A sad dream and a memory lane of grief

Book Title: The Vegetarian
Book Author: Han Kang

A few days ago, after a date with my best friend puki, I slipped into a bookstore last minute before they closed it. There I spotted an edition of The Vegetarian, the cover looked dark, and mysterious. Quickly I shopped 3 or 4 books including it, an immense guilty pleasure rushed into me. Back at home, I peeked into the book. After reading one or two pages, I got lost into Han Kang’s world - dark, psychologically charged and; restless to know where the story goes.

I was walking with the book opened and folded in my hands. I was commuting in a public bus and reading, almost missing my stoppage. And finally got late to sleep at night, when I finished the book. The next morning, I overslept. I was awakened by a very sad dream. In the dream I saw that it was the last day of my cadet college (this similar dream comes to me often). I was worrying that I did not complete my Biology syllabus, even though it’s my fourth subject, I would not get “Golden A Plus” without securing an A+ in Biology, LOL. Then I realized it’s the last day I will be with puki, after today “us” will not be the same. I felt very sad, close to tears and went room to room, asking friends if they saw puki. They told me that puki was also searching for me… I could not find her to say goodbye… I woke up feeling sad. I don’t have a sister, puki is as close to having a sister. All the books I read from Han Kang show a deep relationship between sisters or girl friends. That’s why the sad dream I guess.

The other book from Han Kang I read is We Do Not Part. Both the books’ stories slip in and out of reality. Reading Han Kang feels like immersing oneself into long dreams of sadness—walking in a memory lane of grief. Yeong Hai is a woman in her early thirties who one day turns vegetarian after seeing a dream. Her story is told by three other protagonists in their own versions, in three novellas inside the book. The way they portray her tells a lot about themselves! Yeong Hai doesn’t eat meat, and slowly she herself tends to become like trees… Her unfathomable metamorphosis made me curious about her past… I was also thinking, what do we accept as normality…

Personally I liked the readability of the book very much! Once started, it’s very difficult to discontinue, he he. I also admired how Han Kang’s writing and stories are unconventional. The thing that makes me not want to read is - the stories are depressing. After reading The Vegetarian, I felt a closure that I have read enough of Han Kang to predict how my mood will be when I will read her again. Probably I won’t read more from Han Kang. As much as I admire the writing, I would like to avoid the air of depression.