vegetarian

　　◎2023 brand new complete translation, new cover design, new exclusive introduction by renowned literary critic Hsu Yun-chin
　　◎USA Indie Bestseller List, London Evening Standard Bestseller List for Literary Fiction
　　◎Winner of the Korean Novel Literature Award, Today's Young Artist Award, Yi Sang Literary Award, Dong-ni Literary Award, Manhae Literary Award
　　◎Film adaptation of the novel nominated for the World Dramatic Competition at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival

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　　I can no longer endure the taste of meat.
　　Only plants can bring me peace, make me yearn.
　　Just like this, standing on my head, becoming a tree…

　　Before she began to be plagued by nightmares filled with slaughter and blood, Yeong-hye was merely an ordinary housewife leading an extremely mundane life. Countless sleepless nights and terrifying visions in her dreams tormented her. One day, she suddenly found herself unable to eat meat, unable to bear its taste, and became a "vegetarian." This small act not only jeopardized her marriage but also marked the beginning of a series of uncontrollable events.

　　Yeong-hye's brother-in-law, an art photographer, was in a creative slump. When he heard from his wife that his sister-in-law Yeong-hye still had a birthmark on her buttocks, a long-lost inspiration suddenly struck him. Scenes of naked men and women adorned with floral body paint engaging in intercourse became etched in his mind. He wanted to paint on Yeong-hye's naked body and film it. After Yeong-hye became her brother-in-law's model, the floral body paint miraculously freed her from her nightmares and rekindled her physical desires…

　　Having lived together under the shadow of domestic violence from their ill-tempered father during childhood, In-hye considered caring for her younger sister Yeong-hye her life's responsibility. However, deep down, she resented her sister, who was slowly descending into madness in a mental hospital and abandoning everything to her. The seemingly cheerful and steady In-hye had also experienced weariness and despair in life, once attempting to abandon her young child and end her own life. Can the distressed and suppressed In-hye lead the struggling Yeong-hye, teetering on the edge of nightmares, on a new journey of self-redemption?

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　　"The Vegetarian" is composed of three chapters, each portraying the increasingly extreme behavior of the vegetarian Yeong-hye from a different perspective. As she severs her ties with food, the narrative intertwines questions of violence, beauty, desire, sin, and redemption. The book features various imageries: vibrant blooming flowers, dark upright trees, a blue-green birthmark the size of a petal, blood-stained dying animals, and flying birds. There are sexual symbols, but they are not intentionally emphasized for sensationalism. The author's prose is poetic, capturing fleeting emotions to sketch the characters' helpless and painful fates, like a dark prophecy.