Congrats to Han Kang, Whose Books Have a Little Bit Ruined My Life
By "a little bit ruined my life," I mean that I'm a massive fan who could not be more excited that she just became the first Asian woman and South Korean writer to win a Nobel Prize in literature.
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Of all the books I’ve read in my life up until now, I would say there are about 15 that have left such an impression that I’m likely to think about them at any given moment at least once a week. They include: Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, Jerry Spinelli’s Stargirl, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Robin Wasserman’s Girls on Fire, Agustina Bazterrica’s Tender Is the Flesh, Lois Duncan’s Stranger With My Face, as well as The Vegetarian and Human Acts, both by Han Kang—the only author to appear twice on my official and definitive list.
On Thursday, Han won the Nobel Prize in Literature for both titles, becoming the first Asian woman and South Korean writer to do so. The Vegetarian, especially, has haunted me ever since I first read it in 2018. So what I mean by saying her work has “a little bit ruined my life” is that her writing is so effective and so visceral, while also being deeply compassionate and empathetic, that even now, every time I cook a piece of meat, I think back to this novel and wonder if I should be cooking this piece of meat…let alone eating it.
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