Hello book club of [r/bangtan](r/bangtan)! I’m writing to you now from Tampa, Florida for the kickoff of the North American leg of BTS’s ARIRANG Tour! So if you sense that I’m screaming, I am! Oh my god!!!! (Quick note to say that this link and all links after it lead to Giphy! 🫶🏻) But there’s always time for literature. . . April, our theme is mental health, in honor of Agust D’s iconic and moving Amygdala. To that end, we voted to read The Vegetarian by Han Kang trans. Deborah Smith. Not only is Han Kang an author that both RM and V have recommended, but she also won the Nobel Prize for Literature!
Let’s have a Circle Room Talk about the book!
Below is a discussion guide. Some book-specific questions and some sharing suggestions!
You can scroll down this thread to see the question and reply to them in the comments!
Book Specific Questions
- How did you feel about the shifting narrative voice in this book? Whose narrative did you find most compelling? Most interesting?
- How does society shape what we see as ill and well?
- How do you think mental illness manifests in Yeong-hye? Do you think other characters in this novel experience mental illness directly?
- What does this novel say about what makes us our most authentic? What does it mean to be authentic in the first place?
- How do the people around Yeong-hye affect her mental state? How does Yeong-hye’s shift in mental status affect them?
- Do you see Yeong-hye as an active or passive character? How does that change your view of her as a character?
B-Side Questions/Discussion Suggestions
- Fan Chant: Hype/overall reviews
- Ments: favorite quotes
- ARMY Time: playlist/recommendations of songs you associate with the book/chapters/characters
- Do The Wave: sentiments, feels, realizations based on the book
- Encore/Post Club-read Depression Prevention: something the book club can do afterwards (on one’s own leisure time) to help recover from the book hangover.
The Vegetarian by Han Kang trans. Deborah Smith
Before the nightmares began, Yeong-hye and her husband lived an ordinary, controlled life. But the dreams—invasive images of blood and brutality—torture her, driving Yeong-hye to purge her mind and renounce eating meat altogether. It’s a small act of independence, but it interrupts her marriage and sets into motion an increasingly grotesque chain of events at home. As her husband, her brother-in-law and sister each fight to reassert their control, Yeong-hye obsessively defends the choice that’s become sacred to her. Soon their attempts turn desperate, subjecting first her mind, and then her body, to ever more intrusive and perverse violations, sending Yeong-hye spiraling into a dangerous, bizarre estrangement, not only from those closest to her, but also from herself.
Everybody read the story that they wanna
Thank you so much for joining us for this month’s read! I know it was a heavy one, so make sure to take some time to decompress and do some self-care. This month was all about how important mental health is, so please take Joon’s advice and take a bubble bath, bae. I hope all your trials end in full bloom. 💜 As always, if you have questions or suggestions on how we can make discussions even better please let us know. And please tell us if there are any books you’d like to add to our TBR list. You can post them here and tag any of the BWL Volunteers and mods like so u/repressedpauper. If you feel more comfortable reaching out to us directly, please don’t hesitate to do so with luv,
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