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Greek Lessons: From the International Booker Prize-winning author of The Vegetarian

3.7(55)
Hardcover€15.99Paperback€13.50
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About the book

A powerful novel of the saving grace of language and human connection, from the celebrated author of The Vegetarian

In a classroom in Seoul, a young woman watches her Greek language teacher at the blackboard. She tries to speak but has lost her voice. Her teacher finds himself drawn to the silent woman, for day by day he is losing his sight.

Soon they discover a deeper pain binds them together. For her, in the space of just a few months, she has lost both her mother and the custody battle for her nine-year-old son. For him, it's the pain of growing up between Korea and Germany, being torn between two cultures and languages.

Greek Lessons tells the story of two ordinary people brought together at a moment of private anguish - the fading light of a man losing his vision meeting the silence of a woman who has lost her language. Yet these are the very things that draw them to one another. Slowly the two discover a profound sense of unity - their voices intersecting with startling beauty, as they move from darkness to light, from silence to expression.

Greek Lessons is a tender love letter to human intimacy and connection, a novel to awaken the senses, vividly conjuring the essence of what it means to be alive.

Editions (3)

ISBN9780241600276
PublisherHamish Hamilton
Publication Date04/27/23
Pages160

Reviews & Ratings

55 ratings

7 reviews

3.7

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  • soulfulrina_reads
    soulfulrina_reads

    116 Followers

    5.0

    Told in Beautiful Prose

    In a classroom in Seoul, two nameless protagonists meet. She, unable to speak, shapes words silently with her lips. He, caught between Korea and Germany, between his own culture and a foreign one - struggles as his eyesight slowly fades. During their Greek lessons, something delicate begins to grow between them. Told in shifting perspectives, their thoughts and emotions overlap: reflections on loss, past love, and the struggle to exist in a world where vital senses are missing from birth or slip away over time. With quiet, poetic language, Han Kang draws us into the inner lives of these two characters and the fragile love that slowly takes shape. This is such a beautiful, short novel, full of introspection, tender and deeply moving. I also really enjoyed the audiobook, the narration was wonderful.

    Aug 20, 2025

  • hanabaiyu
    hanabaiyu

    4 Followers

    4.0

    3.5? Wunderschön geschrieben aber ich werd das Gefühl nicht los, dass ich irgendwas nicht verstanden hab. Re-read wird bestimmt folgen.

    Aug 12, 2024

  • ullalala
    ullalala

    5 Followers

    4.0

    poetical, but not an easy read but playful language

    Jul 20, 2025

3 of 7 reviews

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