Welcome to Litsy!

Oh, this horrible book! I don't mean it is poorly written: I mean that reading it troubled me, partly because I am a woman who has chosen a plant-based diet but mostly because of the disturbing behaviour Yeong-hye experiences at the hands of the other characters.
(Note to self: best stop joking about wanting chloroplasts so I can photosynthesise. I love my food; I just get fed up of the daily catering duty.)

Enjoyed this fantastic story about an ordinary woman transforming to a rebel overnight. For me, the book is about the surge for belonging and oneness with sth bigger, in a world that is actually characterized by hyperindustrialization, societal norms and social alienation.

Yeong-hye stops eating meat and her story is told through the eyes of her husband, brother in law and sister (no spoiler). I can‘t say more yet digesting but I was surprised shocked moved…

A strange little novel about resisting dominant social structures through a female protagonist who decides to stop eating meat and gradually
"devolves" further until she eventually wastes away, wishing to return to the earth as a tree. Graphic, violent descriptions, visually evocative. But overall didn‘t land as powerfully for me, perhaps something to do with the translation or because it leans toward fantastical which I typically don‘t enjoy.

❤️🖤❤️🖤
#Valentines
#Black History Month

This week I‘ve read two books by the same author for the first time! 🎧

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

8/20
Join if you would like!

#20Covers

I wanted to love it but I didn‘t

It was so intense. I really like it. I think it is about who own your body.

I love when books have the ability to shock me, this one certainly did!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Brought up some interesting questions about the futility of life and how ”to live is an act of violence”. But overall this book felt half baked, hollow and translated with zero emotions.

Does this book deserve the Booker Prize? Honestly, I didn‘t feel so. But, to each their own.

I finally picked up a Han Kang book. She sure punches a lot into such a short novel. I think this is the first book I‘ve read about anorexia. Yeong-hye begins having dreams and becomes vegetarian. Mental health and trauma plays a big part. The story is told by multiple POV‘s, all infuriated with Yeong-hye‘s decision to go against the grain of society.

Starting my Han Kang journey…

4/5 ⭐️
Il racconto molto crudo di una persona in lotta con sé stessa, con gli altri e con l'ambiente che la circonda
Una storia molto forte e a tratti disturbante che lascia un senso di inquietudine e ti fa riflettere

The Vegetarian is very moving and intriguing. The narrative is told from 3 separate perspectives offering a complete exploration of trauma, emotional breakdown and mental strain. Is Yeong-hye mad or is her behaviour a logical conclusion of the society she‘s been subjected to? There are elements I didn‘t fully understand but it still left a powerful impression. 7/10

Working through Han‘s novels. They‘re short! And only 4 in English. I started with her International Booker Prize winner. Ok - you might know the theme, the wife who turns vegetarian driving everyone crazy. What you may not know is how fun this book is up front, and how opaque is becomes. We never get her view. Only those around her, and these narrators have serious issues. But also it always undermined what I expected. Thought provoking.

I requested Han‘s four English-translated book from my library the morning I found out she won the Nobel. I picked them up today and started The Vegetarian.

This is so incredibly exciting!!

I absolutely love Han Kangs work, a big congratulations to her for this award!

Just announced

Ham Kang is the winner of the Nobel Prize of Literature in 2024

I‘ve not read any of her books, so no is probably a good time to start.

The 2024 Nobel Prize winner is Han Kang. I wasn't expecting it: I'll have to read her now 😁

This was a very quick read as it was easy to get lost in the prose. So well written/translated! Originally published in three novelettes, it is interesting to experience the titular character only through the eyes of others.

Hmm. Really unusual. Such an unhappy story yet wonderfully written.
The individual perspectives are all bleak and the ending is uncertain... May be researching!

A very powerful novel about mental illness, childhood trauma and women's condition.
Further to repetitive nightmares, Yeong-hye turns vegetarian. This triggers immense pressure from her family, which determines her to stop eating completely. This original, unsettling and expressive story is organized in three chapters, each showing the drama of her deteriorating condition.

