IN THE POND
Ha Jin, Vintage Paperback, US$11. from www.amazon.com
This slim tale of a factory fitter in a small Chinese town is a minor masterpiece. Funny, moving and totally gripping, it can be read in one sitting, though it echoes in your mind long afterwards, and invites numerous re-readings. From the first sentence you know you are in safe hands: “Shao Bin felt sick of Dismount Fort, a commune town where he had lived for over six years”.
It is simply told, but in an assured manner. The talent of author Ha Jin is in his ability to tell the story without drawing attention to himself, or the fact that he is writing about a social group normally neglected by literary novelists. It also helps that he doesn’t simplify.
Yes, Shao Bin is the hero, an intelligent man who refuses to allow himself to be bullied by corrupt officials, but he is far from perfect. An accomplished artist and calligrapher who uses his talents to publish first some satirical cartoons which cause him a huge amount of trouble, he believes he is better than his colleagues and superiors, and sets out to prove his worth, even at the expense of his wife and child.
The characters are all totally believable, and despite moments of high farce such as when Shao Bin disrupts an election meeting or is beaten by his enemies, we never stop wanting him to succeed. The bittersweet ending leaves us wondering whether we have been deceived in our own aspirations for Shao Bin.
As soon as we finished this, we were on the web trying to find out everything we could about the author (not that much, as it happens).
According to Wikipedia, he was born in Liaoning, China in 1956, graduated from Heilongjiang University and has lived and studied in the US since 1989.
In the Pond is simply marvellous, and if you want more evidence of Ha Jin’s genius, try his novel, Waiting, or the stories in The Bridegroom, many of which are still echoing in my head three months after I first read them (though I have been back and re-read them a couple of times). His is an addictive writing.
Tom Otley
