The novel Waiting by Ha Jin tells the tale of a love story on the other side of the planet. Along with historical information and well developed characters Jin has composed a love story sans gush. Jin tells the triangular love story by opening the novel with a preface that appears to be the end of the novel. Jin then alternates the voice between two characters, Lin and Manna, as the story develops from scratch, eventually leading the reader back to the beginning with a new perspective of how the story may pan out.
The story begins with a running start, capturing the reader’s attention, however; as it progresses it begins to drag on at a redundant and slow pace. Despite this, Waiting is a Nation Book Award Winner most likely for its ability to capture the reality and struggles of modern day China as well as how its history of emperors has affected its citizens in the aftermath.
One of the most prominent aspects of the Chinese culture that Jin has written about in Waiting is that of the various gender roles within the Chinese society as well as economic status, education, job holdings, and government authority. We see two parallel stories about the various lives available in China. Lin’s wife and daughter do not have the same luxuries as he has in the city working in the military hospital but they also have some freedoms he does not have.
Contrasting characters and aspects of life are unfolded in Jin’s novel and successfully so, thus making it a novel worth picking up. Appealing to historians and romantics alike, no matter who you are there is a message you can take away and apply to your life because love is spoken worldwide.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment