Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

21 reviews

thefearlessfrock's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book is extraordinary but I still feel something's missing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Self harm, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Chronic illness, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

It's really heavy.

leonormsousa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-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

4.5

REPRESENTATION 

Korean cast, mental health 

QUOTE 

“The feeling that she had never really lived in this world caught her by surprise. It was a fact. She had never lived. Even as a child, as far back as she could remember, she had done nothing but endure. She had believed in her own inherent goodness, her humanity, and lived accordingly, never causing anyone harm. Her devotion to doing things the right way had been unflagging, all her successes had depended on it, and she would have gone on like that indefinitely. She didn't understand why, but faced with those decaying buildings and straggling grasses, she was nothing but a child who had never lived.” 

WHAT I ENJOYED 

• the violence and weirdness → it took me a little aback at first, but I’m here for it!
• the underlying message (and no, this is not a book about vegetarianism)
• the different POVs allow us to see the story from different perspectives but also contribute to the idea that the MC does not have a voice
• it’s a beautifully written book, even when it’s ugly
• the way it stuck on the back of my head and does not let me go
• I know it’s a book that I’m gonna enjoy even more the second time around

WHAT I DIDN'T ENJOY

• very, very minor but there were points, especially in the dreams sections, where it became a bit confusing for me

READ IF YOU ENJOY

• character-focused books
• a dark, bizarre and disturbing vibe
• unhinged women
• hidden meanings
• different views on life
• non-lovable and flawed characters
• underlying critics of sexist societies

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Misogyny, Blood, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, and Sexism

emmalouisereads's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

4.25

This is very much a story about trauma. 

It’s horrible. All the men are vile. It’s a deeply unpleasant and depressing read.

Proceed with caution I’d suggest. Check the content warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Gore, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Eating disorder, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Animal death, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

jbcrue's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Medical content, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Confinement, Physical abuse, Torture, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Gore, Infidelity, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Self harm, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

avajessie's review

dark emotional 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, Misogyny, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Medical content, and Eating disorder

lycheejelly's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Terminal illness, Blood, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Medical content, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Abandonment, Confinement, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Stalking, Alcoholism, Cursing, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture

aproudmc13's review

dark 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Body horror, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Self harm, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

peter7's review against another edition

dark inspiring mysterious tense slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, and Terminal illness

ichthusangel's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

When I was a few pages into the book, I read some guys say that they could relate to this book because they’re vegan— 

 WHAT???????

The title although isn’t misleading, The Vegetarian is a lot less about vegetarianism and rather about South Korean society, conformity (or the lack of), artistic lust, a person’s primal nature, schizophrenia, abusive and overbearing families, sexual abuse, trauma and metaphors.

A person first exists, and then do they create their essence. The protagonist, The Vegetarian, Yeong hye works constantly to lose her essence and merely exist. Exist in her most primal stage, where all thoughts, opinions and fears would evade her, and her existence would be like a tree’s.

Divided into three parts (primarily published as three novellas), The Vegetarian, Mongolian Mark and Flaming Trees.

• The first part is written in Yeonghye’s husband, Mr. Cheong’s POV who married her because it was easy, not requiring much energy to keep their relationship is outraged when he finds his wife starts throwing away all the meat and is informed she threw away eggs and is giving up on milk as well. 

The reasoning behind it, is that she has a dream, a violent one, which she takes as a sign to renounce meat. 

“Try to push past but the meat, there’s no end to the meat, and no exit. Blood in my mouth, blood-soaked clothes sucked onto my skin.”

“But the fear. My clothes still wet with blood. Hide, hide behind the trees. Crouch down, don’t let anybody see. My bloody hands. My bloody mouth. In that barn, what had I done? Pushed that red raw mass into my mouth, felt it squish against my gums, the roof of my mouth, slick with crimson blood.”

Koreans predominantly follow a non vegetarian diet. Almost every dish is a preparation of meat, or requires eggs etc., in such a society, becoming a vegetarian isn’t considered normal. She becomes a burden in gatherings, especially as she refuses to wear bra, follow pleasantries, bringing her husband immense shame while she stays unperturbed. Her parents are, similarly, disturbed with her giving up meat (and it takes an ugly turn which although, would be expected by anyone who lives in a similar society, still shocks). 

The first novella shows Yeonghye as a non conformist as she goes through vivid, bloody dreams (which continue despite her turning to vegetarianism) and body dysphoria (she views her hands, tongue, foot and gaze etc. as weapons, everything except for her round breasts, however, she doesn’t just become a vegetarian but turns into an insomniac and doesn’t eat well, making her extremely thin, thus even her breasts keep shrinking, edges sharpening as she plunges deeper into renouncing her physicality) while she is abused by her father and raped by her husband. 

