Waiting, Ha Jin
Waiting, Ha Jin
List: $35.99 | Sale: $25.20
Club: $17.99

Waiting

Author: Ha Jin

Narrator: Dick Hill

Unabridged: 9 hr 3 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/16/2017

Categories: Fiction


Synopsis

Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award • Pulitzer Prize Finalist • A New York Times Notable BookFrom the widely acclaimed National Book Award-winning author—a rich and atmospheric novel about a man living in two worlds, struggling with the conflicting claims of two utterly different women. The demands of human longing contend with the weight of centuries of custom in acclaimed author Ha Jin's Waiting, a novel of unexpected richness and universal resonance. Every summer Lin Kong, a doctor in the Chinese Army, returns to his village to end his loveless arranged marriage with the humble and touchingly loyal Shuyu. But each time Lin must return to the city to tell Manna Wu, the educated, modern nurse he loves, that they will have to postpone their engagement once again. Caught between the conflicting claims of these two utterly different women and trapped by a culture in which adultery can ruin lives and careers, Lin has been waiting for eighteen years. This year, he promises will be different. "Ha Jin profoundly understands the conflict between the individual and society, between the timeless universality of the human heart and constantly shifting politics of the moment. With wisdom, restraint, and empathy for all his characters, he vividly reveals the complexities and subtleties of a world and a people we desperately need to know."—Judges' Citation, National Book Award

About Ha Jin

Ha Jin left his native China in 1985 to attend Brandeis University. He is the author of two books of poetry; two collections of stories, Ocean of Words, which won the PEN/Hemingway Award in 1997, and Under the Red Flag, which won the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction in 1996; and In the Pond, a novel. He lives near Atlanta, where he is a professor at Emory University.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Zheng on October 28, 2007

As someone who grew up in China, I found the characters very real. I read many reviews about this book talking about how none of characters are likable, except for the simple peasant ex-wife of Lin's. But I think that is what the author was trying to tell us-that the system reduced every individual'......more

Goodreads review by Fabian on September 29, 2017

Devastating & beautiful, the story is nothing if not universal. The Chinese Cultural Revolution is the backdrop & when it surrounds the characters, showing off the beauty & ugliness that is that double-edged sword, it traps them in situations which have seemingly no escape. There is here the spirit......more

Goodreads review by Chantal on July 28, 2021

From the start I could not put this book down. The story intrigued me and I wanted to know the story behind it all. I can not understand that the rating of this book is low. The story is entertaining and reads fast. It also shows a lot of Chinese culture and how people deal with that. The life choic......more