Guest Author - Anita Kelley
The prolouge to Waiting-- and even the jacket sleeve-- reveal almost the entire plot of the story. Lin Kong is trying to divorce his wife, without success. What sounds like a simple and predictable plot, however, is told with such delicious writing and heart-rendering sympathy that this early revelation ruins none of the book's fascinating story.
Lin was brought up in a small, traditional Chinese town in which parents arranged marriages for their children. Out of respect and obedience, he marries at a young age to a woman eight years older than he is. He is embarrassed because she has bound feet and is obviously part of Old China, while he strives to be part of New China. She takes care of his parents and they soon make a daughter, but he never feels love or even interest for her.
He soon leaves his small home town to go to school in Wuija City, where he later becomes a doctor in the army hospital. It is there that he meets Manna Woo, a young nurse who takes interest in his quiet intelligence and diligent integrity. They soon fall into a relationship that is full of excitement but devoid of sex, because of strict communist rules at the hospital that prevent unmarried couples from walking outside the compound together or being alone together. Lin, who once followed society's rules to a T, doesn't break them now, but he certainly walks a fine line for Manna, and suffers a lack of promotion or awards at work because of it. Torn about what is the right thing to do, he returns to his hometown once a year on his leave and tries to divorce his wife. The rules state that the husband and wife must be separated for 18 years before they can divorce if they do not both want the divorce. So each year he takes his wife to the local court so she will agree to the divorce, but each year she changes her mind at the last minute and will not tell the judge she wants the divorce. The result is that Lin and Manna must sacrifice their youth and passion while waiting the full 18 years to truly be together.
This is obviously an allegorical novel that tells of daily life in China during the cultural revolution. It can be read that way, but it would be hard for one to only read it that way. The characters are real and convincing, and their plight draws you in to such an extent that even if you try to concentrate on the allegory, you drown yourself in the people and the story. Ha Jin writes simply but beautifully about a wide range of emotions and situations not limited to the setting of China. Nevertheless, his book is uniquely Chinese, and it made me feel like I was experiencing this place and this historical time period that it is now impossible for me to experience.
Ha Jin could write about the complex relationship between Lin and Manna, or he could write about broccoli, and I would both stories with the same amount of captured interest. His style is descriptive, realistic, and carries with it a simple lyricism reminicent of short stories. I read this rather long novel in a few settings simply because the writing and the plot grabbed on to me and wouldn't let me go. The only time I was disappointed while reading the novel was when I dismally reached the last page. This is the kind of story that could go on forever, not only because of enjoyable writing but because it can be appreciated by anyone anywhere, while still being distinctly regional in time and place. This is truely a book I will recommend to anyone who asks me what I've been reading lately, as well as a book that made me want to try to read everything the author has written. So what have you been reading lately? I recommend Waiting
