
[05:53]

Rebecca adds depth to the plot description, highlighting the protagonist's interactions and the blurred lines between dreams and reality within the narrative. They discuss the protagonist's journey to care for her friend's bird amidst chaotic and surreal circumstances.

Rebecca on the Dreamlike Narrative:

"They're wondering together, like, what is a dream? What is memory? Where do the two meet and where do they blur."
[08:06]

5. Literary Analysis and Impact

The hosts delve into the literary significance of We Do Not Part, discussing its place in contemporary literary fiction. They acknowledge the novel's complex structure and themes, comparing its emotional and psychological depth to acclaimed works like Schindler's List. Jeff remarks on the book's ability to engage readers with its profound and sometimes challenging content.

Jeff on the Novel’s Depth:

"It's literary fiction doing really interesting stuff. The subject matter is quite difficult. You can see why this is the kind of work the Nobel committee would be interested in."
[10:39]

6. Conclusion and Final Thoughts

While the discussion remains within the teaser's scope, Jeff and Rebecca express their admiration for Han Kang's ability to weave intricate narratives that challenge and engage readers. They invite listeners to explore the full conversation through their premium content for a more comprehensive analysis.

Rebecca on the Book’s Unfolding:

"I was really pleased how she unfolds it and that it's not a straightforward unfolding of this thing that happened, but that it unfurls over the course of the book."
[03:39]

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Notable Quotes:

• Jeff: "I don't even know that it works in the I liked it vocabulary... I'm fascinated by it. I was compelled by it."
  [03:57]

• Rebecca: "I had not reconciled with life, but I had to resume living... there's a real tension between the suffering she's experiencing and a desire for the end of that suffering, but also that she doesn't really want to die."
  [05:15]

• Jeff: "Maybe parts of it happen. I mean, we don't know. It's not even that binary, right."
  [09:22]

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For the full discussion and more in-depth analysis, consider subscribing to Book Riot Podcast's premium content at [e-mail].

Transcript

[Rebecca]

You're listening to a teaser for Book Riot podcast premium content. If you want to hear the rest, join [e-mail] bookriotpodcast for just $10 a month, get access to our full library of premium content in addition to receiving early ad free access to the regular episodes you hear in the show. Here we go.

[Jeff]

All right, we're gonna talk about We Do Not Part, the new novel from 2024, Nobel Prize Laurie in Literature, Hong Kong, best known for the Vegetarian came out in 2018, which I read right after. And I have to remember, I have to admit that I remember more the vibe than the plot of the Vegetarian. I went back and looked at it six years. I'm getting older. Be easy on me, folks. Let's see what preview stuff we want to do in terms of setting the stage. So a South Korean writer, I guess you say it aloud. We got. Was it Patreon comment. People talking about weird. Weird girl lit is like a big thing.

[Rebecca]

Yeah. Vegetarian is one of the recommendations.

[Jeff]

I kind of get it.

[Rebecca]

Okay.

[Jeff]

I think I understand. It is strange. I think it's fair to say creepy, elusive with an A, not an E. That's easier to distinguish between in print than in my bad pronunciation and my mumbliness that comes with this particular unit I was born with. And that Vegetarian was much more. It felt like this is a small book, but it breaks into a wider cultural context and historical context. The Vegetarian felt smaller to me. It felt both of them are quite fable like, like dark, feeble, strange. Before we get into it, Rebecca, what was your experience of reading? We do not part sort of in a general big picture.

[Rebecca]

I really liked it. I guess just to start straight off from the top, the last Hong Kong I read was Greek Lessons. And that's a short little book. It is very quiet. It has like, it doesn't have any dream elements, but it has kind of a dreamlike feel.

[Jeff]

I think she remedied that with the next book.

[Rebecca]

Yes, we do not part Has a lot of dreamy kinds of.

[Jeff]

Maybe. I mean.

[Rebecca]

Yeah, yeah. I had heard, you know, we try to go into books. I think both of us try to go in knowing as little as possible. I want to be untainted and kind of have the pure experience that the author is trying to give me. But I had heard that this was bringing to light a lesser known horrible thing that happened in South Korean history. And as a person who doesn't have a huge or very robust world history background, that kind of synopsis can put me off of a book or make me a little like am I going to get it right? Like if I don't know about this.

[Jeff]

Event already, should I just read a Wikipedia article? And to no shade that's a good experience, right? Like that can be very worthwhile.

[Rebecca]

It can raise the question for me of do I need to do homework before I read this book? And I did not do any homework because I didn't want to know again what the event was that Kang was writing to. And I was really pleased how she unfolds it and that it's not a straightforward unfolding of this thing that happened, but that it unfurls over the course of the book. And if I wanted to come away, if I wanted to be able to speak a couple paragraphs at a non existent dinner party about the event, I probably would need to do some wikipediaing.

[Jeff]

Just to make sure you have your head screwed on right about what happened.

[Rebecca]

But I got the broad strokes of the thing and I certainly understand why it was horn horrific and why the characters in the book are experiencing and thinking about the aftermath of it in the way that they are. So that was a really present part of the reading experience for me.

[Jeff]

Yeah, the first half of the book you don't know anything. I mean this tragedy, massacre, horrible sequence of thousands of individual crimes perpetrated in Moss doesn't appear until relatively late in the book. All things considered, a singular reading experience for me. I'm not even sure I just finished it last night because I like to have it fresh in my mind and I'm still processing it. I'm not sure I've had a reading experience that like it. I don't even know that it works in the I liked it vocabulary. Like to come out of the psychological rich thing, you know, it's kind of. We're in the sort of more like did you like Schindler's List? You know, it feels weird to say it that way. I was fascinated by it. I was compelled by it. There's a lot there. There are parts frankly I don't understand. And that could be the point of some of it. It could also be reader Lee failure on my part. There's a lot. There's a lot in this particular book and we can get into all of it. Let's see. On the I'm trying to think of generals, I guess in terms of plot at the very beginning. So I had read this much and I think we even talked about it in an it book situation or winter preview a little bit. Just sort of what's it about. And it is and isn't. What the synopsis kind of was that like this young woman or I don't even. Not sure how old are. I think we're middle 30s, 40s.

