A review by valefranze
La vegetariana by Han Kang

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? No

3.5

Okay so, this is definitely going to become a classic. I just know literature teachers are gonna gobble this up in the future because there's just so much to be said, so many layers to uncover and interpret.
The book is divided in three acts, each narrated from a different POV. The first act was iconic to me. Things took a very sexual turn in the second act. I was dissociating
by the third sex scene
, it just didn't feel right. I believe Kang aims to make the readers uncomfortable throughout the whole book in order to make them realize the truth and, subsequently, move them to feelings of protest. The truth she intends to highlight is that misogyny is deeply rooted in society. This deeply affects men's perception of women and women's life experiences. I doubt that even a blind misogynist would be able to get through this book, without having to question their beliefs. They'd either have to drop the book before the end of the first act and choose to keep living with their cognitive dissonance or change their belief system. My point is, you really have to be lacking fundamental critical thinking and comprehension skills not to get the message Kang is trying to convey here, even if she never states anything bluntly. The third act was the best one. I literally sighed in relief after the unpleasant experience of the previous act and feeling like I was trapped in a men's head for most of the book. In-hye's perspective was like a breath of fresh air and she's the only character who managed to begin to understand the protagonist, Yeong-hye. In-hye's thought process was interesting. As a woman, she was able to relate to her sister and realize that, maybe, she hadn't simply gone mad. What if Yeong-hye's condition was simply the natural development of what she had gone through?, she asks herself. She even envies her, because she managed to let go of a life she was trapped in, unlike her. She's finally free from the bounds of society, a patriarchal one. The second she broke societal norms by becoming a vegetarian, the misogynists feared her (the adversion for vegetarianism and veganism is totally tied to misogyny btw). They didn't know how to control her anymore, so they simply said she had gone insane, which is the most dangerous thing a woman can be. 
I read the Italian translation and definitely noticed how poetic Kang's prose is at times. She handled heavy topics with grace and posed many existential questions while doing so. I understand why this book has won a Nobel prize, despite it being a challenging and uncomfortable read. I probably would've written something even heavier if I lived in Korea. The 4B movement makes so much sense.
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