"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.
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