From the Bookshelf of The Roundtable…

The Vegetarian

Han Kang

Discussion: New Book Group Read

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 5 topics — 461 comments total

New Book Group Read

* New Book Read - July 2016 - A Little Life
By Dawn , Loves a Challenge · 95 posts · 41 views

last updated Sep 21, 2016 07:37AM

New Book Read - February 2016 - Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War
By Sera · 93 posts · 39 views

last updated Nov 13, 2016 12:01PM

showing 10 of 32 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Feb 13, 2016 Lark Benobi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: best-of-2016, 2016, hogarth

This was a perfect, perfect book for me. The novel is simply told, and very short, but it touches on so many critical, cut-to-the-bone themes, including the most fundamental questions of identity, of gender, of responsibility toward others, and of what makes life worth living. In this novel the more outwardly stable and successful a character is, the less likely they are to have any perspective on their life choices. The more a given character becomes aware of their lived experience, the closer ...more

208 likes · Like · see review

Aug 21, 2020 Henk rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: korean-literature

Well deserved Nobel Laureate for Literature 2024!
Alienating, as if you as a reader are thrown into a nightmare that focuses on what is underneath “real” life. So many dark themes in such a slim work - 4.5 stars rounded up
As if boundaries and limitations didn’t mean anything for her.

So many trigger warnings in such a slim book, The Vegetarian is not for the faint of heart, and packs among others animal abuse, domestic violence, rape within marriage, toxic work environments with permanently workin ...more

143 likes · Like · see review

Jul 01, 2016 Viv JM rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-literary, women-in-translation, in-translation, author-female, read-in-2016

This book really got under my skin. It's dark and disturbing and deeply unsettling but very compelling and occasionally beautiful. In my profile, I say that I rate books on how much I enjoy them rather than on literary merit. I'm not sure enjoyment is the right word to use for this book. I have rated it 5 stars based on how much it has affected me. The Vegetarian, I feel, will stay with me for a very long time. ...more

37 likes · Like · see review

May 18, 2017 El rated it really liked it

Shelves: 21st-centurylit, biddles, library-borrow, hear-me-roar-and-gender, peer-pressure

Interestingly, this book we chose for my in-person book club followed The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, a book in which a young woman suddenly and inexplicably discovers she can taste the emotions of the people who make the food she eats.

If we don't all wind up with an eating disorder after these two books, I will consider it a miracle.

Yeong-hye decides to become a vegetarian after having a bloody nightmare in her sleep one night. This decision disrupts the order of the life she shares with Interestingly, this book we chose for my in-person book club followed The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, a book in which a young woman suddenly and inexplicably discovers she can taste the emotions of the people who make the food she eats.

If we don't all wind up with an eating disorder after these two books, I will consider it a miracle.

Yeong-hye decides to become a vegetarian after having a bloody nightmare in her sleep one night. This decision disrupts the order of the life she shares with her husband, and her lack of explanation maddens him. He turns to her family for help which turns out to strengthen Yeong-hye’s resolve to stop eating meat. Her husband, her brother-in-law, and her sister take turns trying to fix what they feel is a flaw in Yeong-hye’s personality or mental capacity, a sign of weakness or rebellion, each certain that they know the magic answer to make her change her mind and succumb again to their will. Their approaches leave a lot to be desired, however, and at each attempt Yeong-hye retreats further into herself until she becomes a mere shell of the woman she used to be.

Han Kang’s novel – originally published in Korean in 2007 – was translated into English in 2015 by Deborah Smith. The story surrounding Yeong-hye’s decision to become a vegetarian is broken into three distinct pieces, each from the perspective of someone closely related to Yeong-hye. As their actions become progressively more violent and disturbing in their individual chapters, what becomes clear to the reader is that throughout the novel, Yeong-hye herself rarely has a voice. Her determination is, metaphorically-speaking, a way for her to pronounce her own liberation in an otherwise rigidly-controlled environment. In the process, her story is told in part by her husband, her brother-in-law, and her sister, none of whom understand her or her choice. This lack of understanding and dismissal of her feelings illustrate the control Yeong-hye has felt during her life as she has grown from a daughter of a military man to a married woman. Obedience has been an important component in Yeong-hye’s world, and her family is disconcerted by her outward refusal to acquiesce to their wishes. Yeong-hye, however, is never given a chapter to tell her own story; the reader is required to make their own decisions based on the unsettling information presented to them by her family who expect her, for all intents and purposes, to be an object rather than an actual person.

