The Vegetarian by Han Kang
| The Vegetarian by Han Kang | |
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| Category: General Fiction | |
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Reviewer: Heather Magee
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| Summary: The complex story of a woman's journey from passivity to agency, set against a poignant exploration of body dysmorphia and the alienation of modern urban life. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 183 | Date: August 2023 |
| Publisher: Granta Books | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-1803510057 | |
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This novel, winner of the International Booker Prize in 2016 and penned by an author who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2024, is as close to unputdownable as it gets. It more than lives up to the acclaim. The story introduces uncanny characters with fragile, vividly tangible bodies yet unknowable, elusive souls.
The narrative creeps up with an insidious subtlety, cloaked in its humdrum settings and seemingly conventional relationships. Yet, one element transforms the story entirely: desire. Desire manifests in a myriad of forms—moral objection, sexual avarice, and profound misanthropy—until it saturates the novel, reshaping its very core.
At the heart of the story is a woman, Yeong-hye, who was once ordinary but adopts a dream-induced vegetarian diet, a choice that sets her on a path toward self-erasure. As her longing to root herself in the Earth and partake in vegetal growth deepens, her transformation grows unsettling, culminating in collapse.
For a book about vegetarianism, Han Kang's style is strikingly carnivorous. Her prose devours attention with its precision, indulging in evocative, almost feral language that feels as sumptuous as a feast. The protagonist's silence is ferocious, a force unto itself. Nobody—neither the characters nor the reader—truly understands her, and the enigma of her condition remains shrouded in mystery. This deliberate ambiguity heightens the novel's haunting allure.
The novel is structured as a three-part story, a choice that lends it the layered complexity and episodic rhythm of a serial drama. Each section is narrated from a different perspective, allowing the reader to piece together the protagonist's unraveling through the fragmented, often conflicting lenses of those around her. This structure not only deepens the sense of mystery and tension but also mirrors the novel's thematic exploration of alienation and disconnection. By dividing the narrative into distinct acts, Han Kang crafts a story that feels both cohesive and disjointed, drawing the reader into an unsettling, almost voyeuristic experience as they witness the protagonist's transformation from multiple, imperfect vantage points.
For more fiction with a focus on South Korean culture, read Yolk by Mary H K Choi. This novel also includes themes of eating disorders, so please be aware that it may not be suitable for some readers.
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