The Vegetarian by Han Kang

Terrifying. I don’t know if there is any other way to describe my experience reading this book.

I picked it up knowing just that it is a  story about a woman who decides to stop eating meat and the implications of this on her and her family. But it is not just that. It is so much more terrifying and unsettling than that seemingly harmless summary.

On the surface, Yeong-hye is an ordinary woman, filial, a good wife, and doing everything that is expected of her. She suddenly wishes to lead a more ‘plant-like’ existence. We never actually get to read Young-hye’s perspective. The book is divided into three parts, we get the perspectives of her husband, her brother-in-law, and her sister. 

When I read about Young-hye from her husband’s perspective, she seems to exist just to make his day-to-day happen, you see that she is suffocated. Or maybe, I should say that I felt suffocated? The men in this book, her husband, her brother-in-law, her father, her brother, live in a world of unchecked privilege... We are no strangers to patriarchy, but it is nightmarish to read their thoughts. And those thoughts and words that start with dealing with the minor inconvenience of having to live with someone who is suddenly vegetarian, turn more scary and cruel with every page. Even her brother-in-law, who you think is someone who sees Young-hye for what she might be going through, cannot do it without it beginning with and revolving wholly around him. When we finally get to the last part which is from her sister’s perspective when everything really settles into your chest, which is near your tummy at this point, and your stomach has dropped to your feet. 

After reading this book, one could ask “Is this not taking it too far?”, and “Does it need to be so dramatic?”. And my answer would be, yes, that is the point. It’s a deeply female experience, it is not pleasant, it is not for one to read and provide a logical solution to her problems. Young-hye starts her journey to free herself, in her case to renounce her body, and that begins with declaring herself a vegetarian. 

I recommend this book, if only to understand (hyperbole or not) what it might mean to live in a straight-fold jacket, what it does to the body and mind,  to keep everything within and be silent, or to go on living, holding on by a thread. I’ve never read a book like this, so haunting, exploring different themes, and experiences, all in 167 pages. The book was published in 2007 and Han Kang got the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2024… that seems rather delayed🤷🏽‍♀️

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A favourite quote from the book

We had to close the book and stare into the void after reading this one😶