Waiting by Ha Jin

A few of us picked up the book "Waiting" and read it together. It was a great experience, as the reading was followed by an animated discussion with polarized viewpoints. I have listed few of the remarks from the discussion: 

1. Glad that I was forced to read this book, would have never picked it up myself

2. Gave me lots of societal and cultural inputs on China. I liked the diversity it brought to my reading palette

3. Loved the book, especially from a writing standpoint : Very fluid and richly developed characters

4. I could identify with the central character Lin : Sometimes, I find myself living my life in a limbo

So, before I head deep into it, a small summary of the book :This is the story of Lin Kong, for 17 years this army doctor has been in love with a clever and a modern woman Manna Wu. She works with him as a nurse, in the army hospital, in a large city in China. Back home in the village, Lin has a wife Shuyu and a daughter. Every summer Lin goes back to divorce his wife, but the wife backs out at the last minute.

For me, choice or rather lack of it was central to the story. The author very cleverly draws a parallel between the fiber of the Chinese society, which was driven by uniformity and adherence to rules under the communists, to the life of the main characters. Lin and Manna themselves lead a very regimented life within the confines of the Army hospital, where there was strict hierarchy and no intermingling outside the hospital compound. The story shows how their love for each other grows, matures, fructifies and then even dies a natural death, similar to the journey of China from communism to socialist modernization to capitalism. 

The author, Ha Jin made China of that era come alive for me. This story is definitely a political parable but not compromising on the plot. The prose is effortless and devoid of any big fancy words, though unintentional (as English is the author's second language) it provides great fluency to the book. Some may find the book, a long saga of Waiting of Lin and Manaa coming together. However, along that waiting time, it makes you dwell on the fact that the system can reduce an individual's humanity and individuality to such an extent that you feel like you have no choice in defining yourself anymore. It also made me ponder, do we take the choices that we have too lightly, and are we doing enough so that our children may continue to have these choices? PC : Ankita Misra We are in lockdown...I read the book @home 😏