Book details
The Vegetarian
by Han Kang
2007 · Hogarth
About the book
Yeong-hye, a South Korean housewife, suddenly stops eating meat after a series of visceral, bloody dreams. This single act of domestic rebellion triggers a violent response from her husband and father, eventually fracturing her entire family. The narrative shifts perspective through three sections, following her brother-in-law’s artistic obsession with her body and her sister’s struggle to maintain sanity while Yeong-hye retreats into a state of elective catatonia. Ultimately, Yeong-hye attempts to shed her humanity entirely, seeking to exist as a plant rather than a person.
Readers interested in the friction between individual autonomy and rigid social hierarchies will find this a stark examination of gender politics and mental health. It serves those who study how family structures enforce conformity and what happens when a person systematically rejects every physical requirement of human life. The reader walks away with a cold understanding of the physical toll of non-conformity and the fragility of the social contracts that govern modern living.
Details
- Published
- 2007
- Publisher
- Hogarth
- ISBN
- 9780553448184
- Language
- EN