'The Vegetarian' among top 10 books of 2016
“The Vegetarian” by Han Kang
The Vegetarian,” the 2016 Man Booker Prize-winning novel by Han Kang, was selected among the “10 Best Books of 2016” by the New York Times Book Review, Friday.
The Times reported, “In Han’s unsettling novel, a seemingly ordinary housewife ― described by her husband as “completely unremarkable in every way” ― becomes a vegetarian after a terrifying dream. Han’s description of submission and subversion find form in the parable, as the housewife’s self-abnegation turns increasingly severe and surreal. This spare and elegant translation renders the original Korean in pointed and vivid English, preserving Han’s penetrating exploration of whether true innocence is possible in a vicious and bloody world.”
The English translation by Deborah Smith won international acclaim by becoming the first Korean novel to win the Man Booker Prize. It was first published in Korean in 2007.
Other books included in the New York Times top 10 list are “The Association of Small Bombs” by Karan Mahajan, “The North Water” by Ian McGuire, “The Underground Railroad” by Colson Whitehead, “War and Turpentine” by Stefan Hertmans and “In the Darkroom” by Susan Faludi.