The Vegetarian
Han Kang · b. 1970 · South Korea
Originally Chaesikjuuija (Korean) · translated by Deborah Smith
Why it matters
Yeong-hye stops eating meat, and her quiet refusal detonates through husband, brother-in-law, and sister: violence and the dream of becoming a plant. The International Booker winner that announced Korean fiction to the world.
At a glance
psychological novelmagical realism
Difficulty 6/10fast pace188 pagesShifting narrators and disturbing, elliptical imagery resist easy paraphrase.
Deep dive
Three people who love Yeong-hye each fail to understand her in a different, specific way — and what her silence is doing to all of them.
