The Vegetarian

Not for me I'm afraid. The rating is a round up from 1.5

I rarely read two books at a time. But half way through this...I picked up another and finished that. Then I went back to this.

In the end...it was just a case of "meh" about the characters and style.

as a asian, male, husband, brother-in-law, a salaryman, this book shook me thoroughly. gripping from start to end. not for the light-hearted or weak in the stomach like me. great writing style and insight into gender differences, cultural differences and mental health issues.

The first two thirds of the book were a chorus that I am all too familiar with: some men turn everything they touch into burning pain. Han Kang allows us to experience patriarchal violence both through the eyes of the men, and through the thoughts of the women they hurt. The book opens with a first-person view that made me feel the familiar nausea of realising that the women are trapped narcissistic men.

There's only one character whose inner thoughts we never read, except through her dreams. And, honestly, after the last third of the book, I feel like reading her thoughts would have been too much to bear. Perhaps even too much to imagine, as an author.

The silence of the main character feels like a different kind of violence. Just like "Greek Lessons", it feels to me like Han Kang portrays women fighting back at the men that wronged them (sometimes, with the complicity of other women) by barring them from hearing their voice.