The Vegetarian, Han Kang - Book Review

There’s always something special about reading a Booker Prize winning novel (see the last Booker novel I reviewed https://books-booze-boxoffice.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-seven-moons-of-maali-almeida-shehan.html). We are very aware from the beginning that the book is critically acclaimed, and therefore know that there’s a high chance that lay-people like us, will either not relate to it, or will not like it. Imagine then my anticipation and guarded approach to a novel that is not just a Man Booker International Prize winner (2016), but also the Nobel Prize in Literature winner (2024).

The Vegetarian tells the story of Yeong-hye and her immediate family, and how her one decision of turning into a vegetarian and giving up all kind of meat, turns her and her family’s life completely upside down, triggering a series of disruptive incidents that pulls her and the people closest to her in different directions, and sets them on a profound and irreversible path towards destruction or redemption or both.

Did I like the book? I’ve realised that this is a difficult question to answer for a Booker novel. If ‘liking’ a book means did I enjoy reading it, was it entertaining, did it bring a smile on my face, was there fun and joy in it, the answer is ‘No’. But if ‘liking’ a book means did it move us, shake us, disrupt us, shock us, gave us an insight into the world and its many complex facets that we otherwise don’t see in our own livesthen the answer is an overwhelming ‘Yes’.

The story is told in three parts, each narrated in the first person by different protagonists in the story. The first part (The Vegetarian), is from the perspective of Mr. Cheong, Yeong-hye’s husband, who watches in frustration as his married life transforms from a highly ordinary one to a shockingly extra-ordinary one, as his wife slowly fades away from food, relationships, life and sanity. The second part (Mongolian Mark), is from the perspective of Yeong-hye’s brother-in-law (her sister’s husband), a wayward mal-adjusted artist, who becomes obsessed with the idea of creating an erotic masterpiece of body-painting and videography of Yeong-hye and himself, delivering the artistic satisfaction that had been eluding him all this while, but also ending his family forever. The third and the final part (Flaming Trees), is from the perspective of In-hye, Yeong-hye’s sister, who, now as a single mom, becomes the only care-giver for her sister, now in a psychiatric hospital, trying in-vain to rescue her from slowly decaying because of her refusal to eat anything at all; and in the process, finally giving into her own life’s pain, helplessness and imprisonment .

While it takes a while to really get into the book, taking some time to feel the translated Korean writing, the cultural context, and the slightly-bizarre story, it quickly has us hooked into a very subtle but deep reality of our modern day urban lives and the absurdity of the choices we make, who’s disastrous consequences we suffer all our lives. The magic of the book is that it moves from something completely un-relatable to something that is so-relatable that we eventually know it’s a story about all of us. The central premise of the story is a commentary on how far and disconnected man has become from not only nature but everything organic and real on this planet. In line with Yuval Noah Harari’s premise of our biology out of sync with our history, the book comments on the completely un-natural construct of our society that fundamentally conflicts with our animal nature. It shows us the mirror on the fact that despite years of championing individuality and personal choice, in essence we are still a society that promotes falling-in-line and choosing accepted norms, and has zero tolerance for a truly different path in life. The book digs up the inherent dark-ness hidden behind closed doors, from misogyny to child abuse to sexual dissatisfaction and dysfunctional relationships.  

The fact that the novel is from of Seoul, perhaps the poster child for a 20th century developed Asian economy model, is extremely poignant. Seeing this along with other award winning Korean content (eg. Parasite, Train to Busan, even the last Korean book I read, Almond by Sohn Wong-Pyung), one can’t help feeling it as a potential ‘warning sign’ for the rest of us Asian countries, of how “not to”become a developed nation, 2047 or whenever! What’s that quote that says ‘don’t confuse development with progress’.

As the story comes to an end, the main thought we are left behind with and perhaps the biggest truth of our lives, is that of ENTROPY. Entropy is where our universe began and entropy is where it is headed. We know that the more we try to bring order and control to our lives, the more it slips away into disorder, randomness and uncertainty. The seemingly logical choices we make everyday only exacerbates the irreversibility of this entropy. And whether we like it or not, we are rapidly hurtling down a path of no-return. And the sooner we realise the inevitability of this truth, the sooner we can be free….  And that’s the genius and the award-worthiness of this fascinating novel.

