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Author: Ha Jin
Length: 308 pages
Genre: Fiction
Overall Rating:
3.5 Stars out of 4
Review by JF
3½ Stars out of 4
In the aftermath of communism and mass dissillusion in modern China, what
is man's chance at happiness and personal fulfillment? This question is
directly addressed in Ha Jin's novel, which won the National Book Award
this year. This existential question is further complicated the protagonists
inherent timidity, as well as by the social sense of hopelessness and
blandness which pervades his surroundings.
Ha Jin's simple prose belies the complexity and irony which underlies this
work. A fast read, Waiting will perhaps strike most readers as unexceptional
until after the entirety of the work has been consumed---after which
fragments of its central existential issue and subtle humor will
continually riddle the reader. For that, this book rightly deserves the
National Book Award, and a permanent place in your bookshelf.
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