Waiting: A Novel
by Ha Jin

List Price: $15.00
Our Price: $2.71
You Save: $12.29 (82%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions

Book Summary Information

Book Reviews of Waiting: A Novel

Book Review: thought-provoking
Summary: 5 Stars

Meanwhile, Manna, a colleague of Lin, found him attractive and pursued him. He was happy to have woman who had education and who looked good, so he accepted Manna, and started a romantic relationship. However, due to the pressure of the society and the Party, he couldn't have an intimate relationship with Manna while he was still married to Shuyu. An official who was on friendly terms with Lin cautioned him not to get "physical" with Manna, or punishment would fall upon them (being kicked out of the Party and demobilized and sent to the countryside).

Manna loved Lin dearly (although she had her own agenda at times and had never trusted Lin in revealing her finance), and pressured Lin to divorce Shuyu so that the two of them could be together lawfully. However, Lin was not a brave or resolute man. He was so soft-hearted that he never successfully divorced Shuyu for 18 years (Shuyu's brother also caused a lot of obstacles). While Manna was waiting for the divorce to come through, they also tried to get Manna a boyfriend in another city, who wouldn't know of their relationship (many coworkers assumed they had physical relasionship and shunned away from Manna as a suitable girlfriend, as brides' virginity was the most important thing to the grooms those days). They tried a couple of times. The first time, Manna didn't like the man; the second time, a prominent official was looking for a second wife, but turned down Manna replying that Manna was not good enough, which made Manna an instant laughing stock, bringing her much humiliation. A traumatic incident happened to them shortly after Manna was rejected by the official. Lin made friends with a vulgar, rude and merciless army officer, while they were both recovering from TB in the same hospital room. Lin told him everything about his dilemma (not able to marry Manna and not able to leave Shuyu), and revealed that Manna was still a virgin. Little did he know that when he left for a few months for some meeting in another city, this cruel beast planned and executed a rape of Manna, which aged her tremendously and brought down both her physical and mental health. The rape rumor spread all over the hospital, which made both Manna and Lin laughing stocks, as in those days (even today), many Chinese people assumed that it was the fault of the victim that she was raped, and would treat her as a slut.

As years passed by, Lin would go home for 10 days to carry out his divorce, yet failed year after year. After 18 years had passed, according to some army rule, an army officer was allowed to divorce the spouse without her consent, Lin finally became free. He was a kind man in nature, so he helped Shuyu and their daughter to stay in the city and live a much better life. And he managed to sell his country home to obtain enough money for his wedding with Manna.

However, he soon found that after 18 years waiting and hardship, Manna was no longer the carefree, energetic and sweet girl he used to love and feel passionate about. Manna, now in her fourties, had become resentful, angry and bitter. They had twin boys not too long after their wedding, which was envied by many people, as boys were treasured by parents as they could contribute to the family more. However, Lin found himself lack of interest in being a parent, although he slowly became attached to them and loved them. Generally, he lacked any interest in being responsible to carry any burden of life. He would rather be taken care of by others than taking care of his wife and family, especially if the situations got tough. As Manna's health (already fragile after years' of hardship) deteriorated, he found himself more drawn to his former wife, Shuyu, who was always caring, peaceful and obedient. Although he never loved Shuyu, after so many years, he realized that he now only cared about comfort in life and peace of his mind, which he always had when he was with Shuyu. While Manna and Lin waited 18 long years to become husband and wife, Shuyu waited 18 years for Lin to accept her and appreciate her. Lin was the type of people who always wanted things he didn't have while never appreciated what he had until he lost them. What a sad person!

Ha Jin did a great job in "Waiting" depicting the life of ordinary people in a society where other people's opinions ran the courses of your lives. There are also many elements of the book that are universal and representative of all cultures.

I finished reading "Waiting" using two evenings. I find myself absorbed in the story and cannot put the book down. I find the depiction of Manna's rape especially horrific and unbearable, and I am heart-broken to be reminded by the author that most women in those days never reported their rape, and never found any support and proper care in the society. It is so sad to think of such injustice and contorted beliefs prevalent in the Chinese society. But I respect Ha Jin for his accurate and truthful depiction of the lives of Chinese people. We have to first acknowledge that there is something wrong with our society before we can correct it and make it better.

Summary of Waiting: A Novel

There's a political allegory here, of course, but it grows naturally from these characters' hearts. Neither Lin nor Manna is especially ideological, and the tumultuous events occurring around them go mostly unnoticed. They meet during a forced military march, and have their first tender moment during an opera about a naval battle. (While the audience shouts, "Down with Japanese Imperialism!" the couple holds hands and gazes dreamily into each other's eyes.) When Lin is in Goose Village one summer, a mutual acquaintance rapes Manna; years later, the rapist appears on a TV report titled "To Get Rich Is Glorious," after having made thousands in construction. Jin resists hammering ideological ironies like these home, but totalitarianism's effects on Lin are clear:

Let me tell you what really happened, the voice said. All those years you waited torpidly, like a sleepwalker, pulled and pushed about by others' opinions, by external pressure, by your illusions, by the official rules you internalized. You were misled by your own frustration and passivity, believing that what you were not allowed to have was what your heart was destined to embrace.

Literary Books

• Books > Subjects > Literature & Fiction