From Publishers WeeklyHa Jin, who emigrated from China in the aftermath of Tiananmen Square, had only been writing in English for 12 years when he won the National Book Award for Waiting in 1999. His latest novel sheds light on an ?migr? writer's woodshedding period. It follows the fortunes of Nan Wu, who drops out of a U.S. grad school after the repression of the democracy movement in China, hoping to find his voice as a poet while supporting his wife, Pingping, and son, Taotao. After several years of spartan living, Nan and Pingping save enough to buy ...
"Achingly beautiful…Ha Jin depicts the details of social etiquette, of food, of rural family relationships and the complex yet alarmingly primitive fabric of provincial life with that absorbed passion for minutiae characteristic of Dickens and Balzac." – Los Angeles Times Book Review"A vivid bit of storytelling, fluid and earthy…Reminiscent of Hemingway in its scope, simplicity and precise language… A graceful human allegory." – Chicago Sun-Times"A subtle beauty… A sad, poignantly funny tale." – The Boston Sunday Globe"Impeccably deadpan… Waiting turns, page by careful page, into a deliciously comic novel." – Time"Spare but compelling…...
From Publishers WeeklyJin (Waiting; The Crazed; etc.) applies his steady gaze and stripped-bare storytelling to the violence and horrifying political uncertainty of the Korean War in this brave, complex and politically timely work, the story of a reluctant soldier trying to survive a POW camp and reunite with his family. Armed with reams of research, the National Book Award winner aims to give readers a tale that is as much historical record as examination of personal struggle. After his division is decimated by superior American forces, Chinese "volunteer" Yu Yuan, an English-speaking clerical officer with a largely ...
