When Yeong-hye stops eating meat the only reason she can offer to her husband is that 'she had a dream'. Her eating habits become a worry and her weight drops. After a disturbing confrontation over her eating at a family gathering Yeong-hye is sectioned. Later when she is considered better her brother-in-law asks her to model for him. He wishes to paint her body with flowers and film her to fulfill a fantasy he's had.
The Vegetarian by Han Kang is a dark walk through mental illness, the female body and eroticism. It is also a book about family. Split into three parts the story is seen through the eyes of the husband, the brother-in-law and finally the sister. I found this book disturbingly compelling and at 183 pages it didn't take me long to read. I couldn't put it down.
The men in the book come over as weak while Yeong-hye, despite all the trauma she has experienced in life, comes over as determined and strong. This is dark, dreadfully sad and different read as well as thought provoking.
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