Book Club Announcement

The next author we will be discussing is Amin Maalouf, whose books were written in French and translated into English. We will focus on The Rock of Tanios, Leo the African, and Samarkand.

Please join us on Tuesday, April 28 at 4:00 in the LMC. NEWCOMERS are welcome to attend.

Available in the IC libraries:In French: Le Rocher de Tanios : 3 Copies (2 @ LMC and1 @ AEM)Léon l’africain: 3 copies (1 @ LMC;1 @ OFFIC(Head Librarian);1 @ AAEM)Samarcande: 7 copies (4 @ AAEM; 2 @ LMC; 1 @ Office(Head Librarian)In English: Samarkand 3 copies (2 @LMC; 1 @ Ain Aar)

Waiting by Ha Jin

From Publishers Weekly Jin's quiet but absorbing second novel (after In the Pond) captures the poignant dilemma of an ordinary man who misses the best opportunities in his life simply by trying to do his duty—as defined first by his traditional Chinese parents and later by the Communist Party. Reflecting the changes in Chinese communism from the '60s to the '80s, the novel focuses on Lin Kong, a military doctor who agrees, as his mother is dying, to an arranged marriage. His bride, Shuyu, turns out to be a country woman who looks far older than her 26 years and who has, to Lin's great embarrassment, lotus (bound) feet. While Shuyu remains at Lin's family home in Goose Village, nursing first his mother and then his ailing father, and bearing Lin a daughter, Lin lives far away in an army hospital compound, visiting only once a year. Caught in a loveless marriage, Lin is attacted to a nurse, Manna Wu, an attachment forbidden by communist strictures. According to local Party rules, Lin cannot divorce his wife without her permission until they have been separated for 18 years. Although Jin infuses movement and some suspense into Lin's and Manna's sometimes resigned, sometimes impatient waiting—they will not consummate their relationship until Lin is free—it is only in the novel's third section, when Lin finally secures a divorce, that the story gathers real force. Though inaction is a risky subject and the thoughts of a cautious man make for a rather deliberate prose style (the first two sections describe the moments the characters choose not to act), the final chapters are moving and deeply ironic, proving again that this poet and award-winning short story writer can deliver powerful long fiction about a world alien to most Western readers. (Oct.) FYI: Jin served six years in the People's Liberation Army, and came to the U.S. in 1985.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal The winner of numerous awards for his short fiction and poetry, Emory English professor Ha Jin offers his first full-length novel. It tells the story of Lin Kong, an officer and doctor living in China during the mid-1960s. The novel spans 20 years and takes readers on Kong's life journey. In the beginning, Kong follows the wishes of his parents, entering into a loveless arranged marriage and producing a daughter. Living separately from his family for the duration of his marriage, Kong falls in love with Manna Wu, a nursing student in the hospital where he works. For 18 years they remain friends but not lovers until Kong is able to secure a divorce from his wife. The author, a native of China, cleverly draws from his personal life in a Communist society to create a realistic story. Like fellow Chinese authors Pu Ning and Hong Ying, he illusrates the difficulties that one faces when living in an oppressed society. This touching story about love, honor, duty, and family speaks feelingly to readers on matters of the heart. A nice addition to most larger library fiction and Asian literature collections. A Shirley N. Quan, Orange Cty. P.L., Santa Ana, CA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The Face of Another by Kobo Abe

This most unusual novel is not an immediate attention-grabber, but the beauty of the language (although a translation from the Japanese) compelled me to continue reading. Written in the form of notebooks, the extended letter addressed to his wife is by the protagonist, a scientist who loses his face at the research laboratory during a chemical experiment. His face is so badly scarred that he wraps it in bandages until he gets the idea of creating a mask. After laborious attempts to find “the right mask,” he finally chooses it, makes it, and eventually wears it. But rather than providing him with the face with which he can face the world, the mask takes on its own identity, and when he wears it he becomes a different person who is in conflict with his original self. The masked identity seduces his wife, but he is jealous! It takes a long time to get into this book, but once you do, it becomes difficult to put it down, mainly because of the artistry of the language, but also because you want to know how it will all end.

Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata

I had to read this book twice. Like much Japanese literature, it is obscurely laconic. The main character, Yukiko is a young man caught in the web of the women who control his life. First there is Chikako, the woman with an ugly birthmark on her breast, who was once his father’s mistress. She tries to arrange a marriage for Yukiko and the Inamura girl, but at the meeting, he sees Mrs. Ota, his father’s lifelong mistress, and her daughter, whom he finds rather attractive. He ends up having a fleeing affair with his father’s ex-mistress, who dies of a guilt attack. The story gets more and more complicated. The end leaves you suspended in mid-air, so you don’t really know what to make of the novel. What seems to stay with you after you put down the book is the mood, or atmosphere, of the lonely characters and vivid images of the tea bowls and cups, which are described in greater detail than the characters themselves.