The Vegetarian

Author: Han Kang

Translated by: Deborah Smith

When I found out that the 2024 Nobel prize was awarded to Han Kang, I was surprised to learn that she was the first Asian woman to win the prize. I quickly looked up her books and found that “The Vegetarian” was 49th in the New York Times’s 100 best books of the 21st century. 

The novel is set in modern day South Korea and starts out by describing the mundane life of Mr. Cheong and his young wife Yeong-Hye in Seoul.  Yong-hye is the central character and we learn about her from different family members. The book is organized in 3 sections:

• The first section is narrated by Yeong-hye’s husband, Mr. Cheong and he describes their early years of marriage and some of the awkwardness of their relationship. One day she suddenly turns vegetarian and her husband has no idea what is going on. When she goes to visit her family, who are traditional Korean, her parents find it hard to fathom how their daughter is now refusing to eat the meat dishes that she adored as a child. There’s some drama here that I won’t describe so as not to spoil the story.
• The second section is told from her brother-in-law’s perspective. He is the artist type and is initially sympathetic to Yeong-hye’s condition. The story gets more interesting here.
• The third and final section is narrated by her sister, In-hye who is initially supportive and eventually becomes her care-taker.

You will find yourself glued to the book and eager to learn about what happens next. But be warned that some of the scenes are not easy to stomach. However, it is an amazing piece of literature that will make you stop and think about the underlying tensions between people from different walks of life.