"Vegetarian" Author: [Korea] Han Jiang Publisher: Sichuan Literature and Art Publishing House

The first Asian winner of the International Booker Prize

When I was writing, I often thought about these questions: how violent can humans be; how to define sanity and madness; to what extent can we understand others. I hope that The Vegetarian can answer these questions. Through The Vegetarian, I want to portray a woman who is determined not to join the human group.

——Han Jiang’s speech at the National Booker Prize ceremony

Editor's Recommendation:

1The only Asian winner of the Man Booker International Prize

The award was won by beating out 154 other popular works including "Strange Things in My Head" and "Water Death" by two Nobel Prize winners in Literature, Orhan Pamuk and Kenzaburo Oe, "Four Books" by Yan Lianke, and "The Lost Child", the finale of the "Neapolitan Quartet".

At the same time, this is the first time in the history of Booker International that the prize has been awarded to a single book (previously it was awarded to the author's lifetime achievement).

2 This phenomenal masterpiece, renowned worldwide, is as sharp as a knife and puts the entire human society on the shooting range.

Won the Lee Sang Prize, the highest literary award in South Korea, and sold copyrights to 43 countries and regions around the world, with cumulative sales exceeding 6 million copies. It was selected as the book of the year by 60 media outlets including Time, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and Publishers Weekly.

3 The most internationally renowned masterpiece by a Korean writer! A hot candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature

As a backbone force in the Korean literary world, Han Kang is very likely to become an important candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature among contemporary Korean writers.

——Le Clézio, Nobel Prize winner in Literature and leader of French literary world

A masterpiece like The Vegetarian, a brilliant depiction of sex and madness, deserves to be a huge success.

——Ian McEwan, winner of the Booker Prize and the most influential writer in contemporary British literature

4 Selected as one of the top ten novels of the decade along with The Three-Body Problem

In 2019, the authoritative American magazine "Wired" selected "The Vegetarian" as one of the 10 best genre novels in the past 10 years. Also selected were "The Buried Giant" by Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro and "The Three-Body Problem" by Liu Cixin.

5 Greatest Works of Writing by Women

Selected by The New York Times as one of the 15 masterpieces written by women in the 21st century that have reshaped our thinking and writing

6 The number of borrowers exceeds that of "Kim Ji-young, Born 1982"

The National Library of Korea analyzed borrowing data from 845 libraries across the country from January 2017 to April 2021.

The results show that "The Convenience Store of Sorrow" has become the favorite book of people aged 20-29.

Following "The Convenience Store of Sorrow", "The Vegetarian" surpassed the popular book "Kim Ji-young, Born 1982" to win the first place in Korean original literature borrowing and the second place in total literature borrowing rate.

7 South Korean President Moon Jae-in, BTS leader Kim Nam-joon, Red Velvet's Kim Ye-bin, GOT7's Park Jin-young, and popular actress Lim Soo-jung sincerely recommend

8 adapted films were shortlisted for the Sundance Film Festival Jury Award - World Cinema Unit - Best Feature Film

In order to escape the violence from her husband, family, society and the crowd, she decided to turn into a tree.

In the eyes of Mr. Zheng, Yinghui's husband, before she became ill, she was an ordinary woman: neither tall nor short, with neither long nor short hair, plain appearance, ordinary clothes, gentle, plain, and quiet. Just as he hoped, Yinghui perfectly played the role of an ordinary wife - doing housework and serving her husband, just like thousands of traditional women.

However, after a nightmare, the wife suddenly began to refuse to eat meat, refused to prepare meat dishes for the family, and even in the end, she began to reject her "human" identity and regarded herself as a plant, a plant that only needed sunlight and water and refused any food and communication. As her passive rebellion manifested itself in more and more extreme and terrible forms, scandals, abuse and alienation began to make her spiral into her fantasy space. In a complete metamorphosis of spirit and body, her now dangerous efforts will lead Yeong-hye - impossible, ecstatic, tragic - away from the self she once knew.

Written in a lyrical yet piercing style, The Vegetarian delicately blends tenderness and horror, revealing the impact of a fierce rebellion on the heroine and everyone around her. This concise, beautiful, and disturbing book will linger in the reader's mind and even creep into the reader's dreams.

--Boyd Tonkin, Chairman of the International Booker Prize

As a backbone force in the Korean literary world, Han Kang is very likely to become an important candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature among contemporary Korean writers.

——Le Clézio, Nobel Prize winner in Literature and leader of French literary world

A masterpiece like The Vegetarian, a brilliant depiction of sex and madness, deserves to be a huge success.

——Ian McEwan, winner of the Booker Prize and the most influential writer in contemporary British literature

The almost perverted temptation in this novel comes precisely from the poetic images between the lines. They are violent and erotic, like nightmares. Reading this book is like being in a room full of exotic flowers and plants. The strong fragrance will strangle your throat, make you open your eyes and be shocked.

——Amsterdamer Magazine, Netherlands

Open this book and prepare to be sliced, colored, slapped, caressed, torn to pieces, shocked, and shaken!

—Amelia Gray, American novelist

About the Author · · · · · ·