DAU Library

“문득 이 세상을 살아본 적이 없다는 느낌이 드는 것에 그녀는 놀랐다. 사실이었다. 그녀는 살아본 적이 없었다. 기억할 수 있는 오래전의 어린시절부터. 다만 견뎌왔을 뿐이었다. 그녀는 자신이 선량한 인간임을 믿었으며, 그 믿음대로 누구에게도 피해를 주지 않았다. 성실했고, 나름대로 성공했으며, 언제까지나 그럴 것이었다. 그러나 이해할 수 없는 일이었다. 그 후락한 가건물과 웃자란 풀들 앞에서 그녀는 단 한번도 살아본 적 없는 어린아이애 불과했다.“

“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. She had believed in her own inherent goodness, her humanity, and lived accordingly, never causing anyone harm. Her devotion to doing things the right way had been unflagging, all her successes had depended on it, and she would have gone on like that indefinitely. She didn't understand why, but faced with those decaying buildings and straggling grasses, she was nothing but a child who had never lived.” 

At the far end of the first floor of the University Library, while busy searching for the books by Poet Ko Un (고은), I found a small book lying lost among the sea of voluminous books. A compact book wrapped in an exotic book cover and a mystifying title “Vegetarian – 채식주의자” instantly attracted me.

I borrowed the English translated copy of the book and first started reading it inside my Newyork bound flight. I wanted to finish reading it by the time I land in Newyork. However, I was defeated at the hand of the haunting, utterly compelling and cut-to-the-bone theme. Han Kang’s heart-wrenching deion made “Vegetarian” a voluminous an exceptional read. 

The story is told in three parts, around a young woman, Yeoun-Hye. Yeoun-Hye’s sudden decision be a vegetarian and her family's reaction constitute the first part; Second part centers around her brother-in-law and his obsession with her body. In third part, her sister In-Hye and her struggle in dealing with a collapsing family is portrayed. What makes the theme interesting is that, even though Yeoun-Hye is the fulcrum of the novel, she does not have her point of view expressed directly anywhere in the book. Throughout the book, we never hear from her other than some deions of her terrifying dreams which led her to become a vegetarian. 

This book does not only talk about a family and the collapse of human relation, it addresses the abnormalities of the inflexible social structures and failure of the institutions. The main theme circles around the most fundamental questions of identity, of gender, of responsibility toward others, and of what makes life worth living. Time and again, Han Kang forced me to reminisce a poem by poet Ku Un’s-

“<오늘도 누구의 이야기로 하루를 보냈다.

돌아오는 길

나무들이 나를 보고 있다.”

Future readers are advised to invest ample amount of time while reading “Vegetarian”. Allow Han Kang to take you on an unforgettable journey, in the haunting and moving world of Meat, blood, sex, familial guilt, transcending primal nature of human and try to find the answers to those unanswered questions you will encounter in the whole process, like –

“왜 마음데로 죽지 못하는가 ?“

“Why, is it such a bad thing to die?”

Finally, on a personal note, I am grateful to Han Kang for helping me to develop a new and optimistic way to deal with the difficulties I face on everyday basis in a foreign land, far away from home. 

‘어제까지 모두 꿈이었다면,

다시 돌아가서 새로운 선택을 할 수 있다면,

과연 더 완벽한 지금을 만들 수 있을까……”