Greek Lessons feels like a departure from Han Kang's other English-translated novels; tugging bit by bit at the heartstrings, readers are left speechless with both sadness and hope by the final pages.

In Han Kang’s "Greek Lessons," words are both insufficient and too powerful to tame.

There are elements of both books in Greek Lessons, which also bears traces of Han Kang as a poet, with its emphasis on fleeting imagery and mood rather than conventional narrative structure.

Find out why "Greek Lessons" by Han Kang is on TIME's list of the must-read books of the year.

Greek Lessons by Han Kang, translated by Deborah Smith and Emily Yae Won, Hamish Hamilton £16.99, 160 pages/Random House $26, 192 pages Join our online book group on Facebook at FT Books Café ...

Teacher and student, both grieving, forge a bond across limitations of sight and speech in Han Kang’s ‘Greek Lessons’ By Cleo Qian Updated April 20, 2023, 5:46 p.m.