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The Vegetarian: A Novel
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The Vegetarian: A Novel
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The Vegetarian: A Novel
Audiobook5 hours

The Vegetarian: A Novel

Written by Han Kang

Narrated by Janet Song and Stephen Park

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

Winner of the 2016 Man Booker International Prize

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • Publisher's Weekly •  Buzzfeed •  Entertainment Weekly •  Time •  Wall Street Journal •  Bustle •  Elle •  The Economist •  Slate •  The Huffington Post • The St. Louis Dispatch •  Electric Literature

A beautiful, unsettling novel about rebellion and taboo, violence and eroticism, and the twisting metamorphosis of a soul

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.

Editor's Note

Contains multitudes…

A slim read that contains multitudes: The novel explores everything from mental illness to sex to family to art, and much else in-between. The book’s precise language — almost cuttingly sharp — stays with you long after you’ve finished it. Kang is already a literary celebrity in her native South Korea; with “The Vegetarian,” she’s well on her way to becoming one in the States, as well.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateFeb 2, 2016
ISBN9780399566998
Unavailable
The Vegetarian: A Novel

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Reviews for The Vegetarian

Rating: 3.5557506595259 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

1,139 ratings178 reviews

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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Part-horror, part-romance, this curious three-parter is thrillingly visceral at the start but peters out in the end.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Well written, but really not for me.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The Vegetarian by Han Kang, recently translated to English from its original Korean, has generated much discussion for its unique structure, visceral writing, and disturbing imagery. The novella, presented in three parts, takes place in Seoul in the early 2000s and follows a roughly two-year span in which the main character, Yeong-hye, makes a seemingly harmless decision which sets into motion a series of life-altering events.

    Each of the three sections is narrated by a different person in Yeong-hye’s life. Her husband, Mr. Cheong, narrates the first chapter (“The Vegetarian”), her brother-in-law, left unnamed, features in the second section (“Mongolian Mark”), while Yeong-hye’s sister, In-hye, concludes the story (“Flaming Trees”). Interestingly, Yeong-hye never narrates her own section, although excerpts of her dreams feature heavily throughout the first part.

    The switch in narration from section to section initially disorients, but not for long, as each narrator’s distinct perspective on Yeong-hye’s vegetarianism compels greatly. Even though we as the reader can see into the minds of the three narrators, Yeong-hye seems to be the character with the firmest grasp on her desires and purpose. Everyone else struggles (and mostly succeeds at—with one notable exception) presenting a normal face to the world, but they are lost and confused internally.

    On the surface level, the plot hinges on Yeong-hye’s decision to become a vegetarian, but a far deeper meaning runs throughout. It becomes clearer and clearer that in refusing to eat meat, Yeong-hye chooses to fight a cultural war. She becomes the black sheep of the family because she refuses to conform to societal standards. Her desire is the catalyst that leads to her family’s shame.

    The perverse family and gender dynamics distress enormously, especially when Kang highlights marriage and sex. I often found myself so disgusted that I debated putting the book down, but couldn’t look away because the language was so captivating and I was deeply invested in Yeong-hye’s spiral into madness.

    The most disappointing aspect of the novella rests in its ending. As much as I appreciate literary fiction, the conclusion was too esoteric for my taste. Symbolically, it makes sense, but I found that realistically, too many loose ends were left open. It was unfortunate that the novel ended on this note, as it soured my enjoyment significantly.

