With skill and spareness, he uses the dozen stories in a good fall to dramatize lives in which hope has been crushed rather than abandoned. The twelve stories in under the red flag take place during chinas cultural revolution. First collection of short fiction in nine years from expatriate novelist ha jin a free life, 2007, etc. With the same profound attention to detail that is a hallmark of his previous acclaimed works of in his first book of stories since the bridegroom was published in 2000 finely wrought.
Tong guhan is a regular businessman, husband, and father, trying to find a job for his daughter and an apartment for his son in rural china. Ha jin, a first generation chineseamerican and winner of the national book award for his earlier work, waiting, is the latest author to take on the immigrant experience. In his latest collection of stories, ha jin explores the nature of displacement and the unease with which chinese immigrants in the united states experience their new country. Ha jins new shortstory collection, a good fall, takes. Ha jin has 37 books on goodreads with 80768 ratings. The stories are equally divided between first and thirdperson narration, and the viewpoint characters. Ha jin s fourth story collection, a good fall, consists of twelve short stories, each focusing on the experiences of chinese american immigrants working hard to improve their lives in a country whose ways are foreign to them. All of ha jin s characters struggle to remain loyal to their homeland and its traditions while also exploring the freedom that life in a new country offers. The stories are about chinese immigrants lifestyles in america and how they struggle to make a living in some stories. Stories still allow him to get to the heart of the matter in a more piercing manner. Available on kindle ebook and can be read on any device with the free kindle app. I know ha jin writes them in this ok i just cannot get along too well with ha jin. The bridegroom is ha jins third short story collection, and first following the success of his 1999 novel, waiting.
For all their meticulous attention to the immigrant experience, ha jins books leave little to the imagination. He is the author of the internationally bestselling novel waiting, which won the penfaulkner award and the national book award, and war trash, which won the penfaulkner award for fiction, and was a finalist for the pulitzer prize and the kiriyama pacific rim book prize. The characters who inhabit the stories in a good fall, a new collection by national book awardwinner ha jin, are chinese immigrants of various stripes, all living or working in the queens, new york, neighborhood of flushing. Lets eat, he said to her, and broke the connected ends of the chopsticks. He was inducted to the american academy of arts and letters in 2014. He has received the national book award, two penfaulkner awards, the pen. The narrators and characters in a good fall, his new story collection featuring a cast of chinese immigrants, express. Since that first book, jin has produced numerous other works, including the poetry volumes facing shadows 1996 and wreckage 2001, and the shortstory collections ocean of words. Even the children of immigrants, or those who immigrated long ago, still feel the chains tying them to the homeland, whether they parted with it peacefully or feel they escaped a cruel, unfair nation. Jins 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 dutyas defined fi. It took more than ten days for the mail to reach sichuan, and usually.
Like most immigrant stories, these tales are at once universal and particularmarked by the familiar adjustments needed to survive in a new place, which in this. Jul 03, 2010 a good fall consists of short stories written by a chineseamerican author, hajin. He presents a wide range of protagonists from a graduate student and young professor to a presser in a garment factory to a monk and draws their characters so well you feel like you know them, even within the confines of a short story. Xuefei jin, who writes under the pseudonym ha jin, was born in 1956 in liaoning province in northern china.
His books include waiting, winner of the penfaulkner award and the national book award. Ha jin reads a good fall bostonia winterspring 2010. He has received the national book award, two penfaulkner awards, the penhemingway foundation award, the asian american. Out of all the stories, i cant remember the exact number since ive returned the book, i like the following the. The banished immortal is a biography of the 8thcentury, tang dynasty poet whose verses remain an intrinsic element of chinese.
