The Vegetarian was winner of the Man Booker
International Prize 2016 and mercifully short after some of our longer reads
recently. Most of us found it strange and interesting. It highlighted our lack
of knowledge about Korean society and linguistic style, though apparently the
translator, Deborah Smith had not been to Korea until after she did her first
draft, though later became friends with the author: more about their relationship
here: Guardian Books
For those who do not know the story, here
is a synopsis:
Yeong-hye and her husband are ordinary
people. He is an office worker with moderate ambitions and mild manners; she is
an uninspired but dutiful wife. The acceptable flatline of their marriage is
interrupted when Yeong-hye, seeking a more 'plant-like' existence, decides to
become a vegetarian, prompted by grotesque recurring nightmares. In South
Korea, where vegetarianism is almost unheard-of and societal mores are strictly
obeyed, Yeong-hye's decision is a shocking act of subversion. Her passive
rebellion manifests in ever more bizarre and frightening forms, leading her
bland husband to self-justified acts of sexual sadism. His cruelties drive her
towards attempted suicide and hospitalisation. She unknowingly captivates her
sister's husband, a video artist. She becomes the focus of his increasingly
erotic and unhinged artworks, while spiralling further and further into her
fantasies of abandoning her fleshly prison and becoming - impossibly,
ecstatically - a tree. Fraught, disturbing and beautiful, The Vegetarian is a
novel about modern day South Korea, but also a novel about shame, desire and
our faltering attempts to understand others, from one imprisoned body to another.
In response to the strange quality of the
book, Chris B had read it twice and concluded it was about the oppression of
women in Korean (and other) society. Yeong-hye escapes from her dull,
oppressed, unrealised life by rejecting the meat eating society, driven by her
terrible recurring dream of violence. In the end, appears to be trying to
return to the earth. Her experience creates mental illness, depression, eating
disorder, psychosis which may be seen to be partly triggered by the abuse she
experiences as a child at the hands of her father. Her siblings want to
intervene both then and when her father hits her for her stubborn refusal to
eat meat. But are too afraid. Her older sister protects herself by being
obedient and leaving her sister to be the one that suffers. But she too suffers
depression in living her accepting and conventional life, even with an
unconventional artist husband.
We see too the reactions of the
conventional Mr Cheong, Yeong-hye's husband and the painter obsessed with
painted bodies in sexual poses to the two sisters' behaviour. Both fail to see
or respond to the needs of the women. But interestingly, Kang seems to have had
an even wider conundrum to explore:
As she said in her Booker Prize acceptance
speech, she writes to pursue questions, in this case, the question of being
human. Yeong-hye, she says desperately wants to reject being a human, part of
the human race that commits such violence.
We discovered that the three parts of the
book were originally published separately and definitely for a Korean audience
in the first place. Steve preferred the first and third parts and agreed with
Chris' understanding of the book. He felt the section focussed on the Mongolian
mark was less convincing. He also found some of the writing stilted e.g. the
words of Mr Cheong. Was this Korean style, the specific authors' style or a
result of translation? Richard had similar thoughts. Steve also found reading
about such a different society with such differentiation between men and women
interesting and challenging. He found the description of someone who has given
up, lost hope and accepts she will die together with the imagery of the forest
some of the most powerful parts.
The parts Mark T found interesting was the
comparison between the two sisters. Both had much to admire but as often in
life, maybe a combination of the best bits of both would be preferable! He also
found the video art sections intriguing.
Richard enjoyed the book and found it quick
to read. Like several of us, he found it strange and difficult to understand:
the value of a Book Club is to hear other's views. But shouldn't a book be
clearer about what it is about? Neil thought the same. Richard wondered if
vegetarians are strange people already or are seen as strange when they become
so?!
Chris W too found it interesting and
fascinating in its depiction of such a different country. Like other Murakami
fans, he found many echoes with that author in this book. He was interested in
the experience of urban life which seemed very conventional and limited and the
yearning in Young-hye to be close to nature. This only happens when she is sent
to a mental hospital. Clearly food is very important in this culture, to the
point where a father strikes his daughter over it. In the mental hospital, the
vivid description emphasised how no-one was listening to the patient. He
concluded it was an interesting book, well translated with some interesting
snapshots but he did not pick up themes of oppression and abuse.
Neil found the cultural differences made
the book harder to understand or emphasise with the characters. It was
"quite interesting, a bit frustrating and difficult to understand what it
was about".
Rob wondered if it was a book about Korean
society for a Korean audience or for a foreign one. If the latter, it was too
soft on the issues it raised. Whilst it was interesting and did make a point
about the gender issues, he found it unconvincing. There was no cogent reason,
he felt for the vegetarianism, no critique of the mental health system and the
Mongolian mark made little impression, except perhaps for the sexual encounter.
He was not convinced Kang was trying to say something meaningful as opposed to
using things like the vegetarianism and the mental health system as plot
devices.
Mark W was pretty underwhelmed by the whole
thing: "fairly typical repressed far eastern sexual fantasy stuff in the
middle, masquerading as art, dressed up at the beginning and the end with
various musings. Not my cup of tea".
So interesting but not amazing as shown by
the average score of 6.3 and £10 left in the kitty!
