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The Crazed
Assigned to care for his fiancTe's father, Professor Yang, a respected literature teacher, after he suffers a stroke, Jian Wan is disturbed when the professor begins to rave against his family, colleagues, and the system, and risks everything in a China in the midst of the violent aftermath of Tiananmen to delve into the professor's past to uncover the truth. 100,000 first printing.
323 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2002
85 people are currently reading
1749 people want to read
About the author
Ha Jin
60 books843 followersHa Jin is the pen name of Jin Xuefei, a novelist, poet, short story writer, and Professor of English at Boston University.Ha Jin writes in English about China, a political decision post-Tiananmen Square.
Ha Jin grew up in mainland China and served in the People’s Liberation Army in his teens for five years. After leaving the army, he worked for three years at a railroad company in a remote northeastern city, Jiamusi, and then went to college in Harbin, majoring in English. He has published in English ten novels, four story collections, four volumes of poetry, a book of essays, and a biography of Li Bai. His novel Waiting won the National Book Award for Fiction, the PEN/Faulkner Award, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Ha Jin is William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor in English and Creative Writing at Boston University, and he has been elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His writing has been translated into more than thirty languages. Ha Jin’s novel The Woman Back from Moscow was published by Other Press in 2023.
Ha Jin grew up in mainland China and served in the People’s Liberation Army in his teens for five years. After leaving the army, he worked for three years at a railroad company in a remote northeastern city, Jiamusi, and then went to college in Harbin, majoring in English. He has published in English ten novels, four story collections, four volumes of poetry, a book of essays, and a biography of Li Bai. His novel Waiting won the National Book Award for Fiction, the PEN/Faulkner Award, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Ha Jin is William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor in English and Creative Writing at Boston University, and he has been elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His writing has been translated into more than thirty languages. Ha Jin’s novel The Woman Back from Moscow was published by Other Press in 2023.
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January 4, 2017
Ha Jin is subtle. He doesn't beat us over the head with an overview of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. So the non-Chinese reader can be a little lost here without that background. The best preparation I can think of is Nien Cheng's magnificent Life and Death in Shanghai. The Cultural Revolution was a world turned upside down. Anyone subject to foreign influences—intellectuals, officials, students, artists and dissidents—was labeled a "rightist" or "counterrevolutionary." They were humiliated, imprisoned, demoted and fired from their positions. They were sent to labor and re-education camps where they were tortured and killed. The impact on the lives of innocent Chinese is almost beyond the grasp of human imagination. In their biography, Mao: The Unknown Story, authors Jung Chang and Jon Halliday claim that 70 million Chinese were killed by Mao in peacetime due to his various wrong-headed policies such as the collectivization of agriculture and the Cultural Revolution, which often turned children against parents.
In the case of the novel's Professor Yang, it is clear that his life has been utterly destroyed by the Cultural Revolution, and that the stroke he has 12 years later is merely its long term result. Sent to a re-education camp during the period--roughly 1966-76--Yang drifted away from his wife who took up with another man to get by in Chinese society. Yang may understand the practicality of that move on some level, but after the stroke, when we come upon him in the hospital, out pours all his humiliation and invective in an almost nonstop torrent of abuse. Narrator Jian, Yang's student, watches over him while arrangements are made for Yang's family members to care for him. During this time he pieces together from these babblings the tragedy of his teacher's life, and he becomes determined not to repeat it himself. He realizes his own life must change after a last minute trip to Tiananmen Square. It is 1989, just before the Red Army cracks down on the student movement. Ha Jin presents the reader with a pattern: Prof. Yang's life destroyed by the Cultural Revolution, and now the threat of Tiananmen on narrator Jian's, who in his turn becomes hunted as a "counterrevolutionary." The cycle of history repeats itself. Jian admits:
Thus Jian under the stress becomes one of the "crazed," too. There are, Jin implies, millions like him. China has learned nothing from its own past since it possesses no genuine tradition of historical inquiry. In the Santayanan sense then it is doomed to repeat its worst mistakes. But Jian sees the pattern, and he is determined not to be devoured.
