The Vegetarian by Han Kang – Book Review

 

Afin de lire monavis de lecture en français, cliquez ici

Note: I read the French translation of the novel

Publisher’s write-up:

‘A beautiful, unsettling novel about rebellion and taboo, violence and eroticism, and the twisting metamorphosis of a soul 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.  Celebrated by critics around the world, The Vegetarian is a darkly allegorical, Kafka-esque tale of power, obsession, and one woman’s struggle to break free from the violence both without and within her.’

The Vegetarian is a novel written by the South Korean author Han Kang, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2024. In this novel, we meet Yeong-hye, who lives with her husband and leads an ordinary life, until she decides to become a vegan because of a dream she had. Her husband married her precisely because he is an ‘average man’ and also, according to him, Yeong-hye is also a traditional woman with whom he can have an ‘average’ life and this decision turned out to be a change too significant for him to tolerate. It was not just her husband who did not like her decision - even her parents did not support it and in a particular moment, her father tried to force her to eat meat. She stops eating altogether and leading to a further decline of her health. The novel follows her life - and from this portrait of Yeong-hye, the author shows us the patriarchy in South Korean society and the position of women in society.

I liked the beginning of the novel, which gave me a lot to look forward to - in a marriage where every day is the same, Yeong-hye suddenly decides to stop eating meat. We also see how her husband becomes more aggressive towards her, as if he had the right to interfere in her personal choices. I liked the bond between Yeong-hye and her sister, her only source of support in this choice of hers. The choice to change the narration in each chapter is an interesting one too, the first chapter from Yeong-hye's husband's point of view and the following chapters following a third person narration.

I had to think long and hard about writing something positive about the novel in the review and it's done now, with the preceding paragraph. Otherwise, I did not like the novel at all. Firstly, I found the title of the novel misleading, her family problems were not because she went vegan, but because she stopped eating, at all. As a vegan myself, I get a lot of weird questions in my day-to-day life from people around me - whether I'm feeling hungry, whether I'm getting enough nutrients, whether I'm taking any vaccinations, etc. A majority of the time, these are questions asked out of curiosity (though, sometimes also in bad faith) - but as with any movement or ideology, there is an extreme and here, Yeong-hye was an example of that extreme. I find that the misconception around vegans is because of such characters in pop culture (like films, TV shows, novels, etc.) that show this type of personality that all vegans are judged by.

I was able to sympathise with Yeong-hye and her predicament, but personally I could not identify with the act of deciding to stop eating completely because of a dream. The ending of the novel did not give hope either - I understand that in real life, not every situation has a definitive ending, but here - I did not see any ups and downs in the plot either. Apart from her sister Inghye, there was not much of  character development, with subtlety or complexity - they've all got villains - either Yeong-hye's husband or the rest of her family.

To conclude, it often happens to me that with author who win the Nobel Prize, either I love their works, like Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Albert Camus; or I do not like them at all, like last year's winner Jon Fosse and unfortunately, Han Kang will also fall into the same latter category. It was impossible for me to identify with the characters, and even if I had not been a vegan, I would not have liked the novel, but given that I am, this personal aspect added yet another reason why I did not enjoy it. Considering all the points I have made in this review, I give the novel a score of three out of ten.

Rating – 3/10

Have a nice day,
Andy

The Details by Ia Genberg – Book Review

Afin de lire mon avis de lecture en français, cliquez ici 

Publisher’s write-up:

‘A famous broadcaster writes a forgotten love letter; a friend abruptly disappears; a lover leaves something unexpected behind; a traumatised woman is consumed by her own anxiety.

In the throes of a fever, a woman casts her mind back to the past. In precise, vivid language, the stories of four important people who have shaped her life are revealed – a thousand little memories from across a lifetime, laid bare in vivid detail as her body temperature races.

International bestseller The Details is a luminous portrayal of all the small moments that make up a life; the little details that make us human.’

The Details is a novella written in the form of a memoir of the narrator, by writer Ia Genberg. The novel is originally written in Swedish and I relied on the English translation of Kira Josefsson. The novel is split into four chapters, each of which are named after the people in their life who impacted them; namely Johanna, a writer whom the narrator recalls after fishing out a love letter written in the past; followed by Niki – a woman estranged from her parents, with whom the narrator is sharing an apartment; Alejandro, a person from South America with whom the narrator is in a serious relationship and finally, Birgitte, a woman who has her own anxieties and tried her best to create her own identity – be it political or personal.

This could be described as the typical novel where ‘nothing happens’ but is probably relatable to every person reading it. We have all had people in our lives who have been important to us in different ways and sometimes, we have gone out of our way to stay in touch and despite our best efforts, we are no longer in contact, which is something that happens to the narrator. The reason why I am not naming the narrator is because the person was never named by the writer and the whole narration is from their perspective (for a long time, I was not sure of their biological sex / gender identity till the latter half of the book and that is why I am keeping it secret in the review as well).

I also liked the details that were present – such as the streets of Stockholm, though I have not visited that city many times, I could still visualise it very well, the cafés and the people who were walking by. My favourite parts of the novel were the stories of Niki and Birgitte, which showed the vulnerability of each of the persons involved, and the extent to which they went to escape or face these challenges.

