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luminous's review against another edition
71% DNF. It's rare that I DNF so far in, but this being a fairly short novel made it easy to press on in hopes it might hook me.
Might DNF. 60%. Audiobook.
Not what I'm looking for at this moment, I suppose. There's not much characterization to hang onto. The woman of the title doesn't have a POV at all, which I'm sure is intentional, because it emphasizes that this tale is in part about how society treats women who don't follow the rules, even if they're completely arbitrary rules like "eat meat." Though that point got a little bit undercut when it turns out she develops anorexia while avoiding all animal products, but she gets treatment and her health improves.
One thing I really liked was that no one in the first part (there are three parts) ever treated her like a person. No one asked her why she was no longer eating meat. No one asked what foods she might like to eat instead. She was just a fembot who was not behaving as programmed. People tried to shove meat in her mouth, tried to sneak it to her as broth, berated and harangued her.
So I think why she may have gone along with the art stuff in the second part is because her bro in law actually saw her as a person (even though he's nearly as execrable as the rest of the family) and treated her like an individual. He didn't try to force her to eat meat or force her into anything at all.
I did learn what a "Mongolian mark" is once I googled it. Kind of a blueish birthmark that usually goes away in the first few years of life, common among Asian ethnicities.
Eh, maybe I'll power through it. It is a short book, after all, and there isn't that much left, and apparently I am finding it thought provoking.
Might DNF. 60%. Audiobook.
Not what I'm looking for at this moment, I suppose. There's not much characterization to hang onto. The woman of the title doesn't have a POV at all, which I'm sure is intentional, because it emphasizes that this tale is in part about how society treats women who don't follow the rules, even if they're completely arbitrary rules like "eat meat." Though that point got a little bit undercut when it turns out she develops anorexia while avoiding all animal products, but she gets treatment and her health improves.
One thing I really liked was that no one in the first part (there are three parts) ever treated her like a person. No one asked her why she was no longer eating meat. No one asked what foods she might like to eat instead. She was just a fembot who was not behaving as programmed. People tried to shove meat in her mouth, tried to sneak it to her as broth, berated and harangued her.
So I think why she may have gone along with the art stuff in the second part is because her bro in law actually saw her as a person (even though he's nearly as execrable as the rest of the family) and treated her like an individual. He didn't try to force her to eat meat or force her into anything at all.
I did learn what a "Mongolian mark" is once I googled it. Kind of a blueish birthmark that usually goes away in the first few years of life, common among Asian ethnicities.
Eh, maybe I'll power through it. It is a short book, after all, and there isn't that much left, and apparently I am finding it thought provoking.
dawndiscusses's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The most endearing part was Han's exploration of the impossibility of a truly ethical life, the impact of which I think has softened to some of the other perceived flaws others have pointed out. I'm generally not a fan of art that requires extra research (e.g. author interviews, discussion threads etc) to get a grasp on, but in this case I'm glad I followed my curiosity. Having watched Han discuss the project and reading a lot of the wonderful clarity provided by people in this community, I am moved by her willingness to open herself up and confront a subject matter that has plagued her for so long. Not in attempt to find a solution, but in the desire to explore what it means to be human. For that alone and the earnestness with which both she and translator Deborah Smith carried this project out, I really enjoyed it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Medical content, Terminal illness, Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Rape, Self harm, Gore, Mental illness, Body shaming, Medical trauma, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, and Sexual assault
Minor: Domestic abuse
felis_ignota's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
immeinen's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
vyhurz's review against another edition
4.0
Full Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jdd7NOQ5ciE
This was a strange one, but after taking some time to think about the story, I decided to give this four stars. The story's structure was completely new to me. It's told in three parts. Every part surrounds the character Yeong-hye, but we never get her point-of-view. Instead, we get her husband, her brother-in-law, and finally her sister. I'm not sure what's a spoiler, so I don't want to say too much else. I feel it's important to note that there are many disturbing images throughout this book, so it deserves all the trigger warnings. Sexual assault, eating disorders, mental illness, self harm, copious amounts of blood. The book is short, but it's powerful. There is beautiful writing in here, and I would definitely read this again.
This was a strange one, but after taking some time to think about the story, I decided to give this four stars. The story's structure was completely new to me. It's told in three parts. Every part surrounds the character Yeong-hye, but we never get her point-of-view. Instead, we get her husband, her brother-in-law, and finally her sister. I'm not sure what's a spoiler, so I don't want to say too much else. I feel it's important to note that there are many disturbing images throughout this book, so it deserves all the trigger warnings. Sexual assault, eating disorders, mental illness, self harm, copious amounts of blood. The book is short, but it's powerful. There is beautiful writing in here, and I would definitely read this again.
elisa_m_b's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
lindapatin's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
wrenemy's review against another edition
4.0
It was never about being vegetarian.
Yeong-hye’s body has never been her own. What does the fight for that control look like? What lengths would one go to regain that autonomy? We are robbed of the central character’s pov, forced to view her circumstances through people who could never understand her. We get glimpses of her thoughts in the first part of the book. The violence against animals, how she watched it happen and the guilt that came with it. How she connected it with the violence against her and the people who stood by and watched it happen. There are no good men here. There will be no apologies. The only person left to reflect on their part in all of it is the only one who could also be seen as a victim, the sister.
I finished this book not really knowing what to think. I was confused but angry. And then it all came to me at once. I can’t say that I liked this book, I don’t think you’re supposed to. But I felt it so deeply. I don’t think I’ll ever stop thinking about it.
harureads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
How compelling do dreams have to be for you to move away from reality and towards death?
That is what I thought as I read through the dehumanisation (literal) of Yeong-hye who became a vegetarian after dreamt of violence intermingled with flesh, and a face. We are never told what the face is, but this face is realised within her body and I understood it to be her personhood, what made her human which she now wants to shed. This exploration of finding a different reality as an ordinary woman in the world ends in death, as I had predicted at the beginning, but what actually threw me off was how violent it was going to be for her to achieve that. Her final moments were spent surrounding a group of people who would not let her escape, and kept pushing her to eat - something that stands between her closure to life and her suffering.
This book is one in the long line of pro-euthanasia books that I have seen being published and popularised recently. Except here, Yeong-hye or even her sister and her husband for that matter, never really lived. Their violent pasts, choices, environments, and their memories made them people who did things, but not once do we see them live beyond this need. And this acts as a cautionary (although avant-garde) tale that resonates strongly in this period of widespread loneliness, the requirement of keeping up la politesse, or being alive for the benefit of someone else as a call for structural change.
That is what I thought as I read through the dehumanisation (literal) of Yeong-hye who became a vegetarian after dreamt of violence intermingled with flesh, and a face. We are never told what the face is, but this face is realised within her body and I understood it to be her personhood, what made her human which she now wants to shed. This exploration of finding a different reality as an ordinary woman in the world ends in death, as I had predicted at the beginning, but what actually threw me off was how violent it was going to be for her to achieve that. Her final moments were spent surrounding a group of people who would not let her escape, and kept pushing her to eat - something that stands between her closure to life and her suffering.
This book is one in the long line of pro-euthanasia books that I have seen being published and popularised recently. Except here, Yeong-hye or even her sister and her husband for that matter, never really lived. Their violent pasts, choices, environments, and their memories made them people who did things, but not once do we see them live beyond this need. And this acts as a cautionary (although avant-garde) tale that resonates strongly in this period of widespread loneliness, the requirement of keeping up la politesse, or being alive for the benefit of someone else as a call for structural change.