The bridegroom 2000 is a short story collection by ha jin. Ha jins new book of stories rises way above the ordinary or merely good. All of ha jins characters struggle to remain loyal to their homeland and its traditions while also exploring the freedom that life in a new country offers. In his first book of stories since the bridegroom, national book awardwinning author ha jin gives us a collection that delves into the experience of chinese. Like most immigrant stories, these tales are at once universal and. Chiu and his bride were having lunch in the square before muji train station. The stories themselves all about chinese immigrants in flushing, nyc are not bad, some of them are even very intriguing but the endings. His penultimate novel, a free life 2007, was jin s first book to be set in his adopted land, and marks a clear delineation in his career. Ha jin displays his impressive storytelling gifts in this richly textured. He is the author of eight novels, four story collections, four volumes of poetry, and a book of essays. His notable novels included waiting 2000 and war trash 2004. Ha jin was born in liaoning, china, in 1956, and moved to america in 1984. I made it clear to my son that a few tricks in art would never get his kids anywhere in life, so theyd better stop dabbling with a brush.
All of ha jin s characters struggle in situations that stir within them a desire to remain attached to their native land and traditions, as they also explore and take advantage of the newfound freedom, both social and economic, that life in a new country offers. No, im much tamer, says the national book awardwinning author, who calls his latest novel the boat rocker. He is the author of five novels, three story collections, and three books of poetry. Jin currently teaches at boston university in boston, massachusetts. Ha jin, who was raised in china and emigrated to the united states after the tiananmen square massacre in 1989, writes about loss and moral deterioration with the keen sense of a survivor. The immigrants in ha jins latest story collection seem to be in exile not only from the china of their dreams and memories, but from their very sense of who they are. The stories touch on themes involving chinese social life, the intersection of chinese and american cultural and economic customs, and authority and the individual. Ha jin earned his masters degree at shandong university in china, and in 1986 came to the united states to begin his doctoral work at brandeis. In his first book of stories since the bridegroom, national book awardwinning author ha jin gives us a collection that delves into the experience of chinese immigrants in america a lonely composer takes comfort in the antics of his girlfriends parakeet. Ever since then we have lived in the city if my aunt were not in dismount fort, i might have forgotten that small town where i went to elementary school only for two years in the late 1960s. In his first book of stories since the bridegroom was published in 2000 finely wrought. He formerly taught at emory university in atlanta, georgia. Chicago suntimes, national book awardwinning ha jin gives us a collection that delves into the experience of chinese immigrants in america. On the table between them were two bottles of soda spewing out brown foam, and two paper boxes of rice and sauteed cucumber and pork.
In 1969, at only 14 years of age, ha jin joined the peoples liberation army based at the northeastern border between china and the former soviet union. Nov 25, 2009 in 1990, jin published his first book of poetry. A good fall consists of short stories written by a chineseamerican author, hajin. A new collection of short stories, a good fall, was published in november 2009. The lastest from national book award winner and bu professor ha jin is a collection of twelve short stories unfolding in and around queens, new york citys most richly diverse borough. This is the story of lin kong, a man living in two worlds, struggling with the conflicting. A good fall vintage international paperback october 19, 2010. Ha jins depiction of the chinese immigrants of flushing in these stories.
His penultimate novel, a free life 2007, was jins first book to be set in his adopted land, and marks a clear delineation in his career. His latest collection, a good fall 2009, continues his american observances. Just like the old chinatown, the new chinatown is also a microcosm and the subjects range from the indigent to professional. He has received the national book award, two penfaulkner awards, the penhemingway award, the asian american literary award, and the flannery oconnor award for short fiction. He has received the national book award, two penfaulkner awards, more about ha jin. Stories by ha jin and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Stories vintage international kindle edition by jin. His opening dedication, to lisha and wen, who lived this book, suggests similarities to jins own immigration story.
Jan 03, 2010 the immigrants in ha jins latest story collection seem to be in exile not only from the china of their dreams and memories, but from their very sense of who they are. Ha jin, pseudonym of xuefei jin, born february 21, 1956, jinzhou, liaoning province, china, chinese american writer who used plain, unadorned english prose to explore the tension between the individual and the family, the modern and the traditional, and personal feelings and duty jin had only a brief, incomplete education before the schools in china closed in 1966 at the beginning of the. Ha jins latest shortstory collection continues developing one of his favorite themes. From national book awardwinner jin waiting comes a new collection that focuses on flushing, one of new york citys largest chinese immigrant commun. Jins books include waiting, under the red flag, and war trash.
