Han KangFiction · Literary Fiction·b. 1970
The Vegetarian
Synopsis
After a series of violent, bloody dreams, Yeong-hye — an unremarkable young woman in Seoul — quietly decides to stop eating meat. In a culture where the choice reads as an affront, this small act of refusal sets her at odds with her husband, her domineering father, and everyone who believes her body is theirs to manage. What begins as a dietary change deepens into a total withdrawal from the appetites and obligations of ordinary life.
Told in three parts, each narrated by someone orbiting Yeong-hye rather than by Yeong-hye herself — her coldly practical husband, her sister's artist husband, and finally her sister In-hye — Han Kang's novel circles its subject without ever fully explaining her. The perspectives expose the desire, complicity, and helplessness of those around her as she drifts further from human norms and toward something plant-like and unreachable.
Winner of the International Booker Prize, The Vegetarian is a spare, disquieting fable about bodily autonomy, mental illness, patriarchal control, and the violence — domestic and institutional — visited on a person who simply stops cooperating. Its restrained prose and mounting strangeness have made it one of the most discussed works of contemporary Korean literature in translation.
How it reads
- Writing5.0
- Impact3.0
- Characters2.0
- Plot3.0
- Atmosphere3.0
Prose complexity 7/10
Content warnings (4)
ViolenceSelf HarmEating DisorderAbuse
- Dark, visceral, relatable. Ominous, deranged, chaotic.
- "Life is such a strange thing, she thinks, once she has stopped laughing. Even after certain things have happened to them, no matter how awful the experience, people still go on eating and drinking, going to the toilet and washing themselves-living, in other words." I had to go back and forth trying to understand the appeal of this book, especially since it won the 'Nobel Prize in Literature and Booker International Prize. And I kinda see why with its bold-raw-bizarre story and language, its symbolism (mental disorder, the human mind, objectification of women and abuse), its themes, and the polarizing reactions from readers with their perspective on how it feels and means to them. Writing/Plot; very descriptive, simple, engaging, somewhat hard to follow midway, and disjointed narrative sometimes, unsatisfying conclusion. Content warning; eating disorder, marital rape, abuse, misogyny, self-harm, suicide attempt, sexual assault, violence, death Characters: morally ambiguous, Limited character growth, unlikeable and repulsive Reason For Reading: The Indulgent bibliophile book club March pick The first part was very engaging to me though, I was expecting some sort of family secrets, a primary focus on vegetarianism (as it's titled), going against societal and traditional norms/concepts, and challenging the patriarchy. While it indeed reflected those in extraordinary ways... it went beyond and oddly bizarre, overly gratuitous, and dramatic after the first part of the story. In the end, it was an unsatistying conclusion for me, especially because I couldn't get into Yeong-hye's head to see her perspective and understand her. I wished her pov was written, I NEEDED TO HEAR HER VOICE rather than see her through the perspective of the disgusting men in her life and her sister who was pretty much unmemorable to me It wasn't for me, but I can see why it could be appealing to others
- Ένα πραγματικά ιδιαίτερο βιβλίο που, παρά το δύσκολο θέμα του, με μαγνήτισε τόσο καθώς το διάβαζα ώστε το σκεφτόμουν ακόμη κι όταν το άφηνα. Στη Σεούλ μια γυναίκα γίνεται ξαφνικά χορτοφάγος (και σταδιακά τρώει γενικώς όλο και λιγότερο) και η ζωή των ανθρώπων γύρω της έρχεται τούμπα. Συζυγικές και εξωσυζυγικές σχέσεις, οικογενειακά δράματα, τραύματα και απωθημένα του παρελθόντος, ψυχική υγεία, αλλά και αγάπη και πάθος και καλλιτεχνική δημιουργία και νοιάξιμο, όλα αυτά προσεγγίζονται άλλοτε με έναν ωμό, σχεδόν κλινικό, τρόπο και άλλοτε με τρυφερότητα σε αυτό το μυθιστόρημα της νομπελίστριας Χαν Κανγκ. Η Κανγκ επιλέγει να σκιαγραφήσει τη χορτοφάγο ηρωίδα της διαδοχικά μέσα από το βλέμμα τριών κοντινών της προσώπων, του συζύγου, του κουνιάδου και της αδερφής της, εστιάζοντας μας κάθε φορά και σε μια διαφορετική πλευρά της, σε ένα αντεστραμμένο θα έλεγε κανείς σχήμα της γυναίκας ως συζύγου, ως αντικείμενου του πόθου και ως μικρού κοριτσιού. Ένα βιβλίο που δεν σου γεμίζει αρχικά το μάτι, αλλά τελικά σου ασκεί μια ανεξήγητη γοητεία.
- I thought this was gonna be a nice creepy, disturbing book, but it was nothing of the sort. And whatever it is, it was boring and tedious to read. 14/10/24 She won a Nobel Prize, don't mind what I said...
- Iniziando a leggere questo libro pensavo parlasse di altro. Il libro che parla di disagio psicologico, violenza e amore. La trama mi ha rapito
- surreal and disturbing. worth a read and a good cry.
- A reflection on our autonomy