Set in China during the tumultuous era of the Cultural Revolution, the protagonist Lin Kong is a doctor who resides and works at a hospital in the city of Mija China.

He desires to divorce his wife, who lives separately from him in the countryside along with their daughter. However, China's laws and customs pose significant obstacles to obtaining a divorce. Year after year, Lin is thwarted in his attempts.

Meanwhile, he has developed a loving, yet platonic, relationship with a colleague. They both long to marry once he manages to obtain a divorce.

As the title suggests, this book is centered around the theme of waiting. It seems as if Lin is perpetually waiting for his life to truly begin. To me, this book serves as an outstanding example of the phrase "You Only Live Once," which has gained such popularity in recent times. It highlights the importance of taking action rather than passively waiting for life to unfold.

It also demonstrates the consequences that can befall someone who is dissatisfied with their life, constantly believing that life would be better if only the circumstances could change, while doing little to bring about that change or find a way to appreciate what they currently possess.

I particularly relished the insight into Chinese life under Mao Tse Tung, where the people seem to be waiting for the advantages of his regime to become evident. There is one shocking event that occurs unexpectedly, so be prepared for something dreadful to happen in this otherwise quiet book. I liked it, but I had the sense that I was waiting for a revelation that never materialized.

3.5

What is the measure of a man?



Waiting presents a captivating narrative of a man caught in the crossroads of two distinct worlds. On one hand, there is the new China during the Cultural Revolution, a realm filled with rules, regulations, ambitious Leap Forwards, and a complex web of hidden moralities, hierarchies, and corruptions. On the other hand, there is a seemingly static world where little changes, the food is delicious, and people treat each other like family. However, it is also a world where women still have bound feet and neighbors meddle in one's life as if it were their own.



Lin Kong, the protagonist, appears to navigate these two worlds with an almost effortless ease. He tacitly accepts the events that befall him in both worlds, as if they were an inevitable part of life. He marries a woman he doesn't love simply because it is his parents' wish. He is pushed around by everyone, from the army to his superiors and even his supposed mistress. Unable to make up his mind about anything, it becomes clear that deep down, he lacks strong convictions. He doesn't love his wife, yet he is not passionately in love with Manna Wu either. He simply exists, taking things as they come, trying to avoid hurting anyone or causing problems. But his inaction itself becomes a significant problem. This is a man who desires everything and nothing all at once.



I wholeheartedly recommend this book. It offers a profound exploration of Modern China and is even more remarkable when one considers that English is the author's second language.

I first came across this book in 2004.

To be honest, the politics in it alluded me. The history of communist China isn't exactly my area of interest. However, what I took away from this book when I read it was the universality of the concept of “waiting”.

When you really think about it, we are all waiting for something. We will spend our entire lives waiting for one thing or another. And each time we obtain what we were waiting for, we immediately find something else to be waiting for.

We always assume that what we are waiting for is that one final thing that will make everything complete. But only to find each time that what we wanted isn't exactly what we thought it would be.

Ironically, we spend our entire lives waiting on something that will help us achieve inner peace, only to discover in the end that it was all the waiting that kept us from it the whole time.

I think Jin does a remarkable job presenting this concept not only through the storyline but also through his writing choices.

His work makes us reflect on our own lives and the countless hours we spend waiting, and perhaps realize that maybe the key to finding true peace lies not in the things we wait for, but in the process of waiting itself.

Every summer, Lin Kong would make his way back to Goose Village with the intention of divorcing his wife, Shuyu.

Lin's marriage to Shuyu was an arranged one. At that time, his father needed someone to look after his dying mother, and Shuyu, an uneducated and traditional Chinese woman, fit the bill. However, Lin had since gone to school and become a doctor, now living in an urban environment. He had fallen in love with Manna, a nurse who was more sophisticated and modern.

But Shuyu refused to give him a divorce. According to the Communist Party rules, there had to be 18 years of marital separation before Lin could obtain a divorce without Shuyu's consent. So, Lin and Manna had no choice but to wait. They waited year after year, through the 1960s when there could be serious political consequences if they were alone together outside the hospital grounds. Lin, being a cautious person, was very careful.

During the two decades that elapsed in "Waiting", the political and social climate slowly changed, and the three main characters aged. The book is mainly a character study of Lin and Manna. It makes us wonder how much of their history together was influenced by love and how much by circumstances. Has Lin truly loved anyone with a deep passion, or is he always the recipient of love? Have their lives passed them by because they are always living for the future and not enjoying the present? "Waiting" is a character-driven, quiet book that won the National Book Award for Fiction in 1999, captivating readers with its exploration of love, patience, and the passage of time.

