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A review by llotuslily
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
dark
sad
tense
slow-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
2.5
[2.5/5]
I’m honestly really surprised I didn’t like this book… it seemed right up my alley. I went into it with every confidence I would at least gain a new perspective, if not enjoyed it. Maybe it’s because I just came off of Sayaka Murata’s latest book, which was pretty disturbing, that I was left so unfazed during this read, but nothing about it was really surprising to me. I didn’t feel like it was telling me something new, and the rest of the book was pretty predictable and repetitive… I was so disappointed. Then I learned after the fact it won a Nobel Prize… What am I missing??
I really am so surprised this one was a miss for me that I feel guilty about the low rating, since there was clearly a lot of emotion behind the writing. Did I just feel like there wasn’t enough nuance between each character’s relationships with each other? Or maybe it was just throwing too many themes out there (patriarchy, mental health, individuality, domestic abuse, family abuse, humans in nature/animalistic instincts…), and it didn’t dive deep enough into any of them to leave an impact? It all felt very surface level—for example, the abusive husband was exactly the stereotype of an abusive husband, so he was more of a trope than a character. I couldn’t take him seriously, and that made it hard to connect and sympathize with Yeong-hye on a deeper, personal level, past the basic human empathy that comes with seeing a character get abused. That’s not to say it isn’t entirely unrealistic, there are relationships like this out there, but maybe I just felt bashed over the head with it for a novel I wanted to be challenged by. But I wasn’t challenged, it just felt like being preached to the choir. Abuse = bad and will have a bad effect on the victim’s mental health. Not having a support system = bad and can worsen one’s mental health. I feel like there has to be more to it than just these facts I already know to be true, but I just didn’t feel anything, and I’m so sad that’s how this book turned out for me.
I’m honestly really surprised I didn’t like this book… it seemed right up my alley. I went into it with every confidence I would at least gain a new perspective, if not enjoyed it. Maybe it’s because I just came off of Sayaka Murata’s latest book, which was pretty disturbing, that I was left so unfazed during this read, but nothing about it was really surprising to me. I didn’t feel like it was telling me something new, and the rest of the book was pretty predictable and repetitive… I was so disappointed. Then I learned after the fact it won a Nobel Prize… What am I missing??
I really am so surprised this one was a miss for me that I feel guilty about the low rating, since there was clearly a lot of emotion behind the writing. Did I just feel like there wasn’t enough nuance between each character’s relationships with each other? Or maybe it was just throwing too many themes out there (patriarchy, mental health, individuality, domestic abuse, family abuse, humans in nature/animalistic instincts…), and it didn’t dive deep enough into any of them to leave an impact? It all felt very surface level—for example, the abusive husband was exactly the stereotype of an abusive husband, so he was more of a trope than a character. I couldn’t take him seriously, and that made it hard to connect and sympathize with Yeong-hye on a deeper, personal level, past the basic human empathy that comes with seeing a character get abused. That’s not to say it isn’t entirely unrealistic, there are relationships like this out there, but maybe I just felt bashed over the head with it for a novel I wanted to be challenged by. But I wasn’t challenged, it just felt like being preached to the choir. Abuse = bad and will have a bad effect on the victim’s mental health. Not having a support system = bad and can worsen one’s mental health. I feel like there has to be more to it than just these facts I already know to be true, but I just didn’t feel anything, and I’m so sad that’s how this book turned out for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment
Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Vomit, Dementia, Abandonment, Dysphoria