From The Vegetarian, by Han Kang:
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"As far as I was concerned, the only reasonable grounds for altering one’s eating habits were the desire to lose weight, an attempt to alleviate certain physical ailments, being possessed by an evil spirit, or having your sleep disturbed by indigestion. In any other case, it was nothing but sheer obstinacy for a wife to go against her husband’s wishes as mine had done."
Book Review: The Vegetarian
Han Kang was the winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature. That, plus the fact that I had never heard of her, were reasons enough for me to search out this novel. I needed to fill a rather large gap in my literary foundation.
The Vegetarian deals with themes of non-conformity, societal control, bodily autonomy, personal lifestyle choices veering into mental illness, and how people react to that. The events and characters in the novel spiral out of control, but Han Kang never loses control of her tightly constructed story.
The novel is about a young married woman, Yeong-hye, who is inspired to become a vegetarian by her dreams, violent disturbing dreams that invade her mind, asleep and awake. Her tale is told in three parts, by her husband, by her brother-in-law, and then by her sister, none of whom can understand her decision, and each of whom tries different measures, increasingly extreme, to get her to begin eating meat again, and eventually, just to eat...anything.
Her husband becomes estranged from her. Her brother-in-law becomes obsessed by her and exploitative. Her sister feels guilty that she cannot find a way to reach inside her sister's withdrawing mind. The story is dark and increasingly unsettling. When does a determination to live one's life the way you feel you must quit being a choice and start becoming a mental illness?
This is not an enjoyable read. And I can't even say it is an enlightening read. I just don't have any personal experience to relate it to. And that novelty makes it an important read for me.
Grade: B+
"The Vegetarian" is available from the Richardson Public Library. :-)
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