    If you’re looking for a disquieting read with beautiful language, and you don’t shy away from heavy symbolism and subtle meaning, I’d definitely give Han Kang’s The Vegetarian a chance. It’s also a very short read, so even if you’re left dissatisfied, not much time is lost.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Not my cup of tea. Too grim and everyone is so self-absorbed. It was a never-ending nightmare.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The Vegetarian is a dark, spare, unusual Korean novel about a previously unassuming wife who becomes an ardent vegan after a disturbing dream. As the violent and disturbing dreams continue, to the shame of her husband and her family the wife continues to ignore the expected social behaviour of a wife, becoming increasingly mentally unstable as she shuns basic human needs in favour of earthly needs. Creating a ripple effect of family destruction, Han weaves an unsettling and unusual tale of dark depths and mental imbalance.The Vegetarian reminded me of the translated novels from the Peirene Press stable - it had the same spare darkness that many of their novels have, and whilst I couldn't read this literary noir type of genre all the time, it is interesting to delve into them from time to time.Worthy of being a Man Booker winner? From the Man Booker judge perspective of unique oddness probably, but from the average reader perspective probably not. Not a novel I'd rush back to, but it did keep me hooked and I enjoyed it nonethless.3.5 stars - clever, dark and unsettling, but hard to tag as 'enjoyable'.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    An interesting book, one that delves deep into three of the characters, but although it caught my interest, it didn't really resonate with me. Perhaps cultural differences played a part, although at heart people and their relationships aren't all that different. Perhaps it was the lack of resolution at the end. Perhaps it was the lack of happiness and hope... the darkness is too complete and too close to reality. The brief blurb on the back of my copy was also somewhat misleading; it made it sound like this was a powerful, sensual and feminine tale. Instead it delves into darkness of spirit, illness, and the ways life can ensnare you.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A dark perilous plot, so poignant with destructive overtones, almost a difficult read due to that; main characters portrayed perfectly, each having their essence revealed. Writing is certainly talented, even in translation.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Han Kang's novel is a mesmerizing read. It is a story of a woman whose dreams suddenly make her repulsed by the thought of eating meat. But it is so much more than that tag line. We read about her trials through the eyes of three narrators. First is her husband. The couple hardly know each other as he comes home late each night from a mid level job, but her determination and willingness to stand up to her husband is a shock to him. In sporadic italicized sections we are given a glimpse of her dreams and her reason for changing to this extreme. (Once she was forced to eat the meat of a dog that bit her as this was thought to be the cure against rabies. That would do it for me. )She becomes emaciated and the husband reaches out to her family for help. Her father tries to force feed her and this ends badly with a forced hospital stay. The second part is told by the brother in law who is a video artist obsessed with the idea of her Mongolian mark, a blue birthmark.. obsessed to the point of painting their bodies in flowers so that his artistic, sexual vision could be fulfilled.And the final third is narrated by her sister who slowly begins to sympathize as she realizes the desperateness of her own existence. "The feeling that she had never really lived in this world caught her by surprise. It was a fact. She had never lived. Even as a child, as far back as she could remember, she had done nothing but endure." One critic describes this as a death affirming story. Very true, but also important to read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Gosh. That was deeply political, deeply feminist and deeply felt. One woman's reclamation of her own body begins with something as innocuous as becoming a vegetarian and it sets off an earthquake among her immediate family. Her husband, her brother-in-law and her sister each respond differently but the overall effect is cumulative and quite devastating.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Han's short novel was her first to make a splash in the English-speaking world. It's a brilliantly conceived book but did not for me have the force of her later work, Human Acts, perhaps because The Vegetarian seems to me filled with characters who are in many ways types rather than people. The title character is a person, although one whose inner life is perplexing despite many clues dropped: her self-centered husband, her violence-prone father, her controlling older sister. Some of these people never really emerge as characters. I liked it for the tragedy it describes--Han seems very good at depicting tragedies--and for the characters who do emerge into individuals, including that older sister.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    4.5 stars

