Rating: 
Summary: I could have felt for them...
Review: WAITING tells of a story of love, and waiting, between two lovers caught in a restricted environment where the tiniest show of affection between them could cause them their future.I had expected to be drawn into the story like it was when I read MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA. The settings of Waiting was unfamiliar to me and I couldn't connect with it as much as I wanted to. The reader is not given an insight to the setting of the story nor the lives of the characters and that gave me a superficial feeling in regards to the story. However, the characters are well developed; Lin, the male lead - a gentle loving man who is unable to get what he wants however he fights for it and Manna, the female lead, waiting, for the man she loves to finally be able to belong to her and during her wait, we see the events that cause her to lose her youth, her bright outlook to life and her vitality. The prose is smooth and almost engaging. But it doesn't make one feel for the characters; the pain of waiting, the shame of being intruded upon, the guilt for Lin's wife, Shuyu. The plot is simple and unassuming. At the end of the story, we all hold our breaths for a twist that seemed inevitable. Does it come? ... ... Waiting did not live up to my expectations, but it did entertain me. It was a "could be put down" kind of book, but it wasn't difficult to bring it up again.
Rating: 
Summary: What is a real waiting
Review: What's the main point of this book? Not until the last few pages did I recognize it. In this book, Ha Jin told us what was the real waiting¡XNeither Kong Lin's nor Manna's, But Shuyu's. As a silent and humble character, Shuyu was ¡§naturally¡¨ forgotten by most readers. However, only patient readers could enjoy the ecstasy finding the surprising ending Ha Jin tried to tell us after the long read. At this point this book was very beautiful and successful ¡V and sometimes a bit metaphorical, even philosophical --- hitting its climax, simultaneouly testing the readers and awarding those faithful. By design, we readers SHOULD wait patiently, waited for the ending. Impatient readers would never find the beauty and the true meaning of this story. In fact, since the pace of this book was so slow, the stories and scenerios during those 18 waiting years were repeated and predictable, I almost gave it up in the middle. But after I finished it, I was deeply moved and burst into tears. The book totally deserved it's reputation. BTW, Why "18" years? Chinese, and only Chinese, knew that. It refered to an ancient folk tale of China. A woman (WANG BAU-CHUAN) waited for her husband (SHUE PING-KWEI), an officer, for "18" years in a shack, not knowing her husband had another lover in the army. This tale was so famous that almost every Chinese knew it. So we knew that Ha Jin tried to write a modern Wang-Shue tale. Each main character in the "Waiting" had its own corresponding character in the Wang-Shue story. The only flaw in this book, in my opinion, was the chapter about Manna was raped. It read so cheap.
Rating:
Summary: Bravo!
Review: Waiting is such a good book: realism and allegory, irony and especially honesty are all intimitely wound up with one another in Ha Jin's masterfully precice writing. There is also a wry sense of humor that pervades the narrative just beneath the surface, and this--as well as the simple background details like Chinese social conventions, the politics of the Cultural Revolution, and, above all, food--makes the novel a quiet joy to read, just on a page-to-page level. But I think that what makes this book so good as a whole, more than anything else, are the Characters: Lin and Manna are drawn so well but so subtly, through small but crucial details, that they acquire flesh almost without our noticing it; because of this, it becomes almost shocking how emotionally affecting the novel's conclusion is. It is one of the most satisfying books I've read in quite a while. Whether or not we deserve or appreciate it, Ha Jin is a gift to American readers. I think it's to our benefit as well as to his that he is not a native speker of English: his spare, precise yet nevertheless rich prose reads like fresh mountain water amid the mess that so much contemporary American fiction has become. For "Waiting," I'm grateful.
Rating: 
Summary: I wanted to like it more.
Review: The story was introduced well. The characters were well filled out. The language and dialogue felt authentic. The sense of place in China felt real. The book was well plotted. I enjoyed the book all the way through, but at the end of the book it just felt flat. I'm fascinated by China and went there this spring and felt that the book captured the feel and rhythm of China authentically. Unlike many of the other reviewers I felt the book moved fast enough, but not too fast. Maybe I was expecting to much in the American big finish kind of way. Maybe I was just disappointed that Lin finally got what he was waiting for and still wasn't happy.
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful portrayal of real life
Review: I agree whole-heartedly with those who loved this book. It is sad that some readers saw so little in it. I believe that maturity is necessary to enable one to appreciate this story. It is about waiting, yes, and how we postpone what we want so often for what we OUGHT to do. But what some reviewers do not acknowledge is the element of choice involved for all characters. Lin CHOOSES not to divorce his wife for many years (he does not press the issue); Manna CHOOSES to wait for Lin; Shuyu CHOOSES to remain married. In the end, the great irony is that in most respects, every character gets what he or she wanted. And no, they do not live "happily ever after." Isn't that life? How many times do our choices turn out to be neither right nor wrong, but rather a mixture of both? Different choices would surely have resulted in different effects, but to what end? Would Shuyu have been happier if she had agreed to a divorce in the first place? Would Manna have been happier had she left Lin and married another? Would Lin have been happier had he remained in the country, or had he been able to marry Manna when they were young and so much in love? I think not. One way to view this story is that it has a happy ending. It is not a fairy tale, but a story of real people who make real choices and learn to live with them. If you're over the age of 35, you will surely see yourself at some point in this story. What a marvelous novel!
