The Vegetarian

For the film based on this novel, see Vegetarian (film).
The Vegetarian
Hardcover edition
AuthorHan Kang
Original title채식주의자
TranslatorDeborah Smith
LanguageKorean
GenreContemporary fiction, Asian culture, literary fiction
PublisherChangbi Publishers (S. Korea); Portobello Books (UK)
Publication date
30 October 2007 (S. Korea); 1 January 2015 (UK); 1 February 2016 (US)
Publication placeSouth Korea
Media typePrint (hardback) and (paperback)
Pages160 pp (US paperback edition)
ISBN978-89-364-3359-8
The Vegetarian
Hangul
채식주의자
Hanja
Revised Romanizationchaesikjuuija
McCune–Reischauerch'aesikchuuija

The Vegetarian (Korean: 채식주의자; Hanja: 菜食主義者; RR: Chaesikjuuija) is a 2007 novel by South Korean author Han Kang, winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature. Based on Han's 1997 short story "The Fruit of My Woman", The Vegetarian is a three-part novel set in modern-day Seoul and tells the story of Yeong-hye, a part-time graphic artist and home-maker, whose decision to stop eating meat after a bloody nightmare about human cruelty leads to devastating consequences in her personal and familial life.[1]

Published on 30 October 2007 in South Korea by Changbi Publishers, The Vegetarian was received as "very extreme and bizarre" by the South Korean audience.[2] "Mongolian Mark", the second and central part of the novel, was awarded the prestigious Yi Sang Literary Prize. It has been translated into at least thirteen languages, including English, French, Spanish, and Chinese.

The Vegetarian is Han's first novel to be translated into English.[3] The translation was conducted by the British translator Deborah Smith, and was published in January 2015 in the UK and February 2016 in the US, after which it received international critical acclaim, with critics praising Han's writing style and Smith's translation. In May 2016, it won the 2016 Man Booker International Prize. The Vegetarian thus became the first recipient of the award after its reconfiguration in 2015, prior to which it was awarded to an author's body of work rather than a single novel.[3][4] It is considered as Korean translated literature's biggest win since Kyung-Sook Shin's Please Look After Mom won the closing Man Asian Literary Prize in 2012.[5] Prior to it winning the prize, The Vegetarian had sold close to 20,000 copies in the nine years since its first publication.[6] In June 2016, Time included the book in its list of best books of 2016.[7][8][9]

  1. ^ Miller, Laura (2 February 2016), "I'm Not an Animal Anymore", Slate, archived from the original on April 22, 2019, retrieved 17 May 2016
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference WT was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b "Han Kang's The Vegetarian wins Man Booker International Prize", BBC, 16 May 2016, retrieved 17 May 2016
  4. ^ "The Vegetarian", themanbookerprize.com, 16 May 2016, retrieved 17 May 2016
  5. ^ Montgomery, Charles (18 May 2016). "Korea: A country of one's own? Thoughts on Han Kang's Booker victory". Korean Literature in Translation. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  6. ^ "Han Kang explodes". Man Booker Prize. 3 June 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  7. ^ "Here Are the Best Books of 2016 So Far". Time. 13 June 2016. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  8. ^ Seo Hee Im (26 October 2016). "Sex, violence and the Vegetarian: The brutality of Han Kang's Booker winner". The Guardian.
  9. ^ "Korean Novel Makes NYT's 'Best Books of 2016' List".