Rating: 
Summary: full of false information, reflects author's hatred to China
Review: First of all, since I was a graduate student in China some time ago and also worked as a junior instructor for a few years, this book gave me a refresh of my experience--both bitter and sweet. I would praise his effort to show some problems in China high education. Ha Jin is also respected for his hard work and good personality. This book is about a good student who was destroyed by the illusion from his crazed mentor. However, during the reading, I felt more and more disappointed. I didn't see what the author tried to say in this book. The transition of Jian Wan was naive. The conclusion, that all people are clerks, is not new and also universally true. Actually, there was once a hot topic in China questioning the value of being a scholar. Nowadays, people generally acknowledge the value of study and scholars are well respected. Most importantly, the author apparently didn't know what happened in Tiananmen Square in the beginning of June, 1989. He just followed rumors and wrote something to please, or to satisfy western people's false impression. The truth is, before June 4, only very few students were at Tiananmen square. Most students were back to schools, or left Beijing. In addition, residents living arround Tiananmen Square did hear gun fire, but there was no way of "volley of bullets" (according to Ha Jin's book). Finally, the most evident mistake in this book is that at the beginning of June, it is extremely difficult for students outside to go to Beijing. There were full of police in all major train stations. Any suspects will be deterred. The universities were also very alert of students' activities. In addition, an interesting fact is that the graduate entrance exam is around Feb. or March for PhD candidate, and Jan for Master entrance exam. The author apparently changed that to accomondate the story, which is fine. In general, I was disappointed about this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Subtle Story, Fluid Writing
Review: I had a difficult time deciding whether to awared this book four stars or five. Ther were some aspects of the book I didn't like, such as the narrator's extreme naivete, but once I realized that Ha Jin wanted us to dislike those aspects and be shocked by them, I decided the book certainly deserved no less than five stars. The actual plot of "The Crazed" (and there is really very little plot here) revolves around the relationship between the narrator, Jian Wan, and his professor at Shanning University, Professor Yang as well as the relationship of both to post-revolutionary China and their "place" in society. As the novel opens, Professor Yang has just been hospitalized after suffering a stroke. Now, in addition to studying for the upcoming exams that will allow him to go to Beijing University and join his finacee (who happens to be Professor Yang's daughter), Jian Wan must sit with Professor Yang each afternoon and tend to his needs. In caring for Professor Yang, Jian must endure the rants and raves of the older man which he first attributes to the stroke. As the days proceed, however, Jian must question who exactly is crazed. Is it Professor Yang, as he's first assumed? Is it those around him? Or is it Jian, himself? And is Professor Yang really "raving?" Might he not be taking this opportunity to "speak the truth," instead? In "The Crazed," Ha Jin has written a very political book without seeming to emphasize politics at all. And, what's more, the politics in "The Crazed" can be applied to almost any country in the world; they don't have to be confined to China. It's difficult to believe that Ha Jin didn't grow up speaking, reading and writing English. The prose in "The Crazed" is spare and elegant. Not one word is superfluous or wasted. It's also very fluid, with no awkward twists or turns. I was also impressed with the many, many layers of meaning this rather short book manages to pack between its covers. I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending "The Crazed" to any reader who enjoys well-written literary fiction. In my opinion, Ha Jin is certainly an author to watch. I think he'll definitely become a candidate for the Nobel and, if he doesn't actually win, I'll be very surprised.
Rating: 
Summary: Overall A Disappointment
Review: I have read several of Ha Jin's novels and short stories and have enjoyed much of them. The Crazed is not a bad novel, but, contrary to the claims of some of the professional reviews on the cover, it is certainly not a great novel . Ha Jin's language often reads awkwardly, as if one was translating literally from Chinese into English. While this may be natural for an author who is an immigrant from China, it is unacceptable for an author of his alleged calibre and a professor of English. But the language issue is a minor issue. My greater problems with the novel stem from the naive Jian Wan's narration. The interior dialog of the narrator, with its painfully obvious "shocking" revelations, makes the reading of this novel often tiresome. Furthermore, if the reader is even vaguely familiar with the internal politics of China, he/she will find the "revelations" in the novel both tired and warn.
