Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by chantplant
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
dark
4.25
Not sure how I feel about the pacing in this one but i guess you could say that's on purpose to match the unease of the characters. Having the first 2 parts be in the perspective of the men is genius. you really see how little they think of the women in their lives & how they will never ever take any responsibility for their own actions. they will do awful evil things to both In-Hye & Yeong-Hye but describe it in the most mundane, matter-of-fact way.
This book as a whole is a huge commentary on misogyny in South Korea & the way that the family dynamic is specifically set up to put women last. A woman can never just exist. She has to be someone's wife, daughter, sister, mother, etc. I burned with anger everytime Yeong-Hye's husband refused to call her by name & solely said "my wife." I actually don't think he ever called her by name once.
The misogynies that drown our two female main characters - especially Yeong-Hye - is suffocating & it broke my heart that sheer hatred for women was the only thing stopping Yeong-Hye from getting much needed preventative mental health care. Like these men don't like women. They don't even see them. They just exist to service them however they want & then throw them away. It's no wonder Yeong-Hye was doing everything she could to escape her current existence.
My favorite part of the book was the last bit where In-Hye is attempting to take care of Yeong-Hye in the mental ward yet she seems too far gone. Reading about Yeong-Hye's Schizophrenia induced Anorexia was chilling. It was also interesting to know how the hospital worked and the way the patients existed within it. I like the somewhat opened-ended ending as well.
This book as a whole is a huge commentary on misogyny in South Korea & the way that the family dynamic is specifically set up to put women last. A woman can never just exist. She has to be someone's wife, daughter, sister, mother, etc. I burned with anger everytime Yeong-Hye's husband refused to call her by name & solely said "my wife." I actually don't think he ever called her by name once.
The misogynies that drown our two female main characters - especially Yeong-Hye - is suffocating & it broke my heart that sheer hatred for women was the only thing stopping Yeong-Hye from getting much needed preventative mental health care. Like these men don't like women. They don't even see them. They just exist to service them however they want & then throw them away. It's no wonder Yeong-Hye was doing everything she could to escape her current existence.
My favorite part of the book was the last bit where In-Hye is attempting to take care of Yeong-Hye in the mental ward yet she seems too far gone. Reading about Yeong-Hye's
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Medical content, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis