the crazed: Ha Jin

Another Ha Jin's worth reading book! (Doesn’t it sound like one of those reviews from　American newspaper?)

The setting is around the time of students' protests at the Tianmen Square when the Chinese students demonstrated against corrupted Chinese Communist party officials demanding democracy. The story begins with when the protagonist's（Jian Wan） father-in-law is hospitalized because of stroke.

This novel follows the tracks of change of Jian’s inner way of thinking about his life; career, relationship, politics, own country etc in the course of nursing with the father-in-law who is also Jian’s professor. In other words, it is a story about how Jian finds himself.

The underlying theme of the story seems to be similar with “In the Pond” as ordenary people’s reaction against the system (the system of the Communist Party). It deals not only with political aspects but also follows a lots of human feelings, which excites readers. The way he writes and the setting are fascinating!

He develped his writing skill much better than “In the Pond”. ( It is obvious by seeing how many times I consulted dictionary in this book) So you could see his development as English writer. But I guess the real test ground for Ha Jin as a writer has just began. People enjoyed his novels because the stories of ordinary Chinese people were new to foreign readers. Grasping readers wants more than Chineseness once they get used to it.

Still, I like his novel since it gives me a courage to keep studying English since non-native English speaker can write such an awsome novel!