Rating: 
Summary: Strong, poetic, vivid
Review: I liked Ha Jin's Waiting, but preferred The Crazed. This book was a quick read, and extraordinarily well-written. The descriptions of people, objects and scenes in this novel were made incredibly real through the author's poetic and creative word choices. I thought this author particularly skilled in this area, in that he described things in a unique and creative manner that enabled the reader to vividly picture the scene/object or feel as the narrator did: "When I entered the sickroom, Mr. Yang was sleeping with the quilt up to his chin. The room was brighter than the day before; a nurse's aide had just wiped the windowpanes and mopped the floor, which was still wet, marked with shoe prints here and there. The air smelled clean despite a touch of mothball." "His shortwave radio was still on, giving forth crackling static. I got up and flicked it off. At once the room turned quiet as if the whole house were deserted." "It was almost midmorning. I opened the window of our bedroom to let in some fresh air. Outside, on the sunbaked ground a pair of monarch butterflies was hovering over an empty tin can, which was still wet with syrup. The colorful paper glued around the can showed it had contained peach wedges." "As I wondered whether I should turn back, the door opened slowly and Mrs. Yang walked out. She was a small angular woman with deep-socketed eyes. Seeing me, she paused, her face contorted and sprinkled with tears. She lowered her head and hurried past without a word, leaving behind the rancid smell of her bedraggled hair. Her black silk skirt almost covered her slender calves; she had bony ankles and narrow feet, wearing red plastic flip-flops." "[The train] pulled out smoothly as if wafted away by dozens of hands waving along the platform." I especially liked how the author colored the descriptions of people other than the narrator by giving the reader the narrator's impression, rather than objective facts, about those people--it added an extra dimension to the writing: "Today she seemed under the weather, her eyes red, rather watery, and an anemic pallor was on her cheeks. Her youthful outfit, an apple-green ruffled skirt with a white shirt with ladybugs printed on it and a shawl collar, didn't add much life to her." "I was amazed by such a shrewd answer." "To my thinking he was too optimistic." "Mr. Song wore blue sneakers and a gray jacket, which was shoulderless and barrellike--a standard garment for middle-aged male college teachers at the time. I was amused to see him in such a jacket even when he was jogging." "Between our squat cups sat a teapot like a small turtle. Banping was always proud of his teaset, which he claimed was of a classic model." The narrator's emotions are made so palpable by the author's writing that the reader cannot help but empathize/identify with him: "For some reason I was suddenly gripped by the desire to touch her, my right hand, so close to her waist, trembling a little." "I grew dubious and angry, feeling the painting must be either false or satirical. To some extent I was perturbed by my response to it. This kind of work used to touch me easily, but now it had lost its impact because I had begun to look at things with doubtful eyes." "I realized I shouldn't have come to seek Banping's advice. granted he treated me as a friend, speaking with complete candor, he and I were by nature different kinds of people: I was too sensitive, too introverted, and maybe too idealistic, whereas he was a paragon of peasant cunning and pragmatism." Like the "crazed" patient rambling seemingly incoherently, each chapter picked up on one of many seemingly minor details from the previous chapter, and expanded upon it. Ultimately, this served to weave the narrative together and yet propel it forward at the same time, paralleling the progress China's democratic student movement in 1989, against the backdrop of which this novel is set. (The language highlights this backdrop: in Beijing during the outbreak of violence surrounding the marches on Tianenmen Square, the narrator explains, "[i]n the indigo sky a skein of geese appeared, veering north while squawking gutterally. The sight of the birds reminded me of a squadron of superbombers.") Overall, a very impressive, worthy novel.
Rating:
Summary: Strong, poetic, vivid
Review: I liked Ha Jin's Waiting, but preferred The Crazed. This book was a quick read, and extraordinarily well-written. The descriptions of people, objects and scenes in this novel were made incredibly real through the author's poetic and creative word choices. I thought this author particularly skilled in this area, in that he described things in a unique and creative manner that enabled the reader to vividly picture the scene/object or feel as the narrator did: "When I entered the sickroom, Mr. Yang was sleeping with the quilt up to his chin. The room was brighter than the day before; a nurse's aide had just wiped the windowpanes and mopped the floor, which was still wet, marked with shoe prints here and there. The air smelled clean despite a touch of mothball." "His shortwave radio was still on, giving forth crackling static. I got up and flicked it off. At once the room turned quiet as if the whole house were deserted." "It was almost midmorning. I opened the window of our bedroom to let in some fresh air. Outside, on the sunbaked ground a pair of monarch butterflies was hovering over an empty tin can, which was still wet with syrup. The colorful paper glued around the can showed it had contained peach wedges." "As I wondered whether I should turn back, the door opened slowly and Mrs. Yang walked out. She was a small angular woman with deep-socketed eyes. Seeing me, she paused, her face contorted and sprinkled with tears. She lowered her head and hurried past without a word, leaving behind the rancid