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- Romance - |
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Waiting |
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 Waiting byHa Jin Pantheon Books 320 pages, 1999 ISBN 0375406530 Reviewed by Devorah Stone Waiting is the winner of the 1999 National Book Award for Fiction Read our review of IN THE POND by Ha Jin A man waits 18 years to divorce his wife. Lin Kong married Shuya when he was a boy; his parents arranged the marriage. They needed someone to look after them in their old age. They found Shuya. Lin did not want to marry her; she was ugly and always looked old to him. She also had bound feet at a time when China was changing. He wanted to marry a modern woman. While Shuya took care of his parents he worked in an army hospital and lived away from his village, only visiting during vacation. In the hospital he meets Manna, a nurse. She is beautiful, young looking, smart and modern. The two women in Lin's life represent the two Chinas, the new city life and the old village ways. Every year for eighteen years he goes back to his village to divorce his wife. Everyone in the village except his daughter is against him, including his brother. Everyone sympathizes with his dutiful, faultless wife. Lin and Manna wait in an army hospital in Communist China. It is a restricted environment with many official and equally as important unofficial rules. Neither of them is strong enough to break them. So they wait and their love grows and changes. China also changes from Russian association, to war with Russia, the Cultural Revolution, to opening up to the west towards an undemocratic capitalism. Shuya does not change. She was old when she was young, so she does not age. She is also wise in the ways of old Chinese traditions and she cannot change. Shuya is a reminder to Lin of where he came from and of his own roots. No matter what Lin does, he can't flee from either of his wives. Waiting shows how the personal always counts; it is what makes us human. Love wins out over family traditions, politics and duty. Ha Jin wrote this book about his native China in English. Ha Jin understands the human condition. This is a gentle book with a forceful spirit where ordinary people survive the impossible through inner strength. Waiting is a love story. |
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