Rating:
Summary: Criticising the criticism, instead of the book
Review: With a short but precise prologue, Ha Jin introduces the main conflict in this novel effectively to his readers ---- Lin Kong returned to his countryside home to divorce his wife every year. That did surprise me. Why he had to do that every year? -- The reason is: his wife agreed to his divorce at home, but changed her mind every time when they were in the court. Lin had a difficult decision to make. He did not love his country wife at all, having been away from her for over fifteen years. However, the country wife had done everything for his family - looking after Lin's parents, saving money for Lin and so on. Manna Wu, a girl at Lin's hospital who fell in love with him, had been waiting for Lin to divorce his wife for over ten years. In this way the story develops, with many twists and turns. The main story line is clear. I find it difficult to criticise this story. I would like, if I may, to criticize those negative criticism about Lin's novel instead. The story is set in mainland China in the 1970s and early 1980s. I do understand that the cultural revolution in China has been blamed by a large number of people. However, I do not think Ha Jin wrote this novel so as to blame the destructive ten years in China. Instead, the author set the story in this background that he himself had lived through, to bring out a universal understood theme - love and affection. This reminds of (Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, though there is a large cultural and time gap between the two stories.) I have always been asking myself what the main characters in the novel are waiting for throughout my reading. At first glance, I thought Manna Wu and Lin Kong had been *waiting* for Lin's divorce and their own marriage. However, I was wrong. In my opinion, what they have been waiting for is under sub-consciousness ---- they are waiting to grow up spiritually and to understand their life better. Lin waited for eighteen years to divorce his wife. He finally was granted the divorce and married Manna Wu. However, the two's relationship did not last long. Manna Wu soon became ill and was diagnosed to have coronary heart disease and that she would die in a few years. The second last chapter devoted itself to reveal to us Lin's deepest thoughts in his heart ---- he has never loved Manna Wu. They "loved" each other because of the presence of this seemed-divine "years of waiting". They fonded each other because they had not understood what true love was. Ironically, the true love lay in no other than the one between Lin and his own wife, Shu Yu. A person in the review section claimed that Ha Jin's novel looked rather like a translated work. Were it translated, I would describe the translator as a brilliant one. There are always differences between the two culturals which have been separated by the Pacific Ocean. Had Ha Jin set the story in America, it would have sounded as convincing as the original script. Further more, from my point of view as a Chinese, I have to admit that Ha Jin has a wondrous manipulation of the English Language. Arriving in American in the middle of the 1980s, Jin has been able to win the national book prize is indeed something not easy. I feel proud of him, and am indeed reassured that Literature is borderless. It is argued that this unfortunate story happened because of the communist China. Although I agree that the Cultural Revolution has brought negative effects to the growth of China, we should not pump out unreasonable anger at it. The reason is because the environment is set there. It is difficult for an individual to alter it. I believe we should look more at characters rather than the evironment they are in. A good book teaches us a good idea. Ha Jin's Waiting fullfiled this. Do give this book a try. I find it enjoyable and hope you too.
Rating:
Summary: Kind of a downer- but well written, nonetheless...
Review: This was an mildly interesting book written in classic, no-frills Chinese prose. The characters were deep but only if the reader was willing to do the analysis of the character motivation themselves. Ha Jin did not assume his reader would need to have this spelled out for them. There were no excess words here to describe feelings. His words focused on describing facts and situations. One really has to look behind the facts for the emotional parts of the story. I liked that. If you are sympathetic by nature, you will find the book very deeply touching. I found it also to be immensely sad since every character in this book was a victim of themselves, a victim of the life at that time in China, and a victim of circumstances. If the reader is not able to be empathetic with the characters, this book will be utterly boring and may seem pointless. The morale of the story, and perhaps the biggest downer is- sometimes when you finally get what you want, it's not what you think it's going to be (a twist on the old "grass is always greener" concept). Don't let the rather depressing theme deter you from reading this book if 1) you have an interest in fine, clean writing and 2)using your brain to intuit the characters' psyche and motivation doesn't scare you. I would, however,suggest you read this when you're in pretty good spirits or it may give you that "so this is all there is in life?" kind of feeling.
Rating: 
Summary: much ado about what!?
Review: After all the hype and hoopla surrounding this book -- I finally succumbed. I would have put it down immediately, if not for the the prize it had received. I kept hoping... well, entirely in vain, there was nothing there. It was a huge disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: Clarity, simplicity, truth
Review: I disagree with my fellow readers who found little to admire in Ha Jin's Waiting. I found the same careful and insightful kind of psychological realism that we find in the French and Russian writers of the 19th century. If you're looking for a page-turner, this is not it. This novel does not share the gimmicks and flashy prose of many recent American novels, but it takes us into the mind of a man who lives a human life in an inhuman time, finally recognizing his own limitations. I was delighted that it won the National Book Award. You should also know that this book met political opposition in China, where it cannot be published precisely because of the honesty with which it is written.
Rating:
Summary: Be careful what you wish for
Review: In some ways, this amazing novel is best described by telling what it is not. It is not an "epic," and it was not written with the film rights in mind. You don't hear the soundtrack somewhere in the back of your head, nor do you get to "identify with" or "love" the characters. One of its central characters is rather shy, timid, and nonverbal. Ha Jin does not tell the reader how to feel - or what to think. There is no sly authorly manipulation of our emotions. Ha Jin tells an important and essentially sad story which he narrates with control and purpose. John Lennon said that "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans," and this novel makes that point, among others. The story unfolds during a specific time (1960's) and place (People's Republic of China). A group of people is caught in lives over which they have varying degrees of control. Ha Jin fleshes out his characters - but just enough. This story is written concisely and economically. This is a quiet, strong, meaningful, and heartfelt novel. Its quietude and lack of melodrama - its remarkable menus are often the most colorful aspects of its characters daily lives - serve its humane and important message. Definitely worth reading.
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