smell of her bedraggled hair. Her black silk skirt almost covered her slender calves; she had bony ankles and narrow feet, wearing red plastic flip-flops." "[The train] pulled out smoothly as if wafted away by dozens of hands waving along the platform." I especially liked how the author colored the descriptions of people other than the narrator by giving the reader the narrator's impression, rather than objective facts, about those people--it added an extra dimension to the writing: "Today she seemed under the weather, her eyes red, rather watery, and an anemic pallor was on her cheeks. Her youthful outfit, an apple-green ruffled skirt with a white shirt with ladybugs printed on it and a shawl collar, didn't add much life to her." "I was amazed by such a shrewd answer." "To my thinking he was too optimistic." "Mr. Song wore blue sneakers and a gray jacket, which was shoulderless and barrellike--a standard garment for middle-aged male college teachers at the time. I was amused to see him in such a jacket even when he was jogging." "Between our squat cups sat a teapot like a small turtle. Banping was always proud of his teaset, which he claimed was of a classic model." The narrator's emotions are made so palpable by the author's writing that the reader cannot help but empathize/identify with him: "For some reason I was suddenly gripped by the desire to touch her, my right hand, so close to her waist, trembling a little." "I grew dubious and angry, feeling the painting must be either false or satirical. To some extent I was perturbed by my response to it. This kind of work used to touch me easily, but now it had lost its impact because I had begun to look at things with doubtful eyes." "I realized I shouldn't have come to seek Banping's advice. granted he treated me as a friend, speaking with complete candor, he and I were by nature different kinds of people: I was too sensitive, too introverted, and maybe too idealistic, whereas he was a paragon of peasant cunning and pragmatism." Like the "crazed" patient rambling seemingly incoherently, each chapter picked up on one of many seemingly minor details from the previous chapter, and expanded upon it. Ultimately, this served to weave the narrative together and yet propel it forward at the same time, paralleling the progress China's democratic student movement in 1989, against the backdrop of which this novel is set. (The language highlights this backdrop: in Beijing during the outbreak of violence surrounding the marches on Tianenmen Square, the narrator explains, "[i]n the indigo sky a skein of geese appeared, veering north while squawking gutterally. The sight of the birds reminded me of a squadron of superbombers.") Overall, a very impressive, worthy novel.
Rating:
Summary: Sneaking in Some History
Review: My father is a history fiend. He loves reading historical novels and learning about the past. One year over the holidays my three siblings and I, without any planning or discussion amongst us, all purchased him gifts of books or videos on World War II. I think he finally reached the point of being overwhelmed by historical information. I've read several of my father's books, but have never been able to embrace history the way he does. I do like it though when a book is able to take a historical event and feed it to you in such a way that you get to read a compelling story and not the dry history of schooldays. I like to get lost in the story, but finish the book feeling smarter about the past. While I don't gobble up history the way my father does, I think that he is smart to learn about what has happened before us so he can better understand our present and future. In The Crazed, by Ha Jin, we are introduced to a communist China of the 1980s. What is presented as a mystery that unravels through the delusional rants of a sick old man is actually a statement on the political atmosphere of China for intellectuals during the late 80s. The Crazed follows Jian Wan and his relationship with his teacher, Professor Yang. Jian is engaged to Professor Wan's daughter, Meimei, so when the professor suffers a stroke he feels doubly obligated to care for his teacher. During long hospital visits where Professor Wang speaks at length in the form of poems, unintelligible chatter and memories seemingly long lost, Jian starts to piece together a past to his professor's life that neither he, nor the professor's daughter, was ever aware of. He also gets insight into the life of an academic - a life that Jian is in the process of pursuing himself. While the mystery of Professor Wang's life unfolds, in the background of the story always lurks the political climate of the area. If Jian passes his exams and is able to go on to study for his PhD, he will get to move to Beijing and be near his fiancé, Meimei. In Beijing there are student demonstrations occurring to protest the government. Through their letters back and forth, Jian and Meimei share their feelings on the protests. Jian's roommates also discuss with him their points of view on what is going on in the city. Both the storyline about Professor Wang and that of the politics of China collide when Jian finds himself in Beijing. And then, in a very subtle way, Ha Jin is able to introduce his reader to a perspective on the Beijing student protests that might be new. While his reader is engrossed in his compelling story, he pulls out the great surprise of teaching a little history.
Rating:
Summary: The deceptive pageturner.
Review: Pageturners rarely have a lackadaisical beginning, a simple way of writing, and an occasionally (intentionally?) awkward phraseology to them. Normally, they hit you over the head with a plot device, keeping one wondering with every page.
The Crazed goes about it a bit differently. This is one book I never knew why I was reading until I absolutely knew why I couldn't put it down.
Rating:
Summary: A "crazed" life as a reflection of society
Review: Professor Yang of Shanning University, China, is "The Crazed" of Ha Jin's new novel. Having just suffered a stroke, he is given to frequent rants, many pieces of which hint at a wretched life lived. His faithful graduate student and soon-to-be son-in-law Jian Wan is assigned by the university to attend to the professor's daily needs. In the sparse hospital room, he cannot help listening in on the rants. As he does, Wan tries to understand the deep sense of loss that his professor has suffered. It is later evident to the young graduate student that the professor has had to deal with much personal pain and a fruitless existence. "Every intellectual is a clerk in China", Professor Yang raves, "just a clerk, a screw in the machine of the revolution." The professor's unfortunate life eventually changes the course of at least three others. Jian Wan himself is desperately trying to hold it all together-caring for his professor while his PhD qualifying exams loom around the corner. The fate of these exams will determine whether or not he can make it to Beijing to be with his ambitious fiancée, Meimei (Yang's daughter). At first, Jian Wan assumes he has no other choice than follow the scholarly course that has been charted for him. However, Yang's endless rants about the meaningless existence of a scholar, along with a transformative trip to the countryside, point him in another way. "As a human being, I should spend my life in such a way that at the final hour I could feel fulfillment and contentment, as if I had completed a task or a journey." Jian Wan says. He no longer wants to pretend to be a scholar, but live instead, a truly productive life. As Jian Wan tries to find a way out, he realizes he is powerless in a society that crushes all dissent. The final pages of The Crazed find Wan in the midst of the cathartic events of Tiananmen Square. Ha Jin's sparse writing style, which was on wonderful display in "Waiting", is as effective as ever. His words are as clinical and precise as the hospital room in which much of the novel is set. The pace moves forward rapidly and well. Sometimes, I found that the professor's rants covered a lot of space in the text prolonging the suspense a bit too much. These sections set in the hospital with an almost unrelenting focus on the professor were a little claustrophobic. Despite these small distractions, the main story comes through loud and clear in Ha Jin's wonderful book. The machinations of a government that can manipulate the smallest events in its citizens' lives are on awful display here. Jian Wan in the novel sees an image of China: "in the form of an old hag so decrepit and brainsick that she would devour her children to sustain herself." In such a society, one wonders, who cannot help but be "crazed".
Rating:
Summary: China on the eve of Tiananmen
Review: The author of "Waiting" sets his new tale in the same China as his earlier book--the excesses of Mao are past, some political outcasts are being rehabilitated, and the new generation is allowed to be apolitical--up to a point. Jian Wan is a young man whose life as a scholar seems about to fall into place when the father of is fiancee and his professor Mr. Yang suffers a stroke. Jian is assigned to sit in his room every day to care for him. Professor Yang is delerious a good part of the time, and reveals in bits and pieces that his life as a scholar has been very different from the honorable facade Jian knows. Professor Yang reveals the cracks in his marriage, the political intrigue at the university, his affairs with other women, and above all his bitterness over a life in which he's just been a "horse in a harness," deluded by the dreams of poetry while ambitious bureaucrats enjoy the benefits of the State. Yang completely shocks Jian by advising him not to become a scholar, and for the first time Jian starts to quesiton his carefully planned out life. Ha Jin demonstrates the same careful attention to the details of life and the spare prose that marked National Book Award winner "Waiting." The portrait of a deteriorating old man and the painstaking descriptions of Yang's body as it slowly dies are at once painful, touching, sympathetic and depressing. And the author loves food!--right before a particulary brutal episode he takes a full paragraph to tell us that when Jian entered the deli, he saw "twisted rolls and wheaten cakes stuffed with pork and chives"--he buys "radish soup and a plate of noodles fried with slivers of lean pork and mung bean sprouts." Almost by accident Jian finds himself at Tiananman Square in the midst of the bloodshed of June 1989. The ending is a tour-de-force--those of us in the West who watched the pictures of tanks mowing down a single student in the square had no idea of what was going on in the neighborhoods, and Ha Jin's descriptions are shocking. Although the writing is again superb, I found it almost jarring, as nothing that comes before prepares us for the sight of this naive, apolitical, inexperienced young man alternately displaying flashes of bravery and running for his life. Ha Jin, now living in the US, is an extremely accomplished writer who has been recognized early on. His works give a unique perspective into modern China through the eyes of the middle class, and are well worth your time.
Rating:
Summary: interesting novel
Review: The Crazed gives a good insite on what living in "Communist" China is like. The characters are real, interesting, and three dimensional. The book puts into perspective the choices one makes in their life and questions some of these decisions. I think this is a good read for everyone, especially those looking for a read that is more intelligent.
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