Only then did he realize what it was that had shocked him when he’d first seen her lying prone on the sheet. This was the body of a beautiful young woman, conventionally an object of desire, and yet it was a body from which all desire had been eliminated. But this was nothing so crass as carnal desire, not for her – rather, or so it seemed, what she had renounced was the very life that her body represented.
p92

A disturbing novel on the surface level, what is more troubling is the pressure that her family presses upon her. Yeong-hye has no control over her mind or her body beyond this one simple act of defiance, causing her family to react pitilessly and, at times, even inhumanely. This is not an easy read for everyone, particularly anyone who is easily triggered by images of violence and rape, but the portrayal of a woman not in control of her own decisions is equally as alarming. Yeong-hye’s lack of voice, her almost passive presence, is an important component of this end result, and the novel ends as disconcertingly as the tone throughout seems to promise.

Han Kang’s novel (which requires a slow, intentional reading) touches on the controlling lifestyle many women lead, particularly in South Korea – the setting of her book. Though allegorical, Kang’s story will strike a nerve with many readers for the intense portrayal of a woman who fights to maintain control in a world that otherwise wishes to exclude her from the decision-making process. This is an essential novel, deserving of the Man Booker International Prize that it received in 2016, and one that will undoubtedly be included on feminist reading lists for years to come. ...more

22 likes · Like · see review

Jul 24, 2017 Wendy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: literary-fiction, audiobooks, in-translation, booker-prize, 2017, women-and-the-void

I loved the dark, uncomfortable weirdness of the first section of this book, told from the first-person perspective of the husband of a woman who announces one day that she no longer eats meat. This seems at first to stem from an effort to exert a certain control over her life, yet subsequently signals a descent into madness. Certainly, it takes a certain "madness" to throw off social and cultural conventions, as her (somewhat envious?) sister later observes, but in this case the trajectory of t ...more

8 likes · Like · see review

Mar 05, 2016 Jen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: wit, atw-globetrotter, 2016-releases, 2016-reads, tob17

This is one of those great reading experiences for me where I was in page-turner mode while reading, but then on reflection there is more and more to reflect on. This follows the story of a woman in crisis (or not?), told from various perspectives but not her own. It's a unique and symbolic story, looking at big issues around mental illness, family and gender roles, self identity, etc. I enjoyed the glimpse into South Korean culture and landscape, too. It's amazing to me when a story so short pa ...more

8 likes · Like · see review

Feb 24, 2017 Irene rated it really liked it

A young Korean woman suddenly announces that she will no longer tolerate any meat products in her diet or home. But, this is not a healthy or rational shift to being a vegan. She is starving herself, no longer sleeps adequately, passively ignores social norms such as public nudity, and develops a strikingly flat affect as she withdraws from everyone. This story is told in three sections from three perspectives: her husband who regard their relationship as a marriage of convenience, her brother-i ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Jul 04, 2017 Heather(Gibby) rated it really liked it

Shelves: booker-nominee

This is disturbing look at a woman's battle with mental illness, and her attempts gain control by controlling her body. There is also the effects this battle has on her family, and a weird side story involving her brother-in-law's artistic expression. (you will just have to read it)

I don't have a lot of experience with Asian literature, but the few that I have read are really "edgy" pushing the limits of societal expectations. This book will make the reader uncomfortable in the parts of human sp ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Oct 31, 2016 Pamela rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Messy and unpleasant examination of mental illness. The central character, Yeong-hye, announces one day that she will no longer eat meat. Despite threats, pleas and even physical violence, she gradually withdraws from her life and her family.

For me, this book started well but didn't hold together at all. Despite the title, being a vegetarian is not a central issue for the book and loses much of its significance in the light of later events. There are some random episodes of cruelty, maybe inten ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Jul 01, 2016 Rachel rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: feminism, fiction, libraryebook, man-booker-winner-finalist

This was the perfect horror novel. Strange that it's not marketed as horror. It has that spooky, calm slow Asian feel. ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Jan 31, 2019 Lise Petrauskas rated it liked it

Shelves: asia, international-challenge

Shoot! I was expecting great things from this book because the first section was so compelling. The second section could have led to something really interesting, too, though only if the narrator were to be considered highly unreliable. The third section was a dud. It was both confusing and disappointing.

