Vegetarian by Han Kang in Our Book Club
Sunday Post
Today in the Koliha Book Club, we discussed The Vegetarian by Han Kang.
Discussion points raised in the session:
Sometimes families act like tribes or cults — a cult or tribe often follows a fascist structure.
There is fear of change, and even those who desire transformation may resist it when it actually arrives.
Is Yanhya’s action a form of protest that ultimately leads to his own destruction?
Does he behave like a suicide bomber, or is he preparing to leap toward life?
Is it a movement toward death — or toward life?
This session had been postponed once due to the wartime situation in the country, and since last night, I was once again worried that the members of our book group inside Iran wouldn’t be able to join. During the session, members kept getting disconnected and reconnecting—sometimes someone was in the middle of sharing their opinion and lost connection, and we had to wait until they rejoined.
It’s a strange story—being a writer, especially an Iranian writer.
But the comments from the friends were very precise and insightful.
Only those who had read the Persian version of the book seemed not to have fully grasped the different layers of the novel. The Persian translation is very poor and heavily censored.
For years now, books in Iran have been subject to censorship, which is why I felt I had to bring up the issue of censorship.
Censors in the Islamic Republic used to claim they were trying to protect society’s morality, but in truth, their real goal was to dull the minds of readers and diminish their capacity to understand literature and life. No censor has ever appeared to save humanity or preserve morality—censorship has always served fascism and power. A censor is the guardian of sectarian and tribal values. They have nothing to do with freedom—and are in fact, its enemy.
In the story, Yeong-hye, stands up against the restrictions and censorship of family life. By choosing vegetarianism, she expresses her individuality—something that has no meaning in tribal, sectarian, or fascist systems.
I hope one day I can translate this session into English and make it available to others.
Friends outside the country had read the book in English, German, or French, so we were able to discuss the censored scenes as well.
Yeong-hye is a protester against a closed world and herd-like living—something we Iranians have been striving to overcome for many years.
Thanks to all the friends who participated in the book discussion.
In our future sessions, we’ll review books by Mario Vargas Llosa— including CONVERSATION IN CATADRAL —as well as the historical books we have planned.
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