In the case of the novel's Professor Yang, it is clear that his life has been utterly destroyed by the Cultural Revolution, and that the stroke he has 12 years later is merely its long term result. Sent to a re-education camp during the period--roughly 1966-76--Yang drifted away from his wife who took up with another man to get by in Chinese society. Yang may understand the practicality of that move on some level, but after the stroke, when we come upon him in the hospital, out pours all his humiliation and invective in an almost nonstop torrent of abuse. Narrator Jian, Yang's student, watches over him while arrangements are made for Yang's family members to care for him. During this time he pieces together from these babblings the tragedy of his teacher's life, and he becomes determined not to repeat it himself. He realizes his own life must change after a last minute trip to Tiananmen Square. It is 1989, just before the Red Army cracks down on the student movement. Ha Jin presents the reader with a pattern: Prof. Yang's life destroyed by the Cultural Revolution, and now the threat of Tiananmen on narrator Jian's, who in his turn becomes hunted as a "counterrevolutionary." The cycle of history repeats itself. Jian admits:
I saw China in the form of an old hag so decrepit and brainsick that she would devour her children to sustain herself. Insatiable, she had eaten many tender lives before, was gobbling up new flesh and blood now, and would surely swallow more. Unable to suppress the horrible vision, all day I said to myself, 'China is an old bitch that eats her own puppies!' How my head throbbed, and how my heart writhed and shuddered! With the commotion of two nights ago still in my ears, I feared I was going to lose my mind.
Thus Jian under the stress becomes one of the "crazed," too. There are, Jin implies, millions like him. China has learned nothing from its own past since it possesses no genuine tradition of historical inquiry. In the Santayanan sense then it is doomed to repeat its worst mistakes. But Jian sees the pattern, and he is determined not to be devoured.
July 25, 2019
Este livro, o primeiro que leio de Ha Jin, foi uma agradável surpresa. É muito mais do que um livro sobre o massacre de Tiananmen, na República Popular da China, em 1989, através do qual o Partido Comunista quis calar o movimento estudantil, os intelectuais e todos os chineses descontentes. É sobre o que nos move enquanto seres humanos. Como no caso do protagonista, há interesses pessoais (uma paixão, a necessidade de dinheiro ou de emprego) e circunstâncias externas que podem conduzir-nos por caminhos improváveis, fazendo de nós heróis ou carrascos.
February 25, 2009
Ok. First of all do NOT read this book's description on Goodreads, it ruins the whole book! Also don't listen to these fools' reviews whining about this book: "its boring" "the end mystifies me" and so on. How anyone could be "mystified" by the end of this book, or could have "no idea what Ha Jin was trying to say", leaves me incredulous.
I'll admit I also thought it was monotonous at first. I was mildly interested for the first 100 pages--but after that I was totally consumed. The writing is simple, spare, fluid, and powerfully dreamlike at moments. The shock of violence, suffering and the reality of a soul's deep anguish at his deathbed hit me really deeply after the kind of slow day to day-ness of the rest of the book. In that way, "The Crazed" reminds me of "The Last Gentleman", one of my favorite books. At other moments Rilke's "The Notebooks of Malte Laurel Briggs" came to mind, also Camus' "The Stranger."
I am really glad I stuck with this book and finished it. I felt so much affection for the main character. He had some unattractive qualities but it was so honest and I really felt for him.
I recommend this book.
I'll admit I also thought it was monotonous at first. I was mildly interested for the first 100 pages--but after that I was totally consumed. The writing is simple, spare, fluid, and powerfully dreamlike at moments. The shock of violence, suffering and the reality of a soul's deep anguish at his deathbed hit me really deeply after the kind of slow day to day-ness of the rest of the book. In that way, "The Crazed" reminds me of "The Last Gentleman", one of my favorite books. At other moments Rilke's "The Notebooks of Malte Laurel Briggs" came to mind, also Camus' "The Stranger."
I am really glad I stuck with this book and finished it. I felt so much affection for the main character. He had some unattractive qualities but it was so honest and I really felt for him.
I recommend this book.
August 9, 2009
First, let me say, I loved the feel of the paper in this book. LOVED it. It felt good on my fingers. Please someone tell me I'm not alone on this? I don't know when I last noticed paper quality... it was lovely.
Now, the book itself was okay. I wanted more, and maybe that's my fault. Ha Jin tells an amazing story, but honestly, I was turned off by the reciting of poems and chants and songs. It got old. Not to mention I am not a huge poetry person either (yes, there are exceptions) but this was blah blah blah!
