The Vegetarian

die ersten zwei teile des buches waren für mich eine klare 4/5, aber dann kam der dritte und letzte teil (flaming trees) und das war für mich einfach soul crushing heart breaking gut wrenching, like i felt the pain and emptiness of this woman as it was my own - ich weine eigentlich selten wegen büchern, aber this one had me sobbing. for rememberance hier (out of context) ein paar textstellen, die mich besonders gebrochen haben, einfach nur für mich selbst

[it was a fact. she had never lived. even as a child, as far back as she could remember, she had done nothing but endure. she had believed in her own inherent goodness, her humanity, and lived accordingly, never causing anyone harm. her devotion to doing things the right way had been unflagging, all her success had depended on it, and she would have gone on like that indefinitely. she didn't understand why, but faced with those decaying buildings and straggling grasses, she was nothing but a child who had never lived.]

['was that it, mum? was this what made you laugh?']

['you see, it was just a dream.' but was that really true? right then, in the ambulance, she wasn't sure. had it really been just a dream, a mere coincidence? because that had been the morning when she turned her back on the sun as it rose over the silent trees and retraced her steps back down the mountain, wearing her faded purple T-shirt.]

[it's your body, you can treat it however you please. the only area where you're free to do just as you like. and even that doesn't turn out how you wanted.]

This was a raw and wrenching, quick read, with stark, excellent writing. It made me very curious about South Korea. I hope someone writes a good introduction to it in future updates, because for once I would not skip a preface. However, even without a background, there is something relatable for anyone who refuses to comply with the expectations of others for
This novel is not so much about vegetarianism, though it makes for a convenient starting point. A seemingly small act of rebellion, committed by a previously docile wife, becomes a familial crises born solely by the youngest females. It is a lonely book, as the Vegetarian cannot rest in her self and create her own roots(she has some issues with trees) outside of the projections of herself pushed on her from others.
The writing is clear and lovely though, so while I am sure I missed a lot, I certainly enjoyed it.

I picked a great read for my first Korean novella. The Vegetarian won last year's international Man Booker award, and was better the last Man Booker I read, Disgrace.

The prose here loses nothing in translation. I don't think I've read anything like it. If you took away the Benji part of The Sound and The Fury you might have an analog.

The book has three parts, narrated by a different person and centers around the decent of Yeong-hye an ordinary Korean wife who refuses to eat meat and is eventually institutionalized. The first part is told by who husband, who is the least crazy, but also a jerk. The second part Yeong-hye's brother in law who is an artist that lusts after her and is a little crazy. The last part is by her sister, In-hye, the closest to losing it like her sister.

The Sound and the Fury goes in the opposite direction from opaque to clear headed narrators and ends with resolution. The Vegetarian doesn't have a true resolution and leaves more questions open then open. However, both use the decline of a family to make allegorical the decline of a country.
There is certainly more eroticism in The Vegetarian, despite Faulkner's muddy underwear obsession.

The Sound and The Fury is probably a bad comparison, but I do think Han Kang is on the same level as Faulkner, with much clearer prose. That's backed up with the Man Booker, I'm looking forward to her publishing more in English. Han Kang takes on issues of Art, Sexuality, Patriarchy, Violence, Sanity, and Nationalism, just to name a few. The ending suggests there are no clear cut answer to the questions that trouble us most, the questions at the heart of our nature.