"Before the nightmare, Yeong-hye and her husband lived an ordinary life. But when splintering, blood-soaked images start haunting her thoughts, Yeong-hye decides to purge her mind and renounce eating meat. In a country where societal mores are strictly obeyed, Yeong-hye's decision to embrace a more “plant-like” existence is a shocking act of subversion. And as her passive rebellion manifests in ever more extreme and frightening forms, scandal, abuse, and estrangement begin to send Yeong-hye spiraling deep into the spaces of her fantasy. In a complete metamorphosis of both mind and body, her now dangerous endeavor will take Yeong-hye—impossibly, ecstatically, tragically—far from her once-known self altogether."
Sometimes you are lucky enough to read a book that you know will stay with you. This is one of them. I can never properly identify what makes some books like this. What makes them stick in the back of your mind. I have read many excellent books that do not effect me. I have read many 'ordinary' books that have stuck with me.
This book isn't super long. In fact, it reads like a novella, so it's easy to consume and fast paced enough that about the time you feel really into it, it's over. It's not a bad thing though because there is a LOT packed into this little story. Despite being a story that is explicitly about Yeong-hye, it is actually never told directly from her perspective. Instead, we are give about 60 pages a piece from her husband, her brother-in-law, and her sister. The oddest part about this formatting is, unlike many book of this type, the perspectives do not overlap. Some take place at the time of Yeong-hye's decision to become a vegetarian, and others take place years after the fact.
To be totally honest, this book is weird. It might actually be the weirdest book I've ever read. But there's still something beautiful about it. It's an honest while surrealist look at mental illness and how it affects not only that individual, but also everyone that cares about them.
We see how her vegetarianism, which later leads into a kind of manic catatonia, affects first her callous and at times sexually abusive husband, then her brother-in-law who becomes completely enthralled with her sexually because of her Mongolian mark, and her sister who is the last one standing when Yeong-hye’s psyche begins to peel away. Each persons POV bring a unique insight and atmosphere to the writing. The first being deeply hate and disgust filled, the second saturated in sexual obsession and shame and lastly, the final part is so deeply and quietly desolate that it is almost painful to rea.
In addition to the serious topics that The Vegetarian brushed up against: the effect of cultural mores on women, body image, conformism, familial ties and abuse, and, of course, mental illness - this was also a tale of family dysfunction. It was a tale of familial ties that were severed painfully, of violent confrontations and realizations, of physical and emotional starvation, and a parable about the woman, the vegetarian, at the centre of it all.
The Vegetarian was sensual, and it meandered toward its climax in a way that was both unsettling and prophetic. Honestly, this may or may not work for everyone. It was deeply unsettling and uncomfortable to read, not for the faint of heart or people unable to suspend disbelief.
Age rating 17+. Incredibly adult material that isn't shied away from.
Before the nightmare, Yeong-hye and her husband lived an ordinary life. But when splintering, blood-soaked images start haunting her thoughts, Yeong-hye decides to purge her mind and renounce eating meat. In a country where societal mores are strictly obeyed, Yeong-hye's decision to embrace a more “plant-like” existence is a shocking act of subversion. And as her passive rebellion manifests in ever more extreme and frightening forms, scandal, abuse, and estrangement begin to send Yeong-hye spiraling deep into the spaces of her fantasy. In a complete metamorphosis of both mind and body, her now dangerous endeavor will take Yeong-hye—impossibly, ecstatically, tragically—far from her once-known self altogether.
FrombestsellingauthorMaggieStiefvater,agrippingtaleofdarkness,miracles,andfamily.Saints.Miracles.Family.Romance.Death.Redemption.
Hereisathingeveryonewants:Amiracle.
Hereisathingeveryonefears:
Whatittakestogetone.
AnyvisitortoBichoRaro,Coloradoislikelytofindalandscapeofdarksaints,forbiddenlove,scientificdreams,miracle-madowls,estrangedaffections,oneortwoorphans,andaskyfullofwatchfuldesertstars.
AttheheartofthisplaceyouwillfindtheSoriafamily,whoallhavetheabilitytoperformunusualmiracles.Andattheheartofthisfamilyarethreecousinslongingtochangeitsfuture:Beatriz,thegirlwithoutfeelings,whowantsonlytobefreetoexamineherthoughts;Daniel,theSaintofBichoRaro,whoperformsmiraclesforeveryonebuthimself;andJoaquin,whospendshisnightsrunningarenegaderadiostationunderthenameDiabloDiablo.
Theyarealllookingforamiracle.ButthemiraclesofBichoRaroareneverquitewhatyouexpect."Here is a thing everyone wants: A miracle.
Here is a thing everyone fears:
What it takes to get one.
Any visitor to Bicho Raro, Colorado is likely to find a landscape of dark saints, forbidden love, scientific dreams, miracle-mad owls, estranged affections, one or two orphans, and a sky full of watchful desert stars.
At the heart of this place you will find the Soria family, who all have the ability to perform unusual miracles. And at the heart of this family are three cousins longing to change its future: Beatriz, the girl without feelings, who wants only to be free to examine her thoughts; Daniel, the Saint of Bicho Raro, who performs miracles for everyone but himself; and Joaquin, who spends his nights running a renegade radio station under the name Diablo Diablo.
They are all looking for a miracle. But the miracles of Bicho Raro are never quite what you expect."
This book was unfortunately and disappointingly boring to me. Maggie’s lyrical writing style is present throughout the book. The writing is truely drop dead gorgeous. I had to stop to re read many passages just because of how beautiful they where. But I never once felt fully immersed with this actual story. I have so many tabs of gorgeous passages filled with whimsical prose after whimsical prose, but the beautiful writing didn’t help me to actually care about these characters. This actually pains me to say, but I came very close to DNFing this book by the half way point, just because I was so uninterested with the main characters.
There definitely are better aspects. The imagery is really stunning. I absolutely adored the thing she wanted / thing she feared character intros: they were the highlights of the book for me. There’s a very magical vibe to this book, otherworldly and a great example of magic realism. I enjoyed the scope of the Soria family and how positive and loving their dynamic was. Yet they still feel like a flawed, dynamic family. The trio of Soria cousins are great. I do really love how Stiefvater plays with language and metaphor; it’s a lot of fun, and I’m sure you could annotate this for just her wordplay till the end of time.There are a lot of great ideas, the emotional execution was lacking however.
Age Rating 13+. Nothing untoward.
"Before the nightmare, Yeong-hye and her husband lived an ordinary life. But when splintering, blood-soaked images start haunting her thoughts, Yeong-hye decides to purge her mind and renounce eating meat. In a country where societal mores are strictly obeyed, Yeong-hye's decision to embrace a more “plant-like” existence is a shocking act of subversion. And as her passive rebellion manifests in ever more extreme and frightening forms, scandal, abuse, and estrangement begin to send Yeong-hye spiraling deep into the spaces of her fantasy. In a complete metamorphosis of both mind and body, her now dangerous endeavor will take Yeong-hye—impossibly, ecstatically, tragically—far from her once-known self altogether."
