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Book Review: The White Book

INTRODUCTION

The white book explores topics of grief, life, death and the fragility of human life. The white book is

associated with sorrow and loss. Using the color white to express her grief of losing her baby sister. We

discover ways to associate life with the color white. As we continue reading, learn more about why the

color white is associated with purity and life. It tells us how grief can shape our identity.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Han kang, is a South Korean author who is well known for her novel “The vegetarian”, a novel that won

the International Booker prize. She is known for her poetic books that expose the fragile nature of

humans. She became the first korean writer and the first female asian writer to be rewarded the nobel

prize in literature. Han Kang was born on 27 November 1970. Her family was always known for their

literary background. Even though Han’s father struggled to make ends meet, she graduated from

Poongmoon Girls’ High School in 1988. And Yonsei University in 1993. She worked as a reporter for the

monthly saemteo magazine after graduating from university. Then made her debut when she won the New

Year’s literary contest held by Seoul Shinmun. She continued publishing books. And thats what hed her to

being who she is today.

PLOT

This novel is broken up into fragments of memories, brief or long. I find it interesting how the writer tells

us a story just from short fragments. It is a book that doesn't have a flowing plot. Instead it is about brief

memories and thoughts.

For example, in the chapter “she”, the writer imagines her dead sister walking through the streets of the

white city.

In the first chapter, the writer shows us how white can mean birth, purity, and innocence.

The book covers topics like death, mourning, grief, birth, rebuilding, destroying, fragility, etc.

This book ends with silence. Silence that's loud, metaphorically. The silence that dead people leave. A

silence that cannot be deafened.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Theme 1: Death and life

The book uses the color white to explore death, life, mourning, grief, loss, purity, strangeness, fragility,

rebirth, helplessness, beauty, etc.

Theme 2: Fragility of the human nature

This book shows us how fragile humans truly are, how one thing can shape others.

Theme 3: Grief

This book shows us how it feels to experience grief, how it feels to mourn over a loved one. What you

think of when they cross your mind. It shows us that we’re not alone in our journey of grief.

The fragment I liked most was “white city” because it showed us how easily things can be destroyed, how

nothing lasts forever.

Something that frustrated me was the fact that it's a bit hard to understand the book, but at the same time,

that's what makes it beautiful. The process of overanalyzing every page makes the book unique. It gives

you an experience that cannot be replicated.

CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION

I loved this book, I found it very poetic and deep. I would recommend it to other people, but only if

they’re ready for the mental journey this book takes them through. This book is perfect for people who

enjoy reading psychology books that help you explore human concepts. But I wouldn’t recommend it to

people who don’t enjoy analyzing and prefer to read stories for fun. The best chapter to start with doesn’t

exist, because it depends on you.

One final thought about the subtext of the whole book is that it’s very interesting and I’ve never seen it

done before.