Not Gonna Lie, The Vegetarian Made Me Question Everything About Family and Freedom
Honestly, I wasn’t ready for this book. So, picture this: it’s rainy season in Seoul, and I’m on the 2호선 after a brutal week at the office. I pick up The Vegetarian, thinking it might be a good escape from all the chaos. But wow, I didn’t know I was signing up for a trip inside someone’s head, feeling all their turmoil and madness.
The book is intense, and Han Kang doesn’t mess around with small talk—she dives straight into heavy stuff like identity and society. I mean, you know, the way Yeong-hye just decides to stop eating meat and how everyone reacts? It felt way too familiar. Like, growing up in Korea, there’s always this pressure to fit into certain molds. Maybe I’ve never gone vegetarian, but I’ve had my share of trying to break free from family expectations, you know?
Anyway, there were times I was like, “Wait, actually…” because it gets confusing in this poetic, dream-like way!. Maybe it’s because I’m Korean and some parts hit different, but the struggle for control over one’s own body and mind? Felt personal. Made me think of all the times I wished I could just… escape.
The writing is beautiful but dense. Had to Google some cultural references, not gonna lie. And some parts? Made me miss my stop at Hongik University—twice. That feeling of being trapped by both the family and societal norms was suffocating, and I couldn’t shake it off.
But honestly, the book wasn’t all despair. It sparked some deep conversations with my friends—like, what does freedom really mean? And how do we find our identity without going off the rails? Actually, let me rethink this… the book isn’t just about rebellion, but about discovering what we can or can’t control.
In the end, I might be overthinking this, but The Vegetarian messed with my head in a way that only good literature can. Probably gonna recommend this to my international colleagues, even though explaining Korean family pressure might be a whole conversation in itself.
Thinking about getting the Korean version for my mom—just to see what she’d think. This book? It’s something else.
