Changbi Publishes Revised Edition of Han Kang's 'The Vegetarian'

[Asia Economy Reporter Seomideum] The revised edition of Han Kang's novel The Vegetarian, which won the International Booker Prize in 2016 and elevated the status of Korean literature, will be released after 15 years.

This work, which vividly portrays the pain of a wounded soul combined with intense botanical imagination through meticulous structure and captivating prose, is a masterpiece that completes the aesthetics of eerie beauty in Han Kang's unique style. The Vegetarian, which won the International Booker Prize with reviews such as "a solid, intricate, and shocking work that will linger in readers' hearts and probably their dreams for a long time," received international acclaim including "It is expected to resonate with readers while causing ripples in the American literary world" (The New York Times) and "The combination of astonishingly beautiful prose and incredibly violent content is shocking" (The Guardian). In 2018, it also won the San Clemente Literary Award in Spain, sparking enthusiastic responses worldwide. Domestically, it has sold nearly one million copies to date. The Vegetarian has had its rights sold to over 40 countries. In September this year, it was adapted into a play and performed on the National Theater stage, and in December it is scheduled to meet overseas audiences at the Li?ge Theatre in Belgium.

The Vegetarian is a novel centered on Yeonghye, who one day refuses to eat meat and begins to have conflicts with her family. However, the novel is narrated from the perspectives of three characters surrounding Yeonghye?her husband, brother-in-law, and sister?and Yeonghye herself never assumes the position of the main narrator. The patriarchal violence committed in the name of family, and Yeonghye’s botanical imagination expressed through her resistance to that violence by fasting to shed her animality and become a tree, resonates across generations of readers, creating a profound and greater harmony.

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