Decent portrayal of the brain injured - even better portrayal of those who are trying to deal with a loved one who is talking "crazy shit, " shit that can be embarrassing, harsh, truthful and/or babble. Take your pick.
The best part of the story for me was 50 pages to the end and I was not pleased about the ending. Nope. I want to know how things end! Spell it out for me, man! It was like the Sopranos, an ending that hit me and I'm left thinking, "wha? no! We can't end here!"
Solid read and while the ending made me a bit peeved, I'll read more Ha Jin in the future.
Now, the book itself was okay. I wanted more, and maybe that's my fault. Ha Jin tells an amazing story, but honestly, I was turned off by the reciting of poems and chants and songs. It got old. Not to mention I am not a huge poetry person either (yes, there are exceptions) but this was blah blah blah!
Decent portrayal of the brain injured - even better portrayal of those who are trying to deal with a loved one who is talking "crazy shit, " shit that can be embarrassing, harsh, truthful and/or babble. Take your pick.
The best part of the story for me was 50 pages to the end and I was not pleased about the ending. Nope. I want to know how things end! Spell it out for me, man! It was like the Sopranos, an ending that hit me and I'm left thinking, "wha? no! We can't end here!"
Solid read and while the ending made me a bit peeved, I'll read more Ha Jin in the future.
June 29, 2020
This is a slow starting book that builds powerfully. The Crazed is written by Ha Jin, an expatriate from China who has lived in the United States for some time. His book is set at the time of the Tiananmen Square massacre but doesn’t involve the incident at all until very late in the book. Although dealing with the general politics of the time it is not about the counterrevolutionists. The narrator slowly awakens to the suffocating systems around him. The reader should also come to the realization that repressive socialistic governments are not at all interested in “the people.” The system stifles creativity and the slightest individualism while encouraging fear of others. It also encourages the ambitious to trample on others and become obsessed with their own personal desires.
July 6, 2016
This is one of those books that I was pretty sure would be boring but somehow I got sucked in. The story surrounds a Chinese professor who suddenly falls ill (and has a stroke, I think) and the care that is given to him by one of his students who is soon to be his son-in-law. The end of the book focuses on the uprisings at Tienamen Square and causes the protagonist to call into question his role in the world and whether he wants to be an academic. I know there is a lot of meaning in this book, but I didn't give it as much thought as I could have.
June 10, 2020
pazzia o libera espressione?
un professore colpito da ictus
un allievo e suo futuro genero che lo assite
la parlantina si scioglie e le parole vengono fuori,
ma in certe situazioni è meglio pensare di essere di fronte alla pazzia...
per tutto il libro ci lasciano pensare che il pazzo sia il vecchio professore
straparla, ricorda il suo passato e mette in discussione la sua vita
le donne, la carriera e la scelta di essere uno studioso
il povero Jian non può che seguire i suoi deliri e porsi la domanda se vuole per sè la stessa vita piena di amarezza
però poi va a piazza Tienanmen le sera prima che i carri armati entrino a sancire la fine della rivoluzione studentesca cinese
e scopriamo che il pazzo non è mai stato così lucido...la Cina non ha nulla da offrire ai giovani
anzi li ha traditi
l'Esercito di liberazione popolare ha rivolto i fucili contro il popolo
e questo può significare solo una cosa: i pazzi sono loro,
i cinesi meritano di più
e solo la vista degli studenti innocenti,
uccisi per mano di chi li avrebbe dovuti proteggere può svegliare le anime addormentate
e da quel momento niente più avrà importanza...
un professore colpito da ictus
un allievo e suo futuro genero che lo assite
la parlantina si scioglie e le parole vengono fuori,
ma in certe situazioni è meglio pensare di essere di fronte alla pazzia...
per tutto il libro ci lasciano pensare che il pazzo sia il vecchio professore
straparla, ricorda il suo passato e mette in discussione la sua vita
le donne, la carriera e la scelta di essere uno studioso
il povero Jian non può che seguire i suoi deliri e porsi la domanda se vuole per sè la stessa vita piena di amarezza
però poi va a piazza Tienanmen le sera prima che i carri armati entrino a sancire la fine della rivoluzione studentesca cinese
e scopriamo che il pazzo non è mai stato così lucido...la Cina non ha nulla da offrire ai giovani
anzi li ha traditi
l'Esercito di liberazione popolare ha rivolto i fucili contro il popolo
e questo può significare solo una cosa: i pazzi sono loro,
i cinesi meritano di più
e solo la vista degli studenti innocenti,
uccisi per mano di chi li avrebbe dovuti proteggere può svegliare le anime addormentate
e da quel momento niente più avrà importanza...