    A highly disturbing novella. There are many layers to this story in three parts. It is imaginatively weird, erotically perverse and at times distressing and depressing. I preferred the first two parts of the novella but found the final descent into madness and refusal to eat lost me a little. I felt somewhat distanced from it all, possibly this might have been the author's intention to de-humanise our response. Ultimately it seemed to me that both the sisters were disturbed by a society which oppressed them so much that even motherhood became a burden. I do wonder if it is one of those books that deserves a second read - if one can stomach it. Overall a very well written and unusual book - and I tend to be drawn to the unusual and the strange. Highly recommended.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    An interesting, but bleak tale. There is a brooding disquiet about the story which keeps you guessing. A deep mystery descends on the otherwise ordinary lives of the characters. The writing is rather beautiful in some parts, sad and almost brutal elsewhere. Quite memorable.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The Vegetarian is the story of Yeong-hye, a woman who has a dream one night which moves her to quit eating meat. It is a downward sprial from there as Yeong-hye sleeps very little, loses a lot of weight, and talks less and less. Feeling trouble in her solar plexus, she does not wear bras.The story is told in three parts, in three different points of view. The first part is the most disturbing, told in her husband's point of view. Her husband, Mr. Cheong is a man who does not like unordinary things, and we see what happens inside him when the unremarkable woman he is married to becomes stranger and stranger. Part two is Yeong-hye's brother in law's perspective, though this time the narration is third-person so we never get quite as intimate a view of his world. Still, it is the strangest and most compelling part of the novel as he is an artist who becomes fixated with Yeong-hye, neglecting his wife in order to work on a project inspired by his sister-in-law. Finally part three, third person narrative of In-hye, Yeong-hye's older sister. This is where we begin to learn a little more about Yeong-hye's past. The novel goes from strange to downright sad and though it was clear this should have been the most touching part of The Vegetarian, I felt there was something missing that kept me from finding it all as beautiful as the reviews claimed it to be.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Disturbing and gorgeous, body horror and the horror of the mystery within each other. Frightening and hallucinatory, nauseating and cerebral. I adore this book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Marriages encounter a number of problems but vegetarianism usually isn’t one of them. A wife’s sudden change of dietary habits, vivid dreams sand increasingly bizarre behaviors are just the appetizers in this remarkable novel. This novel has so many layers and written so beautifully it should be savored like a fine wine after a delicious dinner. There are some passages that are-difficult to get through but are important to the story as a whole.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    So very Clever! Let the adjectives fly!The Vegetarian by Han King is a story about a persons's state of mind, the decision to let life go or to hold onto it, and our inability to truly understand one another. The story was written in and is set in South Korea and translated for publication in the US. It is a perfect example of a well translated piece as it reads flawlessly.The whole theme of the story is that we are all capable of letting go of our sanity. It hinges on whether we find a reason to hold onto it or not. Our lives aren't so much about if we appear to have love, family, success in our work and home lives, etc., but whether we recognize it as such, and if it's enough to get us to hold on.Han King nailed it when it comes to not only laying out a good story, but giving the reader something that sticks to the bones. This story crawled inside of me and wont let go. I think of all the times we all must have had to make the decision to plug along while our mind is telling us to let go. I think that we are mostly alike in that way.The Vegetarian is dark and disturbing, and yet strangely beautiful at the same time, and it is the author's willingness to expose some of her deepest thoughts and vulnerabilities that make it so. I recommend this beautiful story to any of you who enjoy a story that seems too strange to be true, but probably isn't. I personally love all the oddity that borders on the reality of life that I can get. Thank you, Han King.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The Vegetarian is such a strange but intriguing book. Yeong-hye decides to become a vegetation after having strange dreams of blood and meat. Her choice offends her family and causes her to ignore other social norms leading her to spiral out of control. The story is told from Yeong-hye husband, who becomes fed up with her, her brother-in-law, who becomes obsessed with her, and her sister whose life is changed and challenged because of Yeong-hye. Very well written, some scenes are disturbing and uncomfortable to read, but that is because the author is a great writer. Short book, highly recommend.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I'm not sure what I feel about this book. It is three points of view about Yeong-hye (husband, brother-in-law, and sister.) I liked it but I have questions which will probably be answered or discussed in my book club. The first part I wanted to smack the husband upside the head because of how he dealt with Yeong-hye. I found the second part sensual and erotic. The third part as the sister tells her tale made me wonder why they didn't just let her go. This is not a book that easily can be forgotten.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    So I have to be honest with y'all, this wasn't perhaps the best time to read a book like The Vegetarian, with its impending doom, brutality, and impenetrable lead character. However the book does provide an interesting escape, even in its harshness. Here's my thoughts:

    The Good
    The premise of this book is really great "what happens when someone decides to stop eating meat?". The Vegetarian just continues to expand on this and starts weaving in interesting themes such as sexism, abuse, desire, and how cultures react to changes. I liked that the book was unafraid to dig deep.

    Even though I just could never really jibe with Yeong-hye as a person, I did find her unwavering life choice fascinating and wanted to gain more insights from her of why she did what she did.

    The Bad
    For a book that's under 200 pages, this took me EONS to read cause the pacing and language seemed determined to keep me at a distance. I was never able to truly get into the book, no matter how fast it moved in parts.

    The Ugly
    I don't normally mind being in spaces, whether TV, books, or film, where the characters are terrible people. But if you are keeping us locked in a story such as this, I think it is up to the author to give you something to latch on to. Everyone that we meet as a narrator is someone we don't like, and so to have them telling the story of a woman who, while annoyingly steadfast, is compelling, it just slows the narrative down, particularly in the final 2 sections.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This story of a South Korean woman is told in three sections by different narrators: her husband, her brother-in-law, and her sister. The first was strongest, reminding me of Kafka, Camus, Nabokov. The writing was stylish and tense and compelling, especially the interludes where the woman's dreams are breathlessly described from her own perspective. Great stuff. Had the third section not also been similarly strong even though stylistically different, the second section about the brother-in-law's sexual obsession would have derailed the entire experience for me. I found it pretentious and slimy and lurid, neither magical nor exciting, neither sensual nor romantic, and though the author may have intended that to be my reaction to the character of the brother-in-law, I just found the whole section irritating and unnecessary, and I suspect that -- as a gay man -- I'm simply not the right audience. But as I said, the third section brought me back around to finish on a high note and net-positive reading experience. The style became much more personal and straightforward here, showing the struggles of the woman's sister not only in caring for her increasingly ill sister but also for herself. Her own unraveling was just as fascinating and more real to me. In the end, I found myself wishing that the entire book had taken the style of the first section, as it felt the most fresh and exciting, or the style of the third, which was the most intimate and insightful. I'm interested to read more by Han Kang to see where her writing takes her.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I feel like I must have missed something, given how most reviews rave about this book (in a positive manner). I don't know what I was expecting from this book, but it certainly wasn't what I got. To be honest - and no offense to the author - I wanted to read this more because of the press about the translator's rapid Korean acquisition than any hype I heard about the author or plot. (Korean to a high enough level to translate literature in two years!) Now I can't even decide if I like it or hate it. On further reflection, I dislike this book.

