Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

20 reviews

alexofsuburbia's review against another edition

2.0

Voy a confesar que cuando lo terminé me sentí confundida, incluso en el transcurso de la segunda parte consideré abandonarlo pero me ganó la curiosidad y por eso decidí terminarlo. Por suerte encontré un análisis buenísimo y muy completo en youtube que me ayudó a procesar las ideas que no llegué a interpretar de manera completa. Sin ese análisis siento que me habría quedado con la idea equivocada sobre la novela. 

Diría que como tal no me gustó porque esperaba algo completamente distinto y realmente creo que toda la segunda parte pudo ser omitida, en ratos pensaba que estaba leyendo a un autor masculino cualquiera y no a una autora ganadora de un nobel por haber realizado una crítica necesaria, pero ya después reconocí el talento de la autora porque al tener la narración de la hermana se nota completamente el cambio. Aunque honestamente sigo sin entender el punto del cuñado, habría sido una historia mucho mejor sin esa parte. 

Lo que más me gustó fueron los sueños de la protagonista, creí y me habría gustado que hubiéramos leído más de ellos pero no fue el caso, eran lo único que me tenía enganchada a la historia porque la narración del esposo también me molestó mucho. En cuanto a la tercera parte me costó un poco porque no era algo con lo que esperaba identificarme. 

En general creo que es una historia bastante dolorosa, sí refleja como se ve de manera externa el no encajar en ciertos estereotipos de la sociedad y como eso va perjudicando a un nivel exagerado cuando todo se podría evitar “fácil” pero por desgracia nunca va a ser así. En cuanto a lo que le toma a la autora para llegar o contar esto… no creo que haya sido muy eficiente porque pudo contar lo mismo de una forma bastante diferente. Yo nunca, nunca, nunca voy a estar de acuerdo en narrar/exponer/usar cierto tipo de abusos para que la moraleja sea “es que así es la vida y eso está mal” porque se puede llegar a esa misma conclusión evitando repetir esos mismos actos que tanto se quieren criticar. 

Tal vez luego le vuelva a dar una oportunidad a la autora, pero aunque no lo haya querido admitir sí fue una decepción. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, and Sexual harassment

intensidadluminosa's review

dark emotional reflective sad fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Alcoholism and Child abuse

scoop1's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Blood

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Alcoholism, Vomit, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

kat_jack's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Eating disorder, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, and Sexual content

gossameralbum's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

i can not stop thinking about this book. overall it is about the absence of autonomy for women, in every way imaginable.
definitely check content warnings and do not take them lightly, as most of them are very graphic and haunting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism

heddasch's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Alcoholism, Dementia, and Mass/school shootings

maddamreads's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

In three parts, the most compelling was the first and maybe the last, with the middle only serving to propel the story. It feels like statements and themes were on the beginning of exploration before abandoned to serve what happens next. I think a lot of the effect was missed by the translation into English.

Part 1 The Vegetarian
Definitely a strong but strange opener, the choice to have the story be told primarily through the husbands thoughts is provoking. It touches on themes of duty and expectation for women while also having the reader question “what defines madness.”

You start to empathize with Yeong-hye's desire. How much is it madness and how much is it reaction to her family and husband not respecting her wishes.

Part 2 The Mongolian Mark
I hated this chapter so much I skimmed a bit. Talking about lust, need, and the romanticization of living and mental illness. I found the character to be deeply unsatisfactory and one-dimensional, even though it felt like the point was to make the audience empathize with him.

There could have been an exploration of the meaning of sex, the meaning of art, and the meaning of living fully. But all I got was a horny guy having sex with his sister in law “for the sake of art.”

Part 3 Flaming Trees
A thorough, honest look at mental illness, how it affects one’s duties to others, and grief for someone still alive. It was very introspective, but it could have been way shorter with the flashbacks. The overall tone is melancholy and helpless-which is perfect. It did not make me turn pages the way the first chapter did.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Blood

May be hard to read if previously suffered from depression and/or an eating disorder.

birdafterdark's review

challenging dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Medical content

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Infidelity, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Vomit, and Abandonment

monserrot's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail