A review by samihami
The Vegetarian by Han Kang

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I couldn’t find sense in it. +3 stars for the creative narrative style and the theme of culture, traditions, and going against them. -2 because it seems
like vegetarianism is a sign of mental condition (since Yeong-hye ends up having an ed, attempts suicide, dissociates completely, and exhibits unusual behaviour) and because it just didn’t make sense to me. The dream inputs in the beginning were confusing, the characters seemed to have been quite one dimensional and Yeong-hye’s mental state just felt out of place and a little but silly. 
 
Though I must say I enjoyed the depiction of
marital SA as that rarely gets acknowledged or represented and isn’t commonly shown so realistically as it is The Vegetarian.


Overall it’s okay but wouldn’t recommend it to someone out of nowhere or reread it. 

Keep in mind that this can be triggering for some. 

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