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pixie_d 's review for:
The Vegetarian
by Han Kang
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Recently Han Kang won the Nobel Prize for literature. This book was very low on my tbr, but when I saw the audiobook was so short, I decided to listen to it. Of the two narrators, I liked Stephen Park, who I'm almost certain is the actor. I've always liked him. He managed to inject some needed humor into the first section, seen from the p.o.v. of the cluelessly arrogant (and therefore abusive) husband.
At least it was amusing until the rape, which was the start of horrible, gross, and weird things that really turned me off to this book even though the writer just won a major international award. The next section, from the point of view of the brother-in-law, creeped me out even more. I heard the voice change a couple of times as if there were a few sentences Stephen refused to read. If that's true, good for him.
The book was sold on the idea that a woman's decision to turn vegetarian shakes up her family, but that's not really what was going on with her. Minor spoiler ahead: The third section, from the sister's p.o.v., explores what it might be like to have a sister who has gone crazy and is dying of anorexia. I get annoyed when books' marketers misrepresent the product.
At least it was amusing until the rape, which was the start of horrible, gross, and weird things that really turned me off to this book even though the writer just won a major international award. The next section, from the point of view of the brother-in-law, creeped me out even more. I heard the voice change a couple of times as if there were a few sentences Stephen refused to read. If that's true, good for him.
The book was sold on the idea that a woman's decision to turn vegetarian shakes up her family, but that's not really what was going on with her. Minor spoiler ahead: The third section, from the sister's p.o.v., explores what it might be like to have a sister who has gone crazy and is dying of anorexia. I get annoyed when books' marketers misrepresent the product.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Suicide attempt