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Nov 11, 2017GladstoneReader rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
This is the first of hopefully more translated works of Korean author Han Kang. It is a disquieting work that traces how one person's change can affect others in a family. The publisher's blurb describes the setup situation quite well, but doesn't, of course, give many hints of the superbly understated narrative flow and the following impacts. Translator's often play the key role in how a novel originally in a foreign language comes across. It is a delicate task in that some Korean terms do not translate well. I assume the translator bases many decisions on how they perceive the writer's intent and makes decisions based on that perception. The translation here by Deborah Smith is hopefully accurate in that the writing is often terse, yet when you put the sentences together a mood, an interior atmosphere, comes successfully across. Also there is a rawness to some scenes that makes them more deeply felt by the reader. The three sections of the novel are from the perspectives of the husband of the vegetarian, the brother-in-law, and the sister. I'll leave it to the reader to decide what negative degree all three were affected by the vegetarian. I do feel that there are some things I don't quite get that the author intended. The book did raise some self examination as to my views on women and femininity, yet I'm still haunted about what else I should have metaphorically tuned in on. I'm putting it on my To Read Again stack for reconsideration a year or so down the road. For me it was time well spent, it challenged my perspectives as a very good novel should, and I look forward to more of Kang's work appearing in English translation.