At first, its mundane strangeness may remind you Death in Spring – Mercè Rodoreda trans.You may think you know where Han's English-language debut novel is going, but you have no idea.Closely Watched Trains – Bohumil Hrabal trans.Join 1,007 other subscribers That Twitter thing My Tweets Recent Posts The Vegetarian won the Man Booker International prize in 2016 for a reason because it is unique and extraordinary. The only means of breaking out of the social constraints placed on Yeong-hye, is for her to abuse her body and maintain control of her mental and physical self. This is a visceral and violent novel (there is a force-feeding scene that made me feel physically sick), which goes against the grain of everything I associate with being vegetarian. She is passionate about her decision yet entirely dispassionate at every point, almost blank and expressionless – we never get her view though and so the 3 narrators describe her with the same lack of passion they are expected to display themselves in a community so obsessed with the “right” image.

It is a society obsessed with how others view you and one constantly concerned with reputation when someone dares to break with tradition. The last part is told by her sister who guides us through the familial fall-out and feuds that result from Yeong-hye’s decision to turn veggie.Īll three sections describe a conservative society not designed to deal with choices outside the mainstream. The second narrator is Yeong-hye’s brother-in-law, an unsuccessful artist who becomes obsessed with her body and it being the key to his much desired commercial success and artistic acceptance. He describes how her decision is met by other family members and society in general.

Yeong-hye’s story is told from three points of view over a number of years.

The isolation spirals Yeong-hye’s mental and physical well-being to beyond even medical help. Her family is unsupportive and none of them understand her choice. The following day she throws away all the meat in the house and refuses to eat anything but vegetables. A violent and disturbing dream is the catalyst to Yeong-hye’s dietary decsion. Being vegetarian is not well received in Korea. Our commitment to going veggie is nothing to the “completely unremarkable” Yeong-hye’s in Hang Kang’s award winning novel, The Vegetarian. The kids aren’t happy but took great delight in the realisation they can eat meaty things at the school canteen, which is beyond my jurisdiction.

It was pretty good actually the challenge of rethinking our entire menu choices appealed to my need to do something different to herald the new year. Last January I imposed vegetarianism on my family.

Deborah smith the vegetarian