Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

617 reviews

tiernanhunter's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Gaslighting

Minor: Ableism

bashsbooks's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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The Vegetarian is so compelling. It uses the unusual but very appropriate lense of vegetarianism to explore a wealth of other topics, from sexual violence to self-harm to familial abuse. I will have to reread it again at some point, as I definitely did not pick up all its nuances the first time around - it may be short, but it's dense. It is told in three parts, each from a different perspective, and I haven't decided how I feel about the tri-point-of-view yet, which is just about the only thing keeping me from giving it a full 5 stars. Regardless, it is haunting, and my brain will keep wandering back to it, for sure.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Vomit

renegadegrocerycart's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Challenging and darkly fascinating exploration of obsession, bodily purity, mental illness, and societal control. It’s very difficult to read, but worth it, I think.

Yeong-hye is reminiscent of Anna of The Wonder by Emma Donoghue in her obsession to purify her body in response to trauma; it’s interesting to read them side-by-side. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail

All of the aforementioned trigger warnings are integral to the story. If you are sensitive to any of them, consider taking a pass on this story.

lreeve's review against another edition

3.0

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail

inky_cap's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: N/A

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail

cat_d's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Infidelity

_dani's review against another edition

2.0

medium-paced

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder, Rape, Suicide, Forced institutionalization

bronzeageh's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis

megselyane's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Eating disorder, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Abandonment

Minor: Body shaming, Child abuse, Vomit, Dementia

jayisreading's review against another edition

3.0

dark sad tense medium-paced

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I’m not going to lie, I was too distracted by the English translation to actually form a nuanced opinion about the themes of this book. I was fully aware of the controversy of the English translation in South Korea when I decided to read this, and… I definitely see why. I decided to have the original on hand to do an occasional comparison, and from the bits I read, it seemed like a different book.

I don’t think Smith’s lyrical translation captured the tone of The Vegetarian. The original didn’t really have these embellishments and read as more restrained. I also thought it was concerning that the protagonist’s voice came across differently, with the translation making her more passive. There’s also the major issue of there being errors in the translation. And, if I was reading some passages correctly, Smith just omitted things? It still surprises me that Han was okay with all of this.

Focusing on the book itself, though, I was a bit underwhelmed. I can see why it received so much attention for its themes that I’m still trying to process, but I wasn’t particularly invested in the story and characters, and it just seemed to drag on. There were a lot of grotesque and violent descriptions that, at times, felt unnecessary, and I can see how this might make quite a few readers squeamish.

I’m tempted to read the original in its entirety and not just snippets, but considering that I felt ambivalent about the book, I’m not sure if this will happen.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Suicide attempt