2005-10-26 22:48:10珍珠
Book: The Crazed 《瘋狂》
”The Crazed” by Ha Jin
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This is the first time I read Ha Jin’s work. I picked this novel because I was very curious about this award-winning Chinese writer who writes in English. I think it is an incredible achievement. This book did not disappointment me. It is a smooth read. And for sure I will get a copy of ”Waiting,” his award-winning book published also in English.
About the Author
Ha Jin left his native China in 1985 to attend Brandeis University. He is the author of the internationally bestselling novel Waiting, which won the PEN/Faulkner Award and the National Book Award; the story collections The Bridegroom, which won the Asian American Literary Award, Under the Red Flag, which won the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, and Ocean of Words, which won the PEN/Hemingway Award; the novel In the Pond; and three books of poetry. He lives in the Boston area and is a professor of English at Boston University.
Here I selected two reviews of this book:
1) from YesAsia.com
《瘋狂》是哈金的最新長篇小說，去年在美國上市引起書市一片好評，不僅因為這本書是六四事件15年後第一本以六四為主題長篇小說，也是哈金第一次描寫六四天安門事件，這件事影響他做了人生最重要的一次決定，留在美國，放棄家鄉，開始以英文寫作。全書仍舊是哈金式的主題：個人與集體、教條與自我價值、忠誠與背叛的衝突。哈金的說故事能力依舊備受肯定，這部小說還加入了心理推理的層層剝解，並由香港大公報記者也是詩人的黃燦然翻譯，文采斐然，翻到許多中外詩作更是得心應手。故事描寫在中國北方城鎮大學當中國文學研究生的年輕人萬堅，一日他的指導楊教授也是他準岳父突然中風，萬堅責無旁貸照顧起他，不過養病的楊教授行徑日趨詭異，經常對著看不見的人求饒、辱罵賢慧的老婆、抗議學校不公……萬堅一步步跟隨陷入楊教授的過去，也陷入了一團謎霧之中。小說裡的楊教授經常以西方詩歌名其志，身處權力整肅中堅持著心的自由。透過萬堅的眼，我們深入一個個人受到集體包圍的發狂過程，也切入了六四天安門學運事件的問題：中國能不能有個人意志，有個人的聲音。
2)From Library Journal
Ha’s first novel since the National Book Award-winning Waiting is set in 1989 China in the wake of the Tiananmen Square massacre. As Jian Wan sits by the bedside of his professor and future father-in-law, who has been felled by a stroke, he begins to discover peculiar yet arresting secrets about the professor’s past. The seemingly delirious Yang is given to outbursts of shouting, singing, and talking to individuals who are not there. Scared but intrigued, Jian decides to delve deeper into the catalyst for Yang’s mysterious behavior. Ha’s multilayered, easy-to-read tale is intriguing as always, drawing the reader into the lives of his simple characters by creating complex story lines and striking a delicate balance between the humanistic and the political. Readers who appreciated Ha’s previous works are sure to find this novel of interest. Recommended for large fiction and Asian literature collections in both public and academic libraries.
***************************
This is the first time I read Ha Jin’s work. I picked this novel because I was very curious about this award-winning Chinese writer who writes in English. I think it is an incredible achievement. This book did not disappointment me. It is a smooth read. And for sure I will get a copy of ”Waiting,” his award-winning book published also in English.
About the Author
Ha Jin left his native China in 1985 to attend Brandeis University. He is the author of the internationally bestselling novel Waiting, which won the PEN/Faulkner Award and the National Book Award; the story collections The Bridegroom, which won the Asian American Literary Award, Under the Red Flag, which won the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, and Ocean of Words, which won the PEN/Hemingway Award; the novel In the Pond; and three books of poetry. He lives in the Boston area and is a professor of English at Boston University.
Here I selected two reviews of this book:
1) from YesAsia.com
《瘋狂》是哈金的最新長篇小說，去年在美國上市引起書市一片好評，不僅因為這本書是六四事件15年後第一本以六四為主題長篇小說，也是哈金第一次描寫六四天安門事件，這件事影響他做了人生最重要的一次決定，留在美國，放棄家鄉，開始以英文寫作。全書仍舊是哈金式的主題：個人與集體、教條與自我價值、忠誠與背叛的衝突。哈金的說故事能力依舊備受肯定，這部小說還加入了心理推理的層層剝解，並由香港大公報記者也是詩人的黃燦然翻譯，文采斐然，翻到許多中外詩作更是得心應手。故事描寫在中國北方城鎮大學當中國文學研究生的年輕人萬堅，一日他的指導楊教授也是他準岳父突然中風，萬堅責無旁貸照顧起他，不過養病的楊教授行徑日趨詭異，經常對著看不見的人求饒、辱罵賢慧的老婆、抗議學校不公……萬堅一步步跟隨陷入楊教授的過去，也陷入了一團謎霧之中。小說裡的楊教授經常以西方詩歌名其志，身處權力整肅中堅持著心的自由。透過萬堅的眼，我們深入一個個人受到集體包圍的發狂過程，也切入了六四天安門學運事件的問題：中國能不能有個人意志，有個人的聲音。
2)From Library Journal
Ha’s first novel since the National Book Award-winning Waiting is set in 1989 China in the wake of the Tiananmen Square massacre. As Jian Wan sits by the bedside of his professor and future father-in-law, who has been felled by a stroke, he begins to discover peculiar yet arresting secrets about the professor’s past. The seemingly delirious Yang is given to outbursts of shouting, singing, and talking to individuals who are not there. Scared but intrigued, Jian decides to delve deeper into the catalyst for Yang’s mysterious behavior. Ha’s multilayered, easy-to-read tale is intriguing as always, drawing the reader into the lives of his simple characters by creating complex story lines and striking a delicate balance between the humanistic and the political. Readers who appreciated Ha’s previous works are sure to find this novel of interest. Recommended for large fiction and Asian literature collections in both public and academic libraries.