Reviews

The Fruit of My Woman by Han Kang

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repobi's review

4.0

Well, this bizarre story is beautifully written.

This is in many ways a direct precursor to her novel The Vegetarian, which won Man Booker Prize. The basic premise is the same: A woman undergoing a transformation. In this story, the woman transformed into a plant, literally, while in The Vegetarian is is seen as a mental illness.

dawntin's review

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dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

sarabrennan's review

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3.0

Obviously I read this in English but for some reason the translated version (The Fruits of my Woman) of this is no longer available to log on Goodreads? Like it only comes up as a book when you specifically search it on desktop and then glitches when you try to add it. But I never give up, so I will just log it in Korean instead! Very similar to The Vegetarian. Super weird but if you like that stuff, which I do, then you should enjoy.

peelspls's review

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4.0

I read the story here: https://granta.com/the-fruit-of-my-woman/

This is the story of a marriage that unravels because the wife experiences an almost supernatural transformation. As bland as that sounds, though, the story also speaks of loneliness in a way that renders the emotion into a character in the couple's marriage itself. It is almost as if there are two separate emotions who are living their lives out via the physical corporeal characters who carry them: Loneliness via the Husband and The Desire to Flee via the Wife.

The translator compares the work to Kafka's Metamorphosis, and to some degree, it is about a person becoming a tree and what the consequences of that might be.