TW// Gore, abuse, anorexia, forceful feeding, suicide attempt, suicide ideation and animal cruelty.

“A bird, which had been crushed in her grip, tumbled to the bench. It was a small white-eye bird, with feathers missing here and there.” 

It is a metaphor at the end of the first part that echoes in the third part. This novella is very Kafkaesque, reminded me a lot of The Metamorphosis. 

• The second novella, Mongolian Mark is from third POV, focusing on the protagonist’s brother in law and the protagonist herself. A video artist, Inhye’s husband craves understanding as he plunges into an artists’s block, desperately searching for people who have similar vision as he has. 

The first novella mentions of Mr.Cheong being attracted to Inhye (his sister in law) and while this makes no more appearance as Mr.Cheong himself is no longer a part of the book, having divorced Yeonghye, the sentiment makes a reappearance as Inhye’s husband develops a sexual hunger for Yeonghye after Inhye mentions that she still has her Mongolian mark, a discoloured patch of skin that heals after babies grow older but somehow hasn’t in Yeonghye. A part that dives deeper into artistic sensuality, individualism, mental and physical infidelity, it ends with Yeonghye in psychiartic care (once again) and Inhye’s husband in jail. 

Yeonghye, who’d lost her sense of body and thus sensuality, for the first time shows lust— not for a human body but for flowers. This part is a deeper look into her primal being, as we come to the realisation that she isn’t depressed, or disconnected to the world, rather her energy is concentrated onto some other function because of which she has no energy to offer to the conforming world. 

TW// Rape, infidelity, pedophilic lust, animalistic behaviour and dub con pornography. 

• The third novella, Flaming Trees, also written in third POV, focuses on Yeonghye and Inhye as Yeonghye spends her days in psychiatric care while we’re introduced to Inhye’s trauma and insecurities in form of what ifs.

The most mystical, deeply thoughtful, emotionally reflective novella, this part explores different perspectives and Inhye almost descending to her own world like her sister who’s now diagnosed as schizophrenic, but we also find how Inhye feels like she was never a part of the world, never having lived.

“The feeling that she had never really lived in this world caught her by surprise. It was a fact. She had never lived. Even as a child, as far back as she could remember, she had done nothing but endure. She had believed in her own inherent goodness, her humanity, and lived accordingly, never causing anyone harm. Her devotion to doing things the right way had been unflagging, all her success had depended on it, and she would have gone on like that indefinitely. She didn’t understand why, but faced with those decaying buildings and straggling grasses, she was nothing but a child who had never lived.”

The metaphor of the bird reappears here, which seems to utilise a black-white theme as well, quite like the black swan and white swan from the very famous ballet, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. Everybody dreams but not everyone gives into them. We realise Inhye, despite the fact is the only one who cares for her sister, doesn’t want her stuff to remind her of Yeonghye since her sister’s existence symbolised a renunciation Inhye had almost done but couldn’t continue further (primarily because she was responsible for her child) but which Yeonghye had gone through. It focuses on what is, in contemporary times, dubbed as eldest daughter trauma.

“Why, is it such a bad thing to die?”

This part reminded me of Girl in White Cotton (Burnt Sugar) by Avni Doshi which is a book I absolutely loved.

TW// anorexia, suicide ideation, psychiatric care, schizophrenia, insomnia and past abuse.

[This book has affected me like no other has in any recent time. Would definitely read again, together with The Metamorphosis and Girl in White Cotton.]

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Dysphoria, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide attempt, Violence, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, and Terminal illness

raenyreads's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

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

2.0

I went into this expecting something a lot different from what I got.
Starting with the positives, the prose is amazing, I highly commend the authors writing ability and found the imagery to be so well described through the book. However, this book was not really for me, I went in expecting it to be from the main characters point of view but instead it was from the point of view of people in her life who had abused her in one way or another and treated her like a thing rather than a person. Two out of three of which are from men which I think makes the description of being about 'rebellion, eroticism and the female body' a bit misleading. The final section from the sisters point of view was the best I found but seemed to perpetuate the idea that all women are mentally ill. Throughout the book I found I wanted to know what the main character was feeling not what these people thought of her and so I was left wanting. Maybe this book is more impactful if you have an english degree and can really tease apart what the imagery means. However as I said the writing is really good so I may still read the authors other works.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Grief, Sexual assault, Eating disorder, Medical content, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, and Sexism