We Do Not Part

THE NEW NOVEL FROM HAN KANG, WINNER OF THE 2024 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE

"[Han Kang's] intense poetic prose . . . confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life."--The Nobel Committee for Literature, in the citation for the Nobel Prize

"Unforgettable."--Hernan Diaz

Han Kang's most revelatory book since The Vegetarian, We Do Not Part tells the story of a friendship between two women while powerfully reckoning with a hidden chapter in Korean history.

One winter morning, Kyungha receives an urgent message from her friend Inseon to visit her at a hospital in Seoul. Inseon has injured herself in an accident, and she begs Kyungha to return to Jeju Island, where she lives, to save her beloved pet--a white bird called Ama. A snowstorm hits the island when Kyungha arrives. She must reach Inseon's house at all costs, but the icy wind and squalls slow her down as night begins to fall. She wonders if she will arrive in time to save the animal--or even survive the terrible cold that envelops her with every step. Lost in a world of snow, she doesn't yet suspect the vertiginous plunge into the darkness that awaits her at her friend's house.

Blurring the boundaries between dream and reality, We Do Not Part powerfully illuminates a forgotten chapter in Korean history, buried for decades--bringing to light the lost voices of the past to save them from oblivion. Both a hymn to an enduring friendship and an argument for remembering, it is the story of profound love in the face of unspeakable violence--and a celebration of life, however fragile it might be.

These book club questions were written by Bookclubs staff.

Book club questions for We Do Not Part by Han Kang

Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.

"We Do Not Part" is the name of Kyungha and Inseon's joint project, and also the name of the novel. Why do Kyungha and Inseon choose "We Do Not Part" as the name of their project? Why do you think Han Kang chose it as the name of the book?

Talk about the recurring nightmare that Kyungha experiences, that forms the basis of the project and is ultimately the impetus for Inseon's injury. Han herself experienced similar nightmares after writing her novel "Human Acts" about Korea's Gwangju Uprising. Does this autobiographical detail change your understanding of the nightmare motif?

What do you think was happening in the later two parts of the novel when Kyungha interacts with Inseon at her home in Jeju? Was Kyungha dreaming? Was Inseon a ghost? Was Kyungha? What other theories or explanations do you have? Ultimately, does it matter what parts of the story were "real" or not?

What did you think of the author's spare yet lyrical writing style? Did you find it effective for the story? How did the fragmented narrative affect your reading experience?

Talk about the symbolism in "We Do Not Part". What do you think the significance of the birds, Ami and Ama, is? What is the role of shadows? Of snow? What other symbolism stood out to you?

Han Kang is known for works that viscerally explore the human body and the suffering and violence that are imposed on it. If you've read any of her other works, how did "We Do Not Part" compare?

This book was written in Korean and translated into English by E. Yaweon and Paige Aniyah Morris. How do you think the act of translation impacted your consumption of the novel?

What is Han saying in this novel about the role of trauma, and how trauma gets passed down through generations? How do Inseon's mother and father carry their trauma? How does it effect Inseon?

What is the role and importance of friendship in "We Do Not Part"? How does Kyungha and Inseon's friendship grow and change over the course of their lives? What does their friendship mean to the women?

Han Kang was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 2024 for "for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life." In what ways does "We Do Not Part" exemplify the traits that the Nobel Committee awarded her the prize for? (While the English translation of "We Do Not Part" only came out in 2025, the book was published in Korean in 2021 and was referenced by the Prize Committee)

In her Nobel lecture, Han shared two questions that were at her core as she wrote many of her books, "Why is the world so violent and painful? And yet how can the world be this beautiful?" How do you see those questions reflected in "We Do Not Part"?

Han explores a piece of Korean history that has largely been buried and only recently apologized for. Why is it important to hold witness to the past? What can the past teach us about the present?

We Do Not Part Book Club Questions PDF

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