Translated from Korean and the winner of the 2016 Man Booker International Prize, find a The Vegetarian by Han Kang summary, book information, and book reviews here.
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The Vegetarian by Han Kang
Book Information
Author: Han Kang
Translated into English by Deborah Smith
Genre: Women In Translation | Book Set In South Korea | Psychological & Mental Health Fiction
TW: Eating Disorders, Rape, Animal Cruelty & Death, Suicide
Pages: 208
Publisher: Hogarth Reprint
Publication Date: August 2016
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The Vegetarian by Han Kang Summary
Before the nightmares began, Yeong-hye and her husband lived an ordinary, controlled life. But the dreams—invasive images of blood and brutality—torture her, driving Yeong-hye to purge her mind and renounce eating meat altogether.
It’s a small act of independence, but it interrupts her marriage and sets into motion an increasingly grotesque chain of events at home. As her husband, her brother-in-law and sister each fight to reassert their control, Yeong-hye obsessively defends the choice that’s become sacred to her.
Soon their attempts turn desperate, subjecting first her mind, and then her body, to ever more intrusive and perverse violations, sending Yeong-hye spiraling into a dangerous, bizarre estrangement, not only from those closest to her, but also from herself.
Hogarth
Celebrated by critics around the world, The Vegetarian is a darkly allegorical, Kafka-esque tale of power, obsession, and one woman’s struggle to break free from the violence both without and within her.
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More About The Author, Han Kang
Han Kang is a South Korean writer who made her debut as a poet in the early 1990s. Now an award-winning author, she works as a professor in creative writing for the Seoul Institute of the Arts.
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