A Good Winter Read

This book takes you on a journey through the emotional intricacies of a man's life. He finds himself in a difficult position, having to choose between his life in the rural Chinese countryside and his work at a military base in a large city. For 11 long years, he agonizes over whether to leave his simple wife and child behind for a more modern life with a military nurse. Ha Jin, a master storyteller, makes you truly feel the enormity of this decision by building sympathy for each character. His detailed descriptions of everyday life add to the tension and make you appreciate your own ambition to make things happen. In the end, you are left pondering how much of your life is wasted on decisions that are prolonged by guilt and ambiguity. It makes you question the choices we make and the consequences that follow.

What really struck me was its remarkable honesty.

You might even downright dislike some of the characters. It's almost impossible not to, as they seem to make such absurd and ludicrous life choices.

However, once I managed to turn off my inclination to judge and shut down my mind set of always thinking like a westerner, I truly and thoroughly enjoyed this simple, fable-like tale.

Ha Jin provides poetic and profound insights into a foreign way of life. I firmly believe that I came away from this book with a slightly better understanding of Chinese society.

It was also very interesting to discover that the author based this story on a true incident.

This book is the winner of The National Book Award of 1999, which further attests to its literary merit and significance.

Overall, it is a captivating and thought-provoking read that offers a unique perspective on a different culture.

This book presents a novel and uncommon perspective on life within Communist China.

There are no set formulas dictating the plot; it is entirely original, and the unassuming perspective of the narrator has piqued my interest. "Waiting" is a book that lacks self-importance.

Initially, the narrative style appeared to read as if it were a translation. However, I soon realized that the author's technique was truly an expansion of the cultural differences he described in the novel.

He has brought the culture of Mao's era in China to life for me. The characters are fully developed and believable, and although the storyline is rather simple, it offers a delicate beauty in the irony of its conclusion.

Jin has impressed me with his sincerity, honesty, vivid character portrayals, and originality. We are indeed fortunate to have such a detailed and accurate portrayal of an otherwise inaccessible society by someone who understands it so deeply.

His achievement in creating such moving literature in his second language is a testament to his intelligence and creative sensibility. I am eagerly anticipating his next novel.

A Bitter Love

Ha Jin's highly acclaimed novel "Waiting" is set in China during the tumultuous era of the Cultural Revolution in the late twentieth century. The three main characters are Lin Kong, a doctor in the Chinese Army, Shuyu, his wife from an arranged marriage and a product of a traditionalist upbringing with bound feet, and Mannu Wu, an educated and modern nurse whom Lin plans to marry. Under the strict military law, Lin is forced to wait a staggering 18 years before he can obtain a divorce without the consent of his wife.

The story unfolds on multiple levels. Firstly, it delves into the complex nature of love. It poses profound questions such as what it truly means to love someone and how one can be certain of being in love. Secondly, it functions as a political allegory of the Communist regime in China. Closely related to this, it is also a fable that explores the collision between a traditional way of life and the forces of modernity and industrialization, regardless of the political ideology.

On all these levels, the story vividly showcases the ambiguity of the human heart and the arduous task of self-knowledge. These are fundamental challenges in being human, and the understanding of these difficulties is crucial for human love, politics, and social change. The story reveals both the struggle of people to truly know their own hearts and the inherent difficulty in pursuing any goals without inevitably causing harm to others in some way.

The story is narrated in an eloquent and minimalist prose, which is simple yet beautiful. The primary and secondary characters are presented and developed in a suggestive and spare manner, making them highly engaging.

This book reminded me of another highly regarded work, "Disgrace" by J.M. Coetzee. Both books share similarities in their restrained prose style. They both depict repressive political societies, namely South Africa and China, in a state of uncertain transition. Moreover, both present situations that are rife with moral ambiguity, hinting at a deeper understanding that lies beyond the surface.

"Waiting" is a thought-provoking and poignant story about what a party leader accurately describes at a crucial moment in the book as "a bitter love". It leaves a lasting impression on the reader, making them reflect on the complex nature of love, society, and the human condition. Robin Friedman

The Tartar Steppe but for relationships.

As a young man, Lin was compelled by his family to enter into a loveless marriage with a woman named Shuyu. They had a daughter named Hua, but soon after, they stopped sharing a bed and led separate lives. Lin worked as a doctor in the city, while Shuyu remained at their countryside home, taking care of his elderly parents until their eventual passing and raising their daughter. Meanwhile, at the hospital, Lin met a woman named Manna, and they developed a platonic relationship that they both desired to transform into something more. However, in communist China, there could be severe consequences if they were to sleep together before Lin obtained a divorce. Therefore, they agreed to wait.