However, the author had lost my in the chapter on Alejandro, and there were times when I lost focus and could not pay attention to detail till about the end of the chapter but after that, it was a strong comeback with the story of Birgitte. I had similar sentiments about the first chapter on Johanna, where it was slow and I was unsure as to where the novel was heading before getting into the chapter on Niki.

To summarise, I would say that this is a novel that captured human emotions very well, and true to the title, showed how these little details are what makes us. I also liked that the author kept it ‘local’ rather than to please a general audience and I felt like I had travelled to Sweden again, while reading this novel. This is an easy read, at the end of which, I was happy having read this novel.

On that note, I would award the novel a rating of seven on ten, it could have been here if there was more depth to the stories of Alejandro and Johanna like that of Niki and Birgitte.

Rating – 7/10

Have a nice day,
Andy

On Our Best Behaviour by Elise Loehnen – Book Review

 

Publisher’s write-up:

‘Why do women equate self-denial with being 'good'?

We congratulate ourselves when we resist the donut in the office breakroom. We celebrate our restraint when we hold back from sending an email in anger. We put others' needs ahead of our own and believe this makes us exemplary. Journalist and podcast host Elise Loehnen explains that these impulses – often lauded as distinctly feminine instincts – are actually ingrained in us by a culture that reaps the benefits, via an extraordinarily effective collection of social

Lust. Gluttony. Greed. Sloth. Wrath. Envy. Pride.

These so-called 'deadly sins' have been used by the patriarchy to control women throughout our history. For instance, a fear of gluttony drives us to ignore our appetites and an aversion to greed prevents us from negotiating a better salary at work.

So, what would happen if we stopped trying to be 'good'?

Provocative and bold, On Our Best Behaviour is a probing analysis of history and contemporary culture that explains how women have internalised the patriarchy, and how they unwittingly reinforce it. By sharing her own story and the spiritual wisdom of other traditions, Elise Loehnen shows how we can break free and discover a path toward a more balanced, fulfilled way to live.’

On Our Best Behaviour: The Price Women Pay to be Good – is a long essay from the writer and podcaster, Elise Loehnen. In this book, she explains the price women have to pay, in trying to be in their best behaviour at all times, in the western society. She bases her premise on how the seven deadly sins that have been codified in Christian societies have effectively kept patriarchal structures in place and subdued women.

I found the premise of the book interesting, wherein she introduces this idea of the seven deadly sins and their impact on the western world, regardless of whether one grows up in a religious family or not. She cites several contemporary examples on differential treatment by media for similar behaviour. It is also true that often, women have been conditioned to be ‘good/gentle’ whereas men are encouraged to be seek power, sometimes even at all costs. She cites research papers, other books and also several anecdotes from her personal life, including the fact that she is raising two sons.

Considering the premise, I wanted to like this book given I agree with the underlying statement that despite the progress made over the years, women still are at a disadvantage. However, in this book, the first thing I felt while reading it was that the author seemed to have the assumption that her reader is a woman (probably cis, not necessarily heterosexual), and I for one, am a cis male. 

While women face structural disadvantages, I felt that the author gave the seven deadly sins far more credit than they merit, and it seemed like she had already drawn a conclusion and then tried to fit her narrative into each of the chapters. Her chapter on greed was particularly shallow – where I felt the author was confused between ‘ambition’ and ‘greed’; to the extent that I know the schooling system and society, greed is not encouraged – but it is true that media might perceive male billionaires as ‘ambitious’ and similar women as ‘greedy’ or arrogant. But using that to glorify ideas such as greed and asking women to embrace greed as well (and the shallow assumption that every man is pushed by the society to be greedy), goes against the idea of the progressive narrative that the author tries to showcase.

I also felt that the author, while being very critical of the seven deadly sins and Christian values at large, she fell into the trap of any non-Abrahamic philosophy being progressive. As I mentioned earlier, I did not grow up in a Christian society or family, but rather in an environment of orthodox Hindus, who are much closer to the Vedanta philosophy that the author praised is being ‘very progressive’ and her only basis of the conclusion was one philosopher whom she met. I consider myself qualified to comment on this given my upbringing and also my later life in Western Europe (considered assimilated); I have had first-hand experience, Vedanta does espouse several patriarchal and regressive ideas and women of Hindu societies today face similar challenges – that is, battling patriarchy and subjugation (I have observed several instances of patriarchy in my own family and extended family). In fact, several people from Hindu societies embrace Abrahamic faiths because they are more ‘progressive’ but in both instances, the author embracing Vedanta and some people in Hindu societies converting to other religions are products of the same issue – their preachers cherry pick and provide the most liberal interpretation possible (though such interpretations are not agreed by all or sometimes even a majority of the practitioners of these religions).

I did not know much about the author but given how much she spoke about herself, what I could understand was that she herself is someone from a very privileged background, being a wealthy person with very good connections (she cites someone famous and then recalls their experience of meeting them and interacting with them every time). The irony is that she herself is involved in a lifestyle magazine Goop, doing precisely what several other magazines do such as setting unrealistic standards for their readers – and the magazine is also known to promote a lot of pseudoscience and alternate medicine – which was a theme that was recurrent in this book as well.

To conclude, this was a book that I wanted to like, she had an interesting premise that I agreed with, but her arguments were shallow, often made with a lack of understanding. My experience reading this book was very tiring and, on that note, I rate this book a four on ten.

Rating – 4/10

Have a nice day
Andy