The vegetarian : a novel
Record details
- ISBN: 9781846276033 (paperback)
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Physical Description:
183 pages ; 20 cm
regular print
print - Publisher: London : Portobello Books, 2015.
- Copyright: ©2015.
Content descriptions
Language Note: | Translated from the Korean. |
Awards Note: | Winner: The Man Booker International Prize. 2016. |
Search for related items by subject
Genre: | Korean fiction > Translations into English. Psychological fiction. Domestic fiction. |
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at Bowen Island Public Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show Only Available Copies
Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bowen Island Public Library | F HAN (Text) | 30947000492567 | Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
Summary:
"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."--Provided by the publisher.