Eventually, Lin summoned the courage to ask Shuyu for a divorce, and she initially agreed. But at the last moment, in the courthouse, she changed her mind. This pattern repeated itself year after year for 18 years, the amount of time required for a man to obtain a divorce without his wife's consent. The entire book is centered around the theme of waiting, of placing all one's hopes and dreams on an outcome that, if it were to ever materialize, would finally赋予 life meaning and purpose. And so they waited, year after year, their lives slipping away as they aged and lost their vitality, attractiveness, and youth.

Even when Lin finally managed to get his divorce and marry Manna, he discovered that he was still not happy. The book, in reality, is not about waiting; it is about love. Specifically, it highlights the fact that many of us, more than we would ever care to admit, never experience the kind of passionate, sensual, and romantic love that we see in the movies. Some people never reach that stage. They develop feelings, attachments, and care for others, but they never experience the profound weight of falling desperately in love. Lin is one such person. He loved neither woman. The circumstances of his life simply pushed him into these relationships. And after all that waiting, all those years, he realizes at the very end that contentment was the only thing he truly desired.

The waiting was, just like in the Tartar Steppe, all in vain.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, although it was a rather basic story with straightforward writing. For me, the book only became interesting as it explored the theme of life passing us by in multiple ways and the concept of pointlessly waiting for life to bestow meaning, happiness, and purpose upon us. The prose was uncomplicated and never overly challenging, and the book essentially provided all the necessary information in the prologue, filling in the details as it progressed. It served its purpose. And, despite being ultimately quite ordinary, it did succeed in making me think about my favorite subject once again, namely that we are all wasting our lives. The only part that confused me was the rape scene, which frankly didn't seem to add much. I'm not sure what Ha Jin was trying to imply by including it in the story (get married or else you're asking for it??). It's hard to say. Maybe it was simply to force the reader to sympathize with Manna at a point when we are mostly sympathizing with Shuyu. In conclusion, it was a pretty average and easy-to-read book, but one that managed to trigger those lovely existential thoughts within me once again.

Reading this story about lives left in a state of limbo due to the repressive social circumstances of Cultural Revolution China, I started to experience that feeling of frustration which I usually have when I sense my emotions being exploited for a melodramatic impact. However, I don't believe this book was overly manipulative. Instead, it presents a quiet and likely truthful account. Nevertheless, I continuously wanted to shout at the characters to break free from their suffocating society, even though I am aware that this would realistically never have crossed their minds or been possible if it did. So, this was culturally enlightening, but not truly enjoyable to read. I did appreciate the eventual shift, though. We spend the entire book observing cultural chains, but ultimately we see personal human ones that are as strong or even stronger (and far more universal). It is this highly worthwhile observation that elevates the novel to a full three stars.

The onslaught of awards and critical acclaim that this book has received, including the significant one, The National Book Award of 1999, truly represents the most regrettable trend in current practices: catering to political correctness.

Despite having wooden dialogue delivered by uninteresting characters that one couldn't care less about and descriptions that are as vivid as phone book listings, "Waiting" does conform to the pre-existing, fetishized Western ideas of Chinese culture. As a result, delighted progressive (probably white, perhaps guilt-ridden) tastemakers were overly eager to reward such an "exotic" story of unrequited love. Even though the surface originality of an actual Chinese romance (!) by an actual Chinese guy (!!) written in English (!!!) only barely hides the amateurish, ordinary disposability that is the book's true essence.

To its supporters, the spare minimalism of the writing aligns with the generalized perceptions of the Asian aesthetic, creating a sort of modern, Eastern Hemingway where his level of economical depth and insight is equaled or, dare I say, even surpassed. And while it is true that sometimes "less is more" (as with Hemingway or, for example, William Carlos Williams), sometimes "less is simply less". "Waiting" is, quite simply, trite and uninteresting drivel that emphasizes the unchangeable fact that whether it is in the sewers of New York City or the fields of a rural Chinese village, crap is still crap.

This was a rather strange read for me.

Ha Jin has presented his readers with a fascinating blend of Chinese and Western culture.

Lin Kong enters into an arranged marriage with Shuyu, a quiet country girl. Immediately after she gives birth to their first child, Lin departs for the Military Medical School in the city. There, he meets Manna Wu and a friendship blossoms. Lin has no desire for physical contact, so despite Manna falling in love with him, Lin is content to keep their friendship platonic, citing his marriage as the reason for maintaining distance.

The story alternates as Manna patiently waits and Lin repeatedly asks his wife for a divorce every few years. They visit the courts, but each time Shuyu changes her mind. Lin's life remains unchanged; he has a wife at home raising his daughter and a woman in the city hanging on his every word.

I found that there were certain events in the story that I didn't understand and couldn't fathom their hidden meaning.

I didn't like Lin Kong at all and could summarize the book as being about 'a useless man and the women who love him.' However, I did appreciate Jin's vivid descriptions.

Thank you to World of Books for providing me with a copy to read.