Hey Han Kang! Keep writing! Get this shit worked out and try again.

2 likes · Like · see review

Mar 04, 2019 Meghan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: korean, library, award-winning, audiobook, asian, man-booker, audio-book, translated, translation, women

First, read this review because it is better than anything I can write. I’d even suggest you read it BEFORE you read the book, particularly if you are unfamiliar with Asian/Korean writing styles and culture. I think this may give you the necessary insight to help improve your appreciation for this story.

This was an intense and searing portrait of a woman who feels she has no control over her life. After a vivid and violent dream, she decides to stop eating meat. And the story progresses, it beco First, read this review because it is better than anything I can write. I’d even suggest you read it BEFORE you read the book, particularly if you are unfamiliar with Asian/Korean writing styles and culture. I think this may give you the necessary insight to help improve your appreciation for this story.

This was an intense and searing portrait of a woman who feels she has no control over her life. After a vivid and violent dream, she decides to stop eating meat. And the story progresses, it becomes less about meat or food, and more about body autonomy. We learn more about her and her illness through the lens of three people closest to her: her husband, her sister’s husband, and her sister.

I feel the first part does a good job in setting up the scene where you the reader can begin to appreciate how restrictive her life is. Her father beat her in her childhood. Her “exhausted” mother could barely manage her own life, let alone her daughter’s. Her older sister was busy managing her father. In this world, everyone revolves around duty and responsiblity to the father. To step outside those boundaries meant a beating. From her father’s home she entered her husband’s. He did not physically abuse her, but culturally, he expected her to maintain her role as wife and caretaker. To step outside that role meant humiliation for him and thus punishment for her (view spoiler).

When she begins to assert her independence through vegetarianism, she finds the freedom to behave in ways that are beyond the boundaries of cultural norm. This is shocking and enticing. We learn more about her attempts at this new freedom through the brother-in-law. The sex described is explicit and almost vulgar. But I feel that it is meant to be, in a distracting way, because for the second time, we are seeing how our protagonist is losing her voice as the man’s voice is overpowering her story with his needs and his desires. The sex is so “in-your-face” so you don’t see how she is being erased. And at the end, we find her even more emaciated and desperate.

The third part is told by the sister. I don’t know if this was deliberate by the publishers, but the audiobook is read by a man during the third part. A story told through the lens of a woman about another woman, read by a man. It felt like that underscored the theme of the powerlessness of having your voice be so completely taken away from you. What I found so interesting about this third part was how the sister could somewhat understand her sister. She too has felt that inadequacy and hopelessness and constraint. She too has desired to burst through those chains of duty and responsibility and expectation. And yet, she could not reach the essential point of understanding so she could reach her sister.

I don’t know what the full meaning of this story is. I have vague thoughts about how imprisonment can lead to insanity and that imprisonment doesn’t need walls. I got that bad taste of Stepford Wives syndrome and a sense of a nod to the 70s sexual revolution. I think one needs to understand the confining and restrictive conformity culture in South Korea to appreciate why this woman and her family react the way they do. But these social expectations are found everywhere around the world and in stories from all countries (Madam Bovary, the Scarlet Letter, Vanity Fair to name a few). Those women who stepped outside of good social expectations were ostracized, with varying degrees of consequences.

Lastly, while I cannot comment on the accuracy of the translation, I did not enjoy it. I felt many of her word choices were clunky and very odd, spoiling the imagery that was being built. I don’t know if this has more to do with the fact they stood out because of the narration or if I would have found them equally odd to read. But it happened one too many times for me to think it was just me or the narrators. I feel that while the words may be appropriate in meaning, there had to be better ones to choose from that would be more “Korean” and a lot less American-sounding. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Dec 18, 2020 Nike rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

I was totally hypnotized by this masterpiece. I am still a bit overwhelmed by it even though two weeks has passed since I finished it. It's a magical book, surprising and painful and beautiful .... and still more painful.

About a woman who spirals down into deep mental illness. And how the society and family apart from one person turn their backs to her because of her madness. How can family be so ashamed of someone they once loved and how can "what will others say?!" be more important than the ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Mar 09, 2016 Julie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: korea, read-in-2016, man-booker-international

Well that was weird.

The book is written in three sections, from the viewpoint of three different people. Sections 1 and 3 were weird in an interesting way and get 4 stars. Section 2 was weird in a creepy way and brought my enjoyment of the book down a bit.

Like · see review