The Vegetarian

By Han Kang

Ah, what a surprise.

I thought this would be a lighthearted and fun book about a Korean woman who decided to turn vegetarian in a culture where meat is consumed as much as air is breathed.  As it turned out, not only was it not lighthearted, but also it was dark and disturbing.

Life as known to Yeong-hye disintegrated when she started having terrible dreams about eating meat.  She turned vegetarian overnight. Her decision derailed the settled, order-driven life that she shared with her husband.  Their marriage went from being thoroughly mundane to a full-blown disaster for the whole family.

Readers would be taken on the journey after Yeong-hye’s decision to turn vegetarian. It was the beginning of the end for her life.  As her mind drifted into a terminal insanity, causing her to eventually refuse all food, Yeong-hye was fated to suffer a terrible end.

To be honest, this book was a difficult reading.  The shocking developments confronted readers with the dark reality of the male’s exploitation of the female body.  The book was certainly rife with eroticism, but it would not be lost on the readers the sexual violence that, in this book at least, has been the other side of the same coin as committed against the vulnerable body and soul of Yeong-hye.

As a woman it was difficult for me to refrain from passing moral judgment on the characters that committed such violence.  Yet I read on, because the author powerfully exposed the raw emotions, objectified desires and the strong bond of sisterhood that layered the story with dilemmas and complexities.  At the end of sister In-hye’s narration, I came to face with an inevitable question: if I were In-hye, what would I do?

Readers beware, for this book is a tragedy.

Note: Han Kang has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2024.

This book has been recommended by the Guardian’s World Literature Tour.