
The Vegetarian
Han Kang
Call Number
FIC Kang
TRIGGER WARNINGS:
Mental illness, body dysmorphia, domestic abuse, scary images, eating disorders
About the Book
Fiction, Horror, Mental Health
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.
PEN Translation Prize Nominee for Deborah Smith, Internationaler Literaturpreis – Haus der Kulturen der Welt Nominee for Ki-Hyang Lee, Frankfurt Book Fair LiBeraturpreis Nominee, International Booker Prize, Premio San Clemente for Lingua estranxeira