    Like many other reviewers on GoodReads, I was intrigued by part 1, because it built such expectations. What will happen next? And then, BOOM! two more parts that, well, don't. I get all the "breaking society's mores" tones, but the second and third parts really didn't do much for me. The best thing I can say about it is that because it's quite short, at least it didn't feel like trudging through a book I didn't want to finish.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I picked up this book as I thought it was a Booker Prize winner but I was slightly incorrect in that it's actually a Booker International Prize winner.Either way, I loved the book from the opening line "Before my wife turned vegetarian, I'd always thought of her as completely unremarkable in every way." I loved it until the final page which I had to read over again to ensure I didn't miss something. Perhaps the author was trying to be too deep but I found the ending unsatisfactory.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I received this book as part of the early reviewers here on Library Thing in exchange for an honest review. This is a beautifully written story and a vivid account of the decent into madness.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I'm a fan of open endings, psychological breaks, and bizarro premises, but this didn't hit the right note for me. This is my first dip into Korean literature and I was not ready for it. I think I need some short stories or something to warm up to the general atmosphere before diving into something like this. I just don't see what all the raving is about, maybe I wasn't in the right mindset. Dark, yes, but this didn't feel particularly deep or intriguing. The characters felt pretty flat, especially the main character, and I was so flipping confused at the end. I just......don't get it. I feel so ashamed.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The Vegetarian is told in three voices, covering a few years in the life of a woman who stops eating meat. The first part is told form the point of view of the woman's husband who is baffled at the extraordinary decision his extremely ordinary wife takes, though he lacks any kind of empathy or makes no effort to understand her. The second part is told from the point of view of her artist brother-in-law, covering the time after her first hospitalization to the discovery of the adulterous art work by her sister. The third part is told from the point of view of the sister, who is the only one left who seems to care about her sick sister, visiting her in the hospital as she continues to refuse to eat and wastes away in her efforts to become a tree.Needless to say the book provokes the senses and brings about many emotions. There are many relationships that are explored directly and indirectly, between husband and wife, sisters, mother and daughter, father and daughter... Each narrator tries to question what is happening, but the conclusion seems to be the same: nobody can understand the vegetarian, why she has stopped eating meat, what she wants to accomplish, what her motives are. While the husband dismisses her actions as the confused deeds of a psychologically weak person, the brother-in-law is drawn to her tenacity and apparent strength against all odds. Her sister seeks answers more in their shared past. Regardless, the true motivations of the vegetarian remain vague at best. It seems that she is having an existential crisis; she desires not to be a meat-eating human, but a vegetable or a tree or something more passive, connected to earth, feeding with sunlight and rain instead of chewing food. Though the book is emotionally charged from beginning to end, it is difficult to feel for any of the characters. It is certainly difficult to understand the main character. This is partly because all we know about her is through the eyes of others, none of whom seem to know her that well. Perhaps this is why the last part comes across as more cohesive and effective; her sister seems to understand the vegetarian best. But as a result of never getting close to a convincing meaning to her decisions, the story seems like an allegory, one that is difficult to follow or understand. One wonders if the vegetarian represents Korea, determined to purge itself of past sins and return to a more innocent existence, or become more at one with Nature, or if she represents a yearning for those things, or an abused, misunderstood existence... Soon after the first ten pages, such possibilities cloud the mind as the reader tries to make sense of just what the author is trying to do or say. It is impossible not to draw parallels that years of literature has taught us (motherland as abused woman, etc.) and without clear or convincing guidance, it is easy to stray in many directions.All in all, The Vegetarian is an intriguing and provocative read for those who lie to be puzzled by the mysteries of the psyche.Many thanks to Library Thing and the publisher for an ARC of this book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Although all of the characters have an oppressive sense of despair, the story is memorable in a haunting way. And while I can appreciate the merit in this Kafkaesque story depicting the progression of mental illness, I can't say I enjoyed it.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I had really exorbitant hopes for "The Vegetarian" since it was highly recommended by a a fellow bookworm. I guess that did it for me. I was not disappointed but it was not what I have expected, since my expectation was set too high already. I did like it. I like the length, I like the characters, I like the premise but the ending just opened a can of worms for me. I just need the closure at the end. What happened to Yeong-hye and her sister. Will they both live happy ever after or both will end up dead? In my mind, Yeong-hye did turn into a tree - that would be a happy ending, right?
