The Vegetarian: A Novel

Description

FROM HAN KANG, WINNER OF THE 2024 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE “[Han Kang’s] intense poetic prose . . . exposes the fragility of human life.”—The Nobel Committee for Literature, in the citation for the Nobel Prize A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES’S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST FICTION BOOK OF THE CENTURY “Ferocious.”— The New York Times Book Review (Ten Best Books of the Year) “Both terrifying and terrific.”—Lauren Groff “Provocative [and] shocking.”— The Washington Post 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. A Best Book of the Year: BuzzFeed, Entertainment Weekly, Wall Street Journal, Time, Elle, The Economist, HuffPost, Slate, Bustle, The St. Louis Dispatch, Electric Literature, Publishers Weekly Review: Good! - For a used book, this was totally fine for me. There are a few small creases from previous use and a slight stain, but nothing major. It’s still readable and original, I’m happy with it. Review: おもしろかったです - 日本語訳が出ていたのを知らずに英語版を購入したのは、BBCで紹介されていたからだ。 ちょっとめんどくさい……と思ったけど、翻訳者も同時受賞したので、賞の価値をあじわうには英語で読むべきなのだと思う。 ＊ ＊ ぷっつんと来た妻が主人公の奇妙な物語でした。 ある日、夫が帰宅すると、冷凍冷蔵庫の肉をすべてぶちまけていた妻…… そしてなぜか唐突に肉断ち宣言…… そしてなぜだか妻は同時期に「のーぶら生活」も始めて…… 力ずくで菜食主義をやめさせようとする親たち…… 強引に肉の交わりを求める夫…… そしてちょっと悲しい結末…… 韓国人の生活の一部が描かれていて興味深く読みました。 やっぱり文学のよさの一つはその世界の人の生活が描かれていることだと思います。 それにしても、韓国人の名前が覚えにくい。 日本でも基本カタカナ表記になってしまいましたが、アルファベットでもその認識しにくさは同様でした。 いんへよんへよんほ…とか出てくると、男か女かもよくわかりません。 （昔みたいに漢字に韓国語読みで書いてくれると覚えやすいんだけど……） まぁそんなことはいいか…… man booker international prize おめでとうございます。