January 17, 2018
Staggering. Without a doubt this is Ha Jin's finest, most important novel. I was fairly stunned by the extraordinary War Trash, but this one is more cogent and obviously more personal, filled with gut-wrenching urgency, cynicism, and despair.
October 18, 2021
Slow, dream-like tragedy of human life with all its regrets, sorrows and its insignificance in the grand scheme of things. 3.5*
February 16, 2025
I wanted to love this book (as I love Ha Jin) but feel like it dealt rather clumsily with both Tiananmen Square and the lasting impact of the Cultural Revolution. I’m not sure if my problem was that each of these themes deserved its own book, or that the trope of an aging professor with dementia recalling his misdeeds seemed too simplistic for the tasks at hand.
April 19, 2011
As a university student applying to graduate studies, I realize how tough it can be with "office politics" getting in the way of research. But as a student in a democratic and free country, I appreciate that I can go in any direction that my research takes me (provided I can secure funding). Ha Jin's novel The Crazed gives us a view into Chinese scholarship of the recent past, and, like the main character Jian Wan, makes us question the present and the future of studies in a highly insular communist country.
Set in the late 1980s, just before the massacre at Tienanmen Square, The Crazed tells the story of a young graduate student in the Chinese Language and Literature department at a small university. Jian Wan's advisor, who also happens to be his future father-in-law, suffers a debilitating stroke. Because Professor Yang's wife is in Tibet and his daughter is in Beijing, Jian Wan and a few other devoted students (including the good-natured country boy Banping and the quietly intelligent Weiya) opt to take care of Professor Yang in shifts until Mrs. Yang arrives. While this is happening, Jian is studying to take the entrance examinations for Beijing University so that he can move there to be with his fiance Meimei, Professor Yang's daughter, and perhaps eventually secure a place at an American university for the two of them.
Professor Yang is severely changed by the stroke and has fits of delirium. He starts by singing out-of-date communist anthems and retelling stories in a confusing manner. As time goes on, however, Professor Yang reveals bits about his private life and what he thinks about the life of a scholar, leaving his student to piece together these fragments of information. The other students are less bogged down by Professor Yang's ravings, whether it be because he puts on his lecturer's mask when he sees them (the undergraduates) or because they just don't care to dwell on things (Banping). As Jian Wan starts to spend more time in Professor Yang's company, he starts to doubt whether he should take the entrance examinations at Beijing at all. Instead, he wonders if a life in the policy-making branch of the government might be the right place for him. Meimei, who basically wants to live in Beijing at all costs, gives him an ultimatum: either take the exams or consider the engagement off.
Jian had never really been politically interested, but the ravings, plus a trip to an impoverished town in the countryside, push him more and more towards not taking the examinations. What he does not realize is that there are forces conspiring against him.
The last part of the book is where things get sloppy. The physical action picks up, but the ending feels rushed and unsatisfying.
Set in the late 1980s, just before the massacre at Tienanmen Square, The Crazed tells the story of a young graduate student in the Chinese Language and Literature department at a small university. Jian Wan's advisor, who also happens to be his future father-in-law, suffers a debilitating stroke. Because Professor Yang's wife is in Tibet and his daughter is in Beijing, Jian Wan and a few other devoted students (including the good-natured country boy Banping and the quietly intelligent Weiya) opt to take care of Professor Yang in shifts until Mrs. Yang arrives. While this is happening, Jian is studying to take the entrance examinations for Beijing University so that he can move there to be with his fiance Meimei, Professor Yang's daughter, and perhaps eventually secure a place at an American university for the two of them.
Professor Yang is severely changed by the stroke and has fits of delirium. He starts by singing out-of-date communist anthems and retelling stories in a confusing manner. As time goes on, however, Professor Yang reveals bits about his private life and what he thinks about the life of a scholar, leaving his student to piece together these fragments of information. The other students are less bogged down by Professor Yang's ravings, whether it be because he puts on his lecturer's mask when he sees them (the undergraduates) or because they just don't care to dwell on things (Banping). As Jian Wan starts to spend more time in Professor Yang's company, he starts to doubt whether he should take the entrance examinations at Beijing at all. Instead, he wonders if a life in the policy-making branch of the government might be the right place for him. Meimei, who basically wants to live in Beijing at all costs, gives him an ultimatum: either take the exams or consider the engagement off.
Jian had never really been politically interested, but the ravings, plus a trip to an impoverished town in the countryside, push him more and more towards not taking the examinations. What he does not realize is that there are forces conspiring against him.
The last part of the book is where things get sloppy. The physical action picks up, but the ending feels rushed and unsatisfying.
August 14, 2010
My first thought on finishing was chagrin that I might easily have gone through life without reading or even knowing about this great novel. I just happened to spot it on the library shelf, and picked it up because I'd liked
Waiting
.
It's true that I have a special interest in stories about China, but what makes this one so special for me is the way the narrator, Jian, is handled. He's a young graduate student, engaged to be married, with important exams looming, who must put everything on hold to care for his ailing professor. The young man's growing doubts about the direction his life is taking, combined with his vulnerability and idealism, brought my own younger self clearly to mind.
At heart, the Chinese are very similar to anyone else. (I should know.) But there is also an unattractive side to their culture, presented here in the form of a tyrannical Communist Party secretary at the school and in small scenes such as an altercation in a cafe near the end of the book. Jian must navigate treacherous waters -- infinitely more so in that the story climaxes with the June 4 (Tiananmen Square) massacre.
I think I could very easily have been him, and if I had, I probably would have made all the choices he did. Now I'm wondering if other readers will have the same reaction.
The only reservation I have is that, despite the author's remarkable command of English, his word choice is sometimes not quite right. Know the way subtitles of Chinese movies can leave something to be desired? Well, it's not as bad as that, but another editorial pass by a native speaker of English might have helped. A minor quibble -- very minor in view of the impact this had on me.
It's true that I have a special interest in stories about China, but what makes this one so special for me is the way the narrator, Jian, is handled. He's a young graduate student, engaged to be married, with important exams looming, who must put everything on hold to care for his ailing professor. The young man's growing doubts about the direction his life is taking, combined with his vulnerability and idealism, brought my own younger self clearly to mind.
At heart, the Chinese are very similar to anyone else. (I should know.) But there is also an unattractive side to their culture, presented here in the form of a tyrannical Communist Party secretary at the school and in small scenes such as an altercation in a cafe near the end of the book. Jian must navigate treacherous waters -- infinitely more so in that the story climaxes with the June 4 (Tiananmen Square) massacre.
I think I could very easily have been him, and if I had, I probably would have made all the choices he did. Now I'm wondering if other readers will have the same reaction.
The only reservation I have is that, despite the author's remarkable command of English, his word choice is sometimes not quite right. Know the way subtitles of Chinese movies can leave something to be desired? Well, it's not as bad as that, but another editorial pass by a native speaker of English might have helped. A minor quibble -- very minor in view of the impact this had on me.
January 15, 2023
this was a fascinating psychological portrait. i’m especially interested in the way chinese writing seems to consistently portray the political as completely intertwined with the personal. of course this is a legacy of the cultural revolution, but it’s still surprising to see the ways this can manifest.
for professor yang, each one of his psychological layers plays differently with the political system around him, and this is gradually unveiled to us as his deteriorated mind leaks more and more unspoken stories of the past. ha jin does this pretty masterfully; at first, we’re tricked into believing that yang has simply been a greedy, scheming rat under the cloak of an exceptionally productive professorship, but then we learn about his past affairs and how they bind him, his genuine love of knowledge and how it crippled him.
somehow jian felt a little flatter to me, carried ideologically on the currents of his teacher’s erratic ranting in an agency-less way. but it was still interesting to watch him try and live out what appears to be yang’s underlying philosophy in the modern world and faced with his own personal constraints.
the craft of this book was also quite unique; despite being written in english, it still reads like a translated work, especially in the dialogue. also, jin’s use of poetry and song throughout is refreshing and forces you to stop and think clearly.
for professor yang, each one of his psychological layers plays differently with the political system around him, and this is gradually unveiled to us as his deteriorated mind leaks more and more unspoken stories of the past. ha jin does this pretty masterfully; at first, we’re tricked into believing that yang has simply been a greedy, scheming rat under the cloak of an exceptionally productive professorship, but then we learn about his past affairs and how they bind him, his genuine love of knowledge and how it crippled him.
somehow jian felt a little flatter to me, carried ideologically on the currents of his teacher’s erratic ranting in an agency-less way. but it was still interesting to watch him try and live out what appears to be yang’s underlying philosophy in the modern world and faced with his own personal constraints.
the craft of this book was also quite unique; despite being written in english, it still reads like a translated work, especially in the dialogue. also, jin’s use of poetry and song throughout is refreshing and forces you to stop and think clearly.
June 30, 2017
This was really close to a 4 out of 5 stars, but the ending was just not enough for me. The last 100 pages were incredible as a whole, if you subtract the last 3 to 4 pages, and there were some truly incredible moments in here. However, I just don't think Ha Jin focused on the right thing here. The poetry he puts into this book seems to be in the way of the story. It is the equivalent of someone shaking a bunch of car keys in your face while you are watching a movie like "Citizen Kane" or "Dr. Strangelove." However, I do think that this book is good overall. Ha Jin is a great author, but I just didn't think this book lived up to the greatness of "Waiting." I personally would recommend this one after you have read and liked "Waiting" and if you didn't like "Waiting," than I guess you can skip this one.
I am giving this one a 3.5 out of 5 stars.
I am giving this one a 3.5 out of 5 stars.
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September 25, 2014Having read 'Waiting' by the same author, I was intrigued by what this book would offer. On the whole, it was a fairly enjoyable read. I found the parts where Ha Jin describes life in China at the time interesting, and wish there had been more of this in the book. The end chapters depicting the horrors of Tiananmen Square were brutally told, conveying the sense of injustice and fear that the events engendered. However, despite being the main main theme of the novel, I found the hospitalised uncle sections to be rather disappointing. I found it difficult to stay with the story during these parts of the book. 'The Crazed' is definitely worth a read, just for the effortless, mesmerising storytelling, although I enjoyed 'Waiting' more.
November 8, 2018
3.5* arrotondate a 4*
All'inizio lo trovavo un po' troppo crudo e orrorifico, fra gengivite, sporco corporale e altre cose simpatiche, ma andando avanti ho apprezzato molto la vena malinconica e riflessiva che percorre tutto il romanzo. In realtà non succede molto, e a me normalmente non piacciono troppo i libri incentrati sullo svilupparsi dell'io, ma qui ho trovato che i turbamenti interiori e le riflessioni fossero ben bilanciate con la storia, complice anche una narrazione in prima persona che stranamente ho gradito. Inoltre il romanzo mi ha aiutata ad uscire dalla comfort zone e dal punto di vista occidentale, finalmente ho esplorato un nuovo modo di pensare e organizzare la vita.
Sicuramente un buon proposito per il 2019 sarà quello di leggere più autori orientali (e africani).
All'inizio lo trovavo un po' troppo crudo e orrorifico, fra gengivite, sporco corporale e altre cose simpatiche, ma andando avanti ho apprezzato molto la vena malinconica e riflessiva che percorre tutto il romanzo. In realtà non succede molto, e a me normalmente non piacciono troppo i libri incentrati sullo svilupparsi dell'io, ma qui ho trovato che i turbamenti interiori e le riflessioni fossero ben bilanciate con la storia, complice anche una narrazione in prima persona che stranamente ho gradito. Inoltre il romanzo mi ha aiutata ad uscire dalla comfort zone e dal punto di vista occidentale, finalmente ho esplorato un nuovo modo di pensare e organizzare la vita.
Sicuramente un buon proposito per il 2019 sarà quello di leggere più autori orientali (e africani).
January 9, 2021
"Camaradas, enredada com a vida do Macaco e a do Jumento, a vida do Homem só pode estar alienada de si mesma. Em seus primeiros vinte anos, o Homem vive a vida de um macaco. Pula, corre, sobe em árvores e muros, faz o que tem vontade de fazer. Esse período, o mais feliz de sua vida, passa rapidamente. Depois vêm os vinte anos em que o Homem leva a vida de um jumento. Trabalha duro, todos os dias, para alimentar e vestir a família. É frequente sentir-se exausto como um jumento após uma longa e árdua viagem, mas precisa permanecer firme, porque o fardo da família repousa em seus ombros, e ele tem de continuar. Depois desse período, o homem atinge os quarenta anos, e tem início a vida humana. A essa altura seu corpo está desgastado, seus ombros fracos e pesados, e ele tem de contar com o cérebro, que também já começou a deteriorar, não sendo mais tão rápido e capaz quanto imaginava. Às vezes sente vontade de chorar, mas o cérebro o impede: 'Não faça isso! Precisa se controlar. Você ainda tem muitos anos pela frente'. Todo dia empurra mais pensamentos e emoções para dentro do cérebro, no qual já se encontram armazenadas muitas coisas, mas não deixa nenhuma delas sair para poder acomodar outras novas. Assim, dia após dia, enfia mais alguma coisa lá dentro, até que um dia o cérebro fica tão cheio que só lhe resta explodir. É como uma panela de pressão cuja válvula de segurança ficasse bloqueada por estar cheia demais, com a agravante de o fogo continuar a aquecê-la por baixo. Como resultado, a única saída é explodir."
Esse é o final da primeira "aula" que Jian assiste o professor Yang conceder no hospital. Nesse momento, ainda é difícil para Jian decifrar o que seu debilitado professor quer dizer com essa narrativa que ele diz se tratar da verdadeira história do Gênesis. Talvez, algo que poderia ocorrer na mente de Jian, um aspirante a doutoramento no departamento de literatura da Universidade de Pequim - tirando a confusão inicial e constrangimento com a narrativa tão banal e simplista para explicar o sentido e o curso das coisas -, é que, se aquilo contém alguma verdade e a vida do ser humano em geral realmente se dá dessa forma, ele próprio poderia se considerar um privilegiado. Afinal, de acordo com esses termos, a vida do acadêmico poderia ser a vida ideal: os primeiros quarenta anos seriam vividos, efetivamente, tendo o uso primordial do cérebro para todas as suas principais atividades, incluindo sustentar a si mesmo e a família. O que Jian começa a entender ao longo da narrativa, porém, o leva a uma concepção bastante distinta. À medida em que assiste a outras aulas de Yang no hospital, Jian cada vez mais é convencido de que a vida de um intelectual na China não se distingue de qualquer outra função burocrática, visto que não há a possibilidade de se exercer um pensamento de fato independente e original. Segundo o próprio professor, ser um intelectual de ciências humanas na China não é nada além do que ser um escriturário.
Se essa crítica sobre o excesso de burocracia e a falta de autonomia na China não é uma novidade, tampouco um argumento original, a grande questão levantada pelo livro de Ha jin poderia ser a própria antítese que tende a surgir na mente de qualquer ocidental ao fim do livro: será que, de fato, ser um acadêmico no ocidente é assim tão distinto de como é na China? Essa questão, de certa forma, pode surgir também na mente de qualquer chinês que idealize uma vida acadêmica no ocidente. O professor Yang demonstra uma grande idealização sobre as universidades canadenses e americanas, mas também grande frustração por jamais ter conseguido lecionar ou sequer participar de uma conferência em alguma delas. O máximo que pode atingir foi uma visita rápida, desajeitada, sem conseguir realmente compreender o funcionamento de uma universidade ocidental. Será que o controle da secretária do partido e as picuinhas entre os diretores de departamentos, as mágoas sobre as concessões de cargos e aceite de publicações em periódicos universitários que vemos no livro, são assim tão diferentes dos atritos nos departamentos de pós graduação em ciências humanas das universidades ocidentais?
Essa é uma questão que Jian simplesmente não poderia se fazer, pois seu raciocínio é jogado para o lado oposto: não tendo a possibilidade de estudar no exterior, o melhor a se fazer seria entrar em um cargo explicitamente burocrático, ser literalmente um escriturário em algum departamento do Partido. O motivo central dessa decisão - e esse é um ponto crucial no argumento do livro - não foi apenas esse medo de não ter autonomia e apenas atuar como um intelectual, mas sim a vontade de fazer algo com implicações concretas na sociedade, em especial à sociedade em situação de miséria. Após a visita a uma aldeia em condições lamentáveis, Jian toma para si a vontade de tentar ajudar aquelas pessoas, e evidentemente, o trabalho acadêmico que ele poderia realizar em um departamento de literatura jamais lhe propiciaria a possibilidade de mudar a realidade daquelas pessoas.
