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A Good Fall
A Good Fall: Stories | Ha Jin
4 posts | 7 read | 2 to read
In his first book of stories since The Bridegroom, National Book Award-winning 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 girlfriend's parakeet; young children decide to change their names so they might sound more "American," unaware of how deeply this will hurt their grandparents; a Chinese professor of English attempts to defect with the help of a reluctant former student. 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. Stark, deeply moving, acutely insightful, and often strikingly humorous, A Good Fall reminds us once again of the storytelling prowess of this superb writer. From the Trade Paperback edition.
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spanda84
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This book of short stories by Ha Jin moved me. Ha's sparse prose tells the stories of lonely, disappointed Chinese immigrants in New York. Many of his stories are open-ended, but do not feel unfinished. I definitely want to read more of his work. #6thBookof2018

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MommyWantsToReadHerBook
Mehso-so

I see the author has been awarded multiple awards, and I did appreciate the bittersweet snapshots of life as immigrants in Flushing in the 1980s that these short stories are. All the stories end on extremely incomplete notes - the future beckons, but the reader will never know how it turns out. Sometimes I wished for a bit more clarity before a story ended.

MommyWantsToReadHerBook I found the writing rather clunky and couldn't figure out whether that was a literary device to comment on the characters' imperfect English, or what... "It had rained some", "I had to hustle" - I'm not American, but that's not very literary writing, I think? 7y
zsuzsanna_reads @MommyWantsToReadHerBook Sometimes literary authors use slang, dialect or "skaz", shaped by contemporary speech patterns instead of very "literary" language... 7y
MommyWantsToReadHerBook @zsuzsanna_reads I guess I get that, I just don't recall ever seeing it employed in this way 7y
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MommyWantsToReadHerBook

I was looking for something new to read in the evenings on my sister's old Kindle and stumbled upon this collection of short stories about Chinese immigrants living in the US. So far I'm finding all the endings rather sad/strange/slightly unsatisfactory, but the stories are enjoyable and moving.

zsuzsanna_reads I loved Waiting by this author. 7y
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