4/5⭐ Interestingly, I grew to appreciate this book more after finishing it by reading (and disagreeing with) many of the reviews written about it.

Full review: https://hissingpotatoes.com/2024/01/24/review-the-vegetarian-by-han-kang/

I liked it. I have no idea what it was trying to say, but I liked it. The story is told in three parts - I enjoyed the first two. The third dragged on a bit. Very strange, odd book, but worth the quick read! (4)
⭐️: 3.75/5

Finished my reading challenge 🎊

This is the weirdest book I have ever read and I'm not sure how I feel about it.

I read some weird stuff in August 😅

3.5/5 🌟

Very weird, graphic and disturbing book. Not for everyone.

March Reread (I am rereading 12 books in 2023 to see if they hold up)
I absolutely love this complicated book. Han Kang's writing is immaculate. This is not a book for everyone, reviews are very divided, but I consider this a modern day Yellow Wallpaper. It is brilliant.
The main character has an unnamed mental illness, and symptoms begin with her going vegetarian. The symptoms progress and we get a view of how her family & society treats her.

Story in three parts told from three different perspective and all entwined. Evocative.

Onto the next.

This book is beautiful & evocative. The story is small in scale but says so much, powerfully. Especially about mental health. Kang writes men better than many male authors seem to write women. She even writes men better, more honestly, than men too.That‘s important because this novel is,in part, about how men impose themselves on women. Woman who can‘t be what they want to be.Men can stunt growth and brutalise. This is patriarchy vs Mother Nature.

#manicmonday #letterV @CBee @The_Penniless_Author

📖 Can I have Love Virtually by Daniel Glattauer? No? That's cheating? OK, then. The Vegetarian it is.
✒ Brian K. Vaughan & Jeff Vandermeer
🎬 Vicky Christina Barcelona
🎤 The Vengaboys
🎶 Va va voom (Nicky Minaj) & Video games (Lana Del Rey)

Stop pretending that you all don't love The Vengaboys too! 😉

Measuring Up - ?⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ super cute YA graphic novel about a young Tiwainese immagrant who loves to cook when she discovers Julia Child
The Vegetarian - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ I honestly don't know if this is a pick for me or not. It left me with a "What did I just read" feeling. But I did keep reading. Mostly to find out what happened.

Very intense and with a trigger warning for eating disorders, but I thought this book was amazing.

#alphabetgame #letterV @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Up next

Taking inspiration from another #AsianReadathon pick, I made some Korean recipes from Cheap Lazy Vegan this morning. Unfortunately, the protagonist of this book doesn't have access to Rose's quick and filling recipes.

I read this based upon recs & the International Booker prize.It is a compelling book with an interesting look into psychosis, PTSD & anorexia. It is a deep look into a dysfunctional family & obvious social inequalities. But there are issues. First there are no decent male characters. The concept of veganism appears to be born out of self trauma and unrealistic. The misogyny is over the top excessive. Not being mean, but it‘s a little over rated.

Strange but good

143

85

76

I despise this book. I‘m not sure if I‘m too dense for whatever message this was supposed to convey but I cannot see any reason for reading this. It was incredibly disturbing and vulgar for no reason. I planned on finishing this book in a day because it is so short but it took me a few weeks to get though it because I could not get myself to pick it up most days. Just gross and seemingly pointless

This book is surprisingly good short read, disturbing and sad.

--4⭐️

“Before my wife turned vegetarian, I‘d always thought of her as completely unremarkable in every way.” Isn‘t that just… *chef‘s kiss*? It promises a fascinating story to come. The Vegetarian is “a beautiful, unsettling novel in three acts about rebellion and taboo, violence and eroticism, and the twisting metamorphosis of a soul”, and it‘s off to a strong start. Full review: https://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/the-vegetarian-han-kang/

Yeong-hye decides to stop eating meat after experiencing a vivid and violent dream. The story follows her decent into madness, culminating in her desire to leave her physical body in its entirety, in 3 parts, through the eyes of her husband, her brother-in-law and her sister.