A review by khadijaheatswords
The Vegetarian by Han Kang

dark emotional tense slow-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

4.5

The body horror in the vegeterian is restrained but effective, especially when read as a feminist text. The three sections of the novel condense the timeline so that what we experience as reader’s is Yeong-Hye’s rapid loss of control over her own body. What begins as a personal, if unconventional, choice almost immediately designates Yeong-Hye’s body as the locus for intimate violence and cultural debate. That we rarely hear from Yeong-Hye herself also raises the question of who truly owns her story. 


There are criticisms of the translation and as someone who doesn't speak Korean, I can only say the dialogue felt stilted at times which I don’t think is an affect of Kang’s. Cultural nuances also seem to be misunderstood in translation. All that is to say, there is something that feels off in the reading of this translation that is identifiable even to non-Koreans but I don’ count that against Han Hang.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings