The Crazed

Ha Jin

Another book for Bonnie to avoid after doing all that "waiting" with Jin's other novel :-) In this one, there is again that structure where nothing happens - the story takes place in China in 1989 and unfolds through the mutterings of a sick man who has either lost his mind or is finally telling the truth about his life. Professor Yang is in the hospital having suffered a stroke. His student and future son-in-law, Jien, is delegated the responsibility of keeping to his teacher's bedside at the hospital every afternoon to help take care of him. During these visits, the professor rants and raves in confusion and ends up spilling details about a personall history that no one is aware of. So we get bits and pieces of information to piece together the same way Jien does. The story unfolds for us and for Jien simulataneously. Ha Jin, once again, gives us a sense of the history and the brutal reality of Chinese life and political repression.