[Rebecca]

I think we're like middle to late middle age.

[Jeff]

Yeah, they're grown like they've had some time. They've been on the world for a while, which I guess matters more than anything at this point, rather than specific age. Has been having this dream about a floodplain, tidal area with a bunch of stumps in it. Like hundreds of stumps, these black stumps. That's where we start. And then she's thinking about her life and she's had some sort of horrible. It doesn't sound like violent or criminal, but like her family has fallen apart. Like something's going on with her where she's living by herself in near squalor, starving herself. She's not well. Rebecca.

[Rebecca]

Yeah, it's not going great. There's some. Some ailment we're not totally clear on. Physical, emotional or both. And every day she sits down to write her will. And then kind of like Penelope at the loom, undoing everything she loomed that day, everything she wove, she throws it away and then lives to the next day so that she can do it again. There's a great, I thought, beautiful quote that I had underlined where she says I had not reconciled with life, but I had to resume living. Like something has happened where she doesn't want to keep going on. And there's a real tension between the suffering she's experiencing and a desire for the end of that suffering, but also that she doesn't really want to die.

[Jeff]

Yeah, it's not even. It's not suicidal ideation. That's how I read it. It was more like, I just don't know how to continue. Like, I don't want to continue. Exactly. It's not that I don't want to be necessarily, but at some point she kind of comes out of the malaise, at least a little. Like enough to eat rice and take a shower and stuff. And then she gets a text message from an old friend. My geography here is weak, but in a different city, at the very least, it takes some doing to get there. Saying come right. It's elusive, cryptic and disturbing. She goes to find her friend who has had a woodworking accident, nearly cutting off a few fingers on her hand. And I. I daren't wiki the. Is this a real treatment? Every three minutes, the needles. Oh, trigger warnings. It's Just triggers. It's like if they took all the triggers off all the Smith and Wesson's and just put them in a pile. That's what we have here, I should.

[Rebecca]

Say lots of medical traumatic stuff.

[Jeff]

And she's talking with her friend about what's going on in her life. Her friend has her own complicated situation. Living experience, family history. And she asks the main character, I need you to go take care of my bird. It's been a few days and dude's gonna die. I never really thought about how small birds are and how much water they need. And they can't go very long without water. Cause there ain't much to them. Ain't much to a Bird would have been a great show title in the old days. And she undergoes a trek, a sojourn, a quest of a kind to fill the water dish of a bird through.

[Rebecca]

Like a terrible snowstorm in the middle of the sticks.

[Jeff]

Nowhere, outside, nowhere. There's like the last bus with a surly bus driver and she gets lost and like, and she falls into a ravine and she falls into the snow. And I don't, I don't know. We're going to be on spoilers, but I don't think this is spoilers to say that we get to a point where I think it's at this point in hindsight where she's been sleeping in the snow and then gets up that I'm not so sure that everything after that. I can't vouch for the reality of any of it. Rebecca. That's kind of where I have to leave my. This for sure happened on the table.

[Rebecca]

Yeah. And going back and looking at the part like the moments of the book that I had marked, when this main character, when Kyungha goes to the hospital and sees her friend and is recounting that she's been having this dream again. And the dream is related to work they had done together in the past. They used to make documentaries together. They're wondering together, like, what is a dream? What is memory? Where do the two meet and where do they blur? And that's kind of the experience of the whole book. But yeah, everything after she falls into this like frozen. Falls down a hill and into like a frozen creek. Maybe it happens, right? Maybe it, maybe it doesn't.

[Jeff]

Maybe parts of it happen. I mean, we don't know. Like it's not even that binary, right.

[Rebecca]

And there are so many different versions of the. If it didn't all happen, what did or what didn't and how is she dead? Is she Hallucinating. Is it a fever dream? Like, there are. And you don't really know that you're in that land until farther into the book, though. Like, it reads as linear at that point that she has. She has this accident. She, like, spends the night curled up, trying to stay warm outside, and then gets up and somehow makes her way to her friend's house and finds the bird and the bird is dead. And she buries the bird. And it's only after that that weird shit happens and you're like, hold on, wait.

[Jeff]

So I guess this is will be the end of the spoilers about plot, because this, where it matters is like, she's buried this bird. Amma. Is it Ama? There's two birds that. There's only one there. I don't know a lot of talk about how many birds are and what they're doing, but she's buried this bird. Like, we're very careful. We sew it in the thing, we put it in the tin, we put it in the frozen ground. She. She's not doing well and yet gets the shovel out.

[Rebecca]

She's like, bleeding from the face while this happens.

[Jeff]

I think my this is a dream is. I don't know that she could have broken the ground with a shovel in her condition. Like, that's where I'm like, I'm not sure that this is actually possible physically, but we're very clear that the bird is in the ground and then the bird is in the house flying around and fine.

[Rebecca]

Yes.

[Jeff]

And at that point we're like, oh, okay, something else is going on. I really don't want to spoil the rest for people. I mean, I guess at this point we'll say if you care about spoilers. It's super interesting. This is literary fiction doing really interesting stuff. The subject matter is quite difficult. You can see why this is the kind of work the Nobel committee would be interested in. I think that's very clear. Golf. If they're going to say things about basically. Is that right?

[Rebecca]

Thanks so much for listening. Join [e-mail] bookriotpodcast to hear the.