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    After reading the publisher provided summary of The Vegetarian and some positive advance buzz from various sources, the novel -- as a concept -- got a strong hold on my imagination such that I determined to read it as soon as possible. A story about an internal psychological experience on its face, the narrative is couched in a relational context from the first. Parts of the narration coming from the perspective of the narrator's husband are striking in showing the pre-existing and growing alienation the protagonist's psychological crisis precipitates. This is a book about being the Other (i.e. being a human). It's like a fairy tale in that it is magical and memorable thanks to the short length and dramatic, striking, yet precise imagery that the author employs throughout the narrative. Plot stands out the most to the reader, serving thematic purposes; ultimately the characters are less important. This is somewhat counter-intuitive as an internal experience precipitates the action, and internal human experience is a primary focus of the work. All in all, the hype is true. This is a unique, dramatic, short novel that stimulated my thoughts in a ways that set it apart from most literary fiction I read. The story is a haunting one, and I recommend it to all who are interested in the novel's premise. I received this novel from the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program for free in exchange for sharing this honest review.Note: Fellow readers please be advised this is a novel in translation. I believed this work to be written in English by a Korean author until I received my Advance Review Copy. This is in fact a work of contemporary (South) Korean literature by Han Kang, translated by Deborah Smith into this English text. I find it frustrating that the translator's name cannot easily be found; I think her contribution is critical. Moreover, there is a big difference between reading an author's English text and a translation of their work. As such, I find it shocking such basic creative elements are not displayed prominently to inform readers and credit the appropriate creative professionals responsible for the text.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This one was a pretty weird one for me. I knew from the synopsis to expect it to be "out there," but the middle section, which was from the point-of-view of the brother-in-law, was just too icky. I need to think of how to be a little more specific about this part without giving anything away. As others have mentioned, it is written from three different points of view. I enjoyed the first part the most, which was from the husband's point-of-view. Even though he was a real jerk, I just found that section the most engaging and easiest to read. The third section - the sister's point-of-view- was pretty touching, but not as engaging for me. Just seemed to really slow down towards the end. I'll get my thoughts in order more and write a more thoughtful and well-rounded review within the next couple of days, but since I received this as an early review copy, and it took me awhile to get through - despite the fact that it could easily have been read in a day or two - I just wanted to get some initial feedback out there ASAP. All in all it was decent read and well-crafted, just some of the content was awkward for me, personally.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I requested an Advance Reader's copy of this book after seeing it praised in a British newspaper.This is a dark, joyless novel. The central character is Yeong-hye, a young wife in Seoul whose husband is startled to discover her removing all the meat in the refrigerator into a rubbish bag. Her family and acquaintances (she seems to have no friends) are disturbed by her sudden refusal to eat meat with no explanation beyond, "I had a dream."The story is told in three parts, each from the perspective of one of Yeong-hye's relations. Her husband begins with a first-person narrative of his wife's change in behavior. This chapter is disconcerting, mostly because of the extreme reactions other characters have to Yeong-hye's diet. They take her vegetarianism as a personal offense. At first, I wondered if this was a cultural thing; perhaps Koreans are not as accepting of individual dietary choices. But as the assault on Yeong-hye's diet continued, I wanted to give up the book because it seemed so ridiculous. I felt obligated to finish for the review. and I'm glad I did.The second and third chapters, told in third person from the perspective of Yeong-hye's brother-in-law and sister, are riveting. I'll have to leave out further information to avoid spoilers. Basically, the first chapter, annoying as it is, is a set-up for the rest of the story, so tough it out. The payoff comes.Author Han Kang probes the bleaker aspect of human relationships, of our struggle to understand others and to make ourselves understood. She has created complex characters and courageously explored the perplexities of mental illness. Reading this is not likely to make you happy, but it will give you plenty to talk about if you read it with a friend.