Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

252 reviews

emilietje's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

This book contained a lot of triggers for me. Physical and verbal abuse, rape, obsessive behaviour, gore, self-harm and suicide. This made it a very difficult book to read despite me appreciating the thought that went into this thing.
When I was reading the first two chapters, I was missing reflections and/or explanations. I suppose it makes sense that Yeong-hye’s chapter is the most gorey, because her emotions are the most repressed and she has the worst nightmares. I mean, her chapter isn’t even from her point of view, it’s her husband’s. And I suppose it makes sense that the brother-in-law's chapter contains the most discomforting sexual descriptions and misconduct, because, well, that’s his issue. I ended up enjoying In-hye's chapter the most. It was the most introspective and least gruesome one after all. I liked reading her interpretations and her feelings about life and death. I'd say her chapter felt the most cohesive for this exact reason. The gaps between moments of insanity and despair are filled in with her thoughts, and I think the reading experience would’ve been nicer if it had those from the start.
One other thing that I liked –and this might be a spoiler but whatever– is Yeong-hye's whole wanting-to-become-a-tree thing. It's not something I've read before you know? Being deeply unhappy as a human and as an animal, so you try to become a tree in every way until you die from the effects. Idk, this also really shined in that last and third chapter and I really felt for her. Successful and effective portrayal of passive suicide and insanity? Yes!
Regardless of everything I said here, this book was clearly not aimed at a reader like me who can’t handle shit. I totally get that there aren’t meant to be fleshed-out (get it ha ha) thoughts in the beginning, but it just wasn’t my style. I went into this book blind, because I loved Han Kang's The White Book and Human Acts, but I have to say this was almost nothing like those books. The only overlap I can find is the miserable people and the introspection about what it is to be alive. Props to Han Kang for publishing works with what feels like a completely different writing style.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

abbysnofun's review against another edition

4.0

definitely heed all trigger warnings, but if those don’t put you off you can devour this book in one sitting 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Mental illness

mimithorp's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt

nico_lechat's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Sexual content and Sexual violence

Minor: Suicide attempt

thebigemmt505's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

“Yells and howls, threaded together layer upon layer, are enmeshed to form that lump. Because of meat. I ate too much meat. The lives of the animals I ate have all lodged there. Blood and flesh, all those butchered bodies are scattered in every nook and cranny, and though the physical remnants were excreted, their lives still stubbornly stick to my insides.”

The Vegetarian is a book I’ve struggled to gather my thoughts on. It’s the story of a young woman named Yeong-hye, whose life is told from every perspective but her own. While she says her transition to vegetarianism (well, veganism really) followed a dream she had, the audience can deduce it is so much more than that. Yeong-hyes life is rife with abuse, abuse she clearly refuses to inflict herself. She’s weak, struggling under patriarchy and strict social norms, and her only defiance seems to be shrinking herself, shedding all that makes her human and returning to a pure, natural state. We learn through the men that use and abuse her, being her husband, her sisters husband, and briefly her father, that no matter what perception others have of her, the result of her vulnerability will be the same: abuse. Through her sister, In-hye, we see a more direct reckoning with the past they shared, and by the end both she and the audience may wonder what absurdity keeps them going. It’s bittersweet. 

My small interpretation is all I can glean from this book. There’s likely a lot that I missed, though I may argue the metaphors were a bit too vague to fully grasp. Granted, I get the impression a lot was lost in translation, because there were many parts that felt clunky and strangely written. Still, there were beautiful passages, especially in the last part, though I thought the sentiments were repetitive after a point. I found the end disappointing and abrupt. I appreciated the authors capacity to write despicable characters, though it felt hard to attach oneself to any character at all. I found some of the choices the characters made confusing. At the very least, the pacing was good, the writing was generally good too, and I don’t feel I wasted my time. I just didn’t connect to it much. 

In summary, it’s an odd little book. Worth a read, though it will likely be a let down to many. I still mostly enjoyed it though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Self harm and Suicide attempt

Minor: Animal cruelty

crybabybea's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

Kafka-esque exploration of autonomy and the violence that people, especially women, face under patriarchal standards and the pressure to conform socially and culturally. Bizarre is a great descriptor for this, it's definitely the weirdest book I've ever read. Definite elements of horror here with lots of gory imagery, especially about animals and meat. The overall tone of the novel is extremely alienated and isolated, as the story revolves around the main character, Yeong-hye, but is never written in her POV. Instead, we see her descent into psychosis through the eyes of three people in her family; her husband, her brother-in-law, and her sister. 

This is clearly a novel that was written with the intention to make readers think and reflect, I think it is a testament to Han Kang's skill as a writer that everyone comes away from this experience with different thoughts and analyses. 

The writing is super allegorical and it's clear that each event happens for a reason and is designed to make the reader reflect and analyze. I found the writing style to be the main issue that kept me from giving it 5 stars; it jumped around in POV and tense, which, although it was written very well, became hard to follow at times.

I definitely feel like there were bits that went over my head and this is a book that deserves a reread with more concentration and reflection.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Eating disorder, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Incest

Very graphic depictions of animal torture and death. Not quite incest but the

main character's brother-in-law has a sexual obsession with her and ends up assaulting her.

There are multiple depictions of abuse against the mentally ill main character, both at home and in a mental facility.

kiri's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Pregnancy

annie_arya's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt

angorarabbit's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

TLDR: Anything I write is trite compared to this book. I would advise taking it slow and reading something lighter in-between sessions. 

 

A masterclass. It is not just about how others react to the diet a family member but a visceral depiction of the effects of childhood abuse and mental illness on the individual and family members. 

 

There are 4 points of view: Yeong-hye, her husband, brother-in-law, and sister. In the end all four are devastated, though perhaps the husband is the least affected. It is a book that will stay with me for a long time and haunt my dreams.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Incest and Alcohol

I skipped 5 paragraphs 25% of the way in due to graphic animal abuse/killing. The protagonists thoughts include disturbing depictions of slaughter and molestation of animals. There are graphic depictions of food including meat.

aliyahoff's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis