Contemporary literature

As every year, the Swedish Academy pronounced its much-awaited verdict: eagerly anticipated by bookworms across the globe. This time, the jury awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature to Han Kang, shining a spotlight on a writer not necessarily familiar to the broader public. Like many readers, I rushed to the bookshops, browsed through the available titles by this newly crowned laureate, and faced a major dilemma: which of Kang’s novels should I read first? Unable to decide, I bought three of her books: “The Wind Blows, Go”, “We Do Not Part”, and “The Vegetarian”. A quick online search helped me choose The Vegetarian as my first foray into her work.

This critically acclaimed novel, which received the International Booker Prize in 2016, tells the story of Yeong-hye, a woman haunted by arcane nightmares who suddenly decides to stop eating meat: a decision that, in a conservative society, appears deeply controversial. What begins as a personal act of resistance soon escalates into a source of profound familial and social conflict, as her relatives react with incomprehension, alarm, and eventually outright hostility.

During a family gathering, Yeong-hye is physically forced by her tyrannical father to eat meat. Her reaction is both shocking and symbolic: she grabs a knife from the table and, in front of her stunned relatives, slits her wrists. This event leads to her first hospitalisation, revealing the depth of her psychological distress. What began as a revulsion towards meat soon deteriorates into a general disgust for food. Yeong-hye gradually comes to see herself as a plant, believing she needs only water and sunlight to survive.

I absolutely loved the book for many reasons. Not being familiar with Korean culture, I discovered through The Vegetarian a sensibility that feels largely absent in much of the Western literary tradition: one filled with spirituality, unspoken tensions, and a haunting poetic atmosphere. Han Kang masterfully explores themes of resistance, identity, and the limits of autonomy through a deceptively simple narrative that gradually becomes more surreal and unsettling. The novel left me with a lingering sense of discomfort and admiration: a rare and precious combination. I now look forward to reading the other two books, hoping they will offer further glimpses into Han Kang’s unique and profoundly moving universe.