r/bookclub • u/fromdusktil Dragon rider | 🐉🧠 • Aug 16 '26

The Vegetarian [Schedule] Evergreen || The Vegetarian by Han Kang

I hope you like Evergreens, because we are starting our next read, The Vegetarian by Han Kang, the week following the final discussion for Brothers Karamazov!

You can find the marginalia for this book here.

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Summary:

Before the nightmares began, Yeong-hye and her husband lived an ordinary, controlled life. But the dreams--invasive images of blood and brutality--torture her, driving Yeong-hye to purge her mind and renounce eating meat altogether. It's a small act of independence, but it interrupts her marriage and sets into motion an increasingly grotesque chain of events at home. As her husband, her brother-in-law and sister each fight to reassert their control, Yeong-hye obsessively defends the choice that's become sacred to her. Soon their attempts turn desperate, subjecting first her mind, and then her body, to ever more intrusive and perverse violations, sending Yeong-hye spiraling into a dangerous, bizarre estrangement, not only from those closest to her, but also from herself.

Celebrated by critics around the world, The Vegetarian is a darkly allegorical, Kafka-esque tale of power, obsession, and one woman's struggle to break free from the violence both without and within her.
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Due to this book not having set chapters, I have included the page from the paperback edition as well as the first/last line -- other editions may not line up exactly page-wise, so be aware!

September 1: Start through section ending "... Whatever expression might have been there" (approx. page 94)

September 8: Approx. page 95 (beginning line "heading into a more built-up area...") through The End.

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So, will you be joining myself and u/spreebiz on this read? Let us know!

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