A Complete Unknown, 2024 - Film Review

“How many roads must a man walk down, before you could call him a man”, might just be the most defining question that everyone lives with everyday in every generation, from the beginning of time. And yet it takes a genius poet to call it out in a way that makes it the iconic question of all times. And a cult song for our hearts.

A Complete Unknown, is the story of the early making years of the legend, the icon, and the only songwriter to win the Nobel prize for literature, the one and only Bob Dylan. Set between the period 1961-1965, the film depicts the journey of Bobby Dylan, beginning with him coming to New York from small town America to play folk music, connecting with his folk music icon Woody Guthrie, taken under his wing by Pete Seeger to grow the independent folk music culture against the backdrop of a troubled time in American history, at the peak of Cold War, Nam, Kennedy assassination, Cuba, and other related tumultuous events. As America transforms during this period, so does Bob Dylan and his music, as he follows his own path in music culture, across ups and downs in his personal and professional relationships, setting the foundation years for the legacy music of Bob Dylan, as we know today, influenced and shaped by key personalities and talents of the day like Joan Baez, Johnny Cash,  Pete Seeger, and Woody Guthrie.

For all Bob Dylan fans, this movie is a must-watch. For many of us, who listened ardently to his music in our youth, we know what his music has meant to us. His music has been part of our identity making, being not only the wise counsel for our confused minds, but also an irreverent truth-shaming of a world that fundamentally makes no sense. As we stepped into the world of adult-hood, when he sang ‘Like a Rolling Stone’, he reminded us that not only are we a ‘complete unknown’ in the crowd, but so are the supposed adults who are running the world. When we were unsure about how to manage our relationships, and balance our own selfishness with respect for our women, we had Just Like a Woman telling us just that. In our dark times, when nothing made any sense and we were ready to quit, he gave us a crying shoulder in ‘Knockin on Heaven’s Door’, letting us get it all out, so we could get back to our life the next morning. When we got smug and confident in things we are doing, achieving, winning, he reminded us not to get too arrogant or become part of the same world that didn’t make sense just a few years ago by singing ‘The Times They Are a Changing’. And, (and this one is my most favourite), as we grew up and got busy with our busy modern lives, making money, having a family, and playing our part in the running of this world, he left us with the most beautiful prayer and wish that can be called nothing short of a guide for how to live your life, in Forever Young’, a poem that is still my facebook cover.

The film captures beautifully a unique time in America, which itself is going through an identity crisis, even as the youth of that generation are going through theirs. During a time when the entire zeitgeist was asking more questions than getting answers, Bob Dylan’s coming of age and coming of fame is perfectly intertwined and almost an inevitability. His journey of a gradual and very natural evolution from a folk music singer to almost a prophet of his time is brilliantly captured. Even as his folk music mentors and peers look with aghast and betrayal at Dylan’s journey, we see how this could be the only path for him. Because Dylan is special. He is built differently from the rest. He follows his own path, listens to the rhythm of his own soul, sees what others don’t, feels what others can’t. And that’s why he must go, he has to move on, he cannot give Sylvie the love and commitment she wants from him, he cannot play to the crowd and be a partner-in-crime to Joan Baez. Inherently an explorer, a contrarian, an independent mind, and a free spirit, Dylan was born this way. 

All the actors are brilliant, Edward Norton as Pete Seeger, Elle Fanning as Sylvie, Monica Barbaro as the talented Joan Baez, all deliver authentic and powerful performances. But above all Timothy Chalamet hits it out of the park. He is Bob Dylan incarnate. This young talented actor once again impresses us with potently profound portrayal of the legend that is Bob Dylan. Fantastic! 

This film is a brilliant and a perfect ode to his music, immersing us in this world, making us move with joy and soul, as we not only enjoy the music we’ve known and loved for years, but also feel the entire context of when and how the music was created, completing the picture and the experience for us. Perhaps this film was the missing puzzle in our personal Bob Dylan journey that has now been plugged in. And for that, we say thank you. A celebration and a 2.5 hours immersion into the world of Bob Dylan, his music and his times. Nothing like it. Enjoy it.. Thank you James Mangold for making this film and bringing back Dylan in our lives again after all these years. It feels like we need him once again, more than ever!

As we finish the reflection on the question posed in the beginning ‘how many roads must a man walk down’, we are rightfully reminded by the song and the movie itself, that it is always the questions that make the difference, the questions that change the world, the questions that move us forward, because ‘the answer my friend is always blowin in the wind, the answer is blowin in the wind’