With the same profound attention to detail that is a hallmark of his previous acclaimed works of fiction national book award winner ha jin gives us a collection of stories that delves into the experience of chinese immigrants in america. Ha jin, chinese american writer who used plain, unadorned english prose to explore the tension between the individual and the family, the modern and the traditional, and personal feelings and duty. Ha jins staggering story alive, from the collection the bridegroom. From one of our most celebrated contemporary writers, winner of the national book award and penfaulkner award. Photo of author ha jin from the jacket of his latest book, the fall ran on. Mar 22, 2019 jins books include waiting, under the red flag, and war trash. He is the author of eight novels, four story collections, three volumes of poetry, and a book of essays. Waiting by ha jin about the book winner of the 1999 national book award for fiction. The crazed isbn 9780375714115 pdf epub ha jin ebook. Chinese immigrants living in flushing new york new york citys new chinatown are caricatured in these short stories. A decade from under the red flag by ha jin i left the countryside twelve years ago when my father was transferred to an artillery division in dalian. My sister yuchin and i used to write each other letters. Ha jins fourth story collection, a good fall, consists of twelve short stories, each focusing on the experiences of chinese american immigrants working hard to improve their lives in a country. In his first book of stories since the bridegroom, national book awardwinning author ha jin gives us a collection that delves into the experience of chinese immigra.
Ha jin left his native china in 1985 to attend brandeis university. I made it clear to my son that a few tricks in art would never get his kids anywhere in life. Language, immigration and acculturation in the short stories of ha jin. Dec 01, 2009 first collection of short fiction in nine years from expatriate novelist ha jin a free life, 2007, etc. In his first book of stories since the bridegroom, national book awardwinning author ha jin gives us a collection that delves into the experience of chinese immigrants in america. Books by ha jin goodreads meet your next favorite book. Though his writing is censored in his native country, ha jin says he fails to qualify for full boatrocker status. In waiting, penhemingway awardwinning author ha jin draws on his intimate knowledge of contemporary china to create a novel of unexpected richness and feeling. A good fall by ha jin is a collection of short stories dealing with the lives of chinese immigrants to the u. We follow the wu familyfather nan, mother pingping, and son taotaoas they fully sever their ties with china in the aftermath of the 1989 tiananmen square massacre and begin a new, free life in the united states. Army stories 1996, under the red flag 1997, the bridegroom 2001, and a good fall 2009. A lonely composer takes comfort in the antics of his.
The narrators and characters in a good fall, his new story collection featuring a cast of chinese immigrants, express their feelings and the reasons for them bluntly. From ha jin, the widelyacclaimed, awardwinning author of waiting and war trash, comes a novel that takes his fiction to a new setting. A good fall by ha jin meet your next favorite book. This may be ha jin s best work yet, his stories often ascending to the mystical penumbra we expect of singer, malamud, or oconnor.
In his first book of stories since the bridegroom was published in 200. His opening dedication, to lisha and wen, who lived this book, suggests similarities to jin s own immigration story. His new novel, a free life, details the firstgeneration travails and experiences of chinese immigrant nan wu, his wife pingping and their son taotao. With the same profound attention to detail that is a hallmark of his previous acclaimed works of. A good fall short stories by hajin speaking out loud. Stark, deeply moving, acutely insightful, and often strikingly humorous, a good fall reminds us once again of the storytelling prowess of this superb writer.
Jan 01, 2010 chinese edition of a good fall by ha jin. He has received the national book award, two penfaulkner awards, the penhemingway foundation award, the asian american literary award, and the flannery oconnor award for. 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 dutyas defined fi. Jin has also published the novels in the pond 1998. Under the red flag, which won the flannery oconnor award for short fiction. Auto mechanics make good money herei know a fellow at a garage who cant speak any english but pulls in twentyfour dollars an hour, plus a generous bonus at the end of the year. Ha jin is equally good as a novelist and a short story writer. Alive isbn 9781101910368 pdf epub ha jin ebook ebookmall. The immigrants in ha jins latest story collection seem to be in exile not only from the china of their dreams and memories, but from their very. With the same profound attention to detail that is a hallmark of his previous acclaimed works of fiction national book award winner ha jin. The book was translated by ha jin him self from english into chinese2 and published in 2009, the same year of its original versions publication.
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