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Book Review

Title: The White Book

Author: Han Kang

Genre: Literary Fiction / Experimental Fiction

Rating: 4.5/5

The White Book by Han Kang is a modest but incredibly powerful story about sadness, remembering, loss and hope via the meaning of the colour white. This is not a story but a short sequence of lyrical meditations on white things — snow, salt, rice, cloth, paper, breast milk. These photographs are a powerful meditation on life, death and healing. The novel is based on the death of the narrator’s older sister who died hours after she was born and the narrator imagines the life that her sister may have led.

One of the best things in the novel is the excellent language of Han Kang. Each page is filled with simple, strong language that stirs the emotions. White, a recurring colour throughout the work, symbolises purity and emptiness, birth and death, hope and melancholy. The broken format may seem weird at first, but it does assist the reader to feel melancholy in a personal and thoughtful manner rather than a standard plot.

The novel is a great emotional experience, albeit not for everybody. It may be slow and difficult to follow for individuals who like a rapid pace or a plain tale. It is a book of mood and of symbolism rather than action or character development, and it requires a patient attention. The author’s style is abstract at times, making it difficult to fully understand his message.

But this is a remarkable effect of The White Book notwithstanding these difficulties. It invites the reader to ponder on memory, kinship and the fragile beauty of human life. Han Kang turns the personal into the global. A reminder that even grief can be a source of compassion and hope.

I thoroughly enjoyed The White Book and found it mind provoking. It’s not an easy read but the poetic language and emotional depth make it one to remember.” I recommend this book to readers who love literary fiction, introspective writing and stories that deal with human emotions in a unique and artistic way.