{"product_id":"the-vegetarian","title":"The Vegetarian","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYeong-hye and her husband are ordinary people. He is an office worker with moderate ambitions and mild manners; she is an uninspired but dutiful wife. The acceptable flatline of their marriage is interrupted when Yeong-hye, seeking a more 'plant-like' existence, decides to become a vegetarian, prompted by grotesque recurring nightmares.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn South Korea, where vegetarianism is almost unheard-of and societal mores are strictly obeyed, Yeong-hye's decision is a shocking act of subversion. Her passive rebellion manifests in ever more bizarre and frightening forms, leading her bland husband to self-justified acts of sexual sadism. His cruelties drive her towards attempted suicide and hospitalisation.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eShe unknowingly captivates her sister's husband, a video artist. She becomes the focus of his increasingly erotic and unhinged artworks, while spiralling further and further into her fantasies of abandoning her fleshly prison and becoming - impossibly, ecstatically - a tree. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFraught, disturbing and beautiful, \u003cem\u003eThe Vegetarian\u003c\/em\u003e is a novel about modern day South Korea, but also a novel about shame, desire and our faltering attempts to understand others, from one imprisoned body to another.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Han Kang","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40722387501218,"sku":"9781846276033","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0573\/8600\/8738\/files\/websitecovertemplate-1474.png?v=1732025298","url":"https:\/\/rarebirdsbooks.live\/products\/the-vegetarian","provider":"Rare Birds Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}