The Vegetarian: A Haunting Tale of Rebellion, Obsession, and Transformation

"Look, I’m not an animal anymore. I don’t eat meat."

Yeong-hye is an ordinary woman living an unremarkable life—until the nightmares begin. Dark, visceral, and relentless, they lead her to make a quiet but shocking decision: she will no longer eat meat. In a society where conformity is prized and expectations are rigid, her choice is seen as an act of defiance. But what begins as a simple dietary change soon spirals into something far more disturbing.

Her husband, a man of tepid ambitions and conventional desires, is repulsed by her growing alienation. Her family is horrified. As Yeong-hye withdraws deeper into her own mind, rejecting not just meat but her very humanity, those around her respond with cruelty, exploitation, and violence. Her brother-in-law, a struggling artist, becomes captivated by her fragile beauty, turning his obsession into an erotic and destructive fantasy. Meanwhile, her devoted sister, the only one who truly tries to understand her, watches helplessly as Yeong-hye’s transformation reaches its chilling, inevitable conclusion.

Winner of the Man Booker International Prize, *The Vegetarian* is a mesmerizing and deeply unsettling novel about desire, control, and the limits of the human body. Han Kang delivers a stark and poetic exploration of rebellion—against family, against tradition, and ultimately, against the self.