A vontade de querer fazer algo ‘’útil’’ para a sociedade, assim como não considerar o trabalho acadêmico como algo útil, principalmente se pensar em uma sociedade sem qualquer acesso à cultura, quanto menos à trabalhos acadêmicos, coloca em pauta muito mais do que os resquícios do anti-intelectualismo presente na China, sintomas dos anos da Revolução Cultural. O Ensandecido reflete também a própria mentalidade do acadêmico, que, seja por atritos profissionais, frustração existencial ou idealismo, estará sujeito sempre, em qualquer sociedade, a levantar a si mesmo esses questionamentos, que poderiam ser resumidos em um “vale a pena?”. Para o professor Yang, e mais adiante para o próprio Jian, não vale. Ao chegar no final da vida, quando poderia finalmente desfrutar da vida humana, o acadêmico não só continua frustrado profissionalmente, como já tem coisas demais sobrecarregando sua panela de pressão. A tendência de ela explodir mais cedo, de maneira ainda mais implacável, e manter-se perturbadora para seu dono até o final da vida, é ainda maior.
Esse é o final da primeira "aula" que Jian assiste o professor Yang conceder no hospital. Nesse momento, ainda é difícil para Jian decifrar o que seu debilitado professor quer dizer com essa narrativa que ele diz se tratar da verdadeira história do Gênesis. Talvez, algo que poderia ocorrer na mente de Jian, um aspirante a doutoramento no departamento de literatura da Universidade de Pequim - tirando a confusão inicial e constrangimento com a narrativa tão banal e simplista para explicar o sentido e o curso das coisas -, é que, se aquilo contém alguma verdade e a vida do ser humano em geral realmente se dá dessa forma, ele próprio poderia se considerar um privilegiado. Afinal, de acordo com esses termos, a vida do acadêmico poderia ser a vida ideal: os primeiros quarenta anos seriam vividos, efetivamente, tendo o uso primordial do cérebro para todas as suas principais atividades, incluindo sustentar a si mesmo e a família. O que Jian começa a entender ao longo da narrativa, porém, o leva a uma concepção bastante distinta. À medida em que assiste a outras aulas de Yang no hospital, Jian cada vez mais é convencido de que a vida de um intelectual na China não se distingue de qualquer outra função burocrática, visto que não há a possibilidade de se exercer um pensamento de fato independente e original. Segundo o próprio professor, ser um intelectual de ciências humanas na China não é nada além do que ser um escriturário.
Se essa crítica sobre o excesso de burocracia e a falta de autonomia na China não é uma novidade, tampouco um argumento original, a grande questão levantada pelo livro de Ha jin poderia ser a própria antítese que tende a surgir na mente de qualquer ocidental ao fim do livro: será que, de fato, ser um acadêmico no ocidente é assim tão distinto de como é na China? Essa questão, de certa forma, pode surgir também na mente de qualquer chinês que idealize uma vida acadêmica no ocidente. O professor Yang demonstra uma grande idealização sobre as universidades canadenses e americanas, mas também grande frustração por jamais ter conseguido lecionar ou sequer participar de uma conferência em alguma delas. O máximo que pode atingir foi uma visita rápida, desajeitada, sem conseguir realmente compreender o funcionamento de uma universidade ocidental. Será que o controle da secretária do partido e as picuinhas entre os diretores de departamentos, as mágoas sobre as concessões de cargos e aceite de publicações em periódicos universitários que vemos no livro, são assim tão diferentes dos atritos nos departamentos de pós graduação em ciências humanas das universidades ocidentais?
Essa é uma questão que Jian simplesmente não poderia se fazer, pois seu raciocínio é jogado para o lado oposto: não tendo a possibilidade de estudar no exterior, o melhor a se fazer seria entrar em um cargo explicitamente burocrático, ser literalmente um escriturário em algum departamento do Partido. O motivo central dessa decisão - e esse é um ponto crucial no argumento do livro - não foi apenas esse medo de não ter autonomia e apenas atuar como um intelectual, mas sim a vontade de fazer algo com implicações concretas na sociedade, em especial à sociedade em situação de miséria. Após a visita a uma aldeia em condições lamentáveis, Jian toma para si a vontade de tentar ajudar aquelas pessoas, e evidentemente, o trabalho acadêmico que ele poderia realizar em um departamento de literatura jamais lhe propiciaria a possibilidade de mudar a realidade daquelas pessoas.
A vontade de querer fazer algo ‘’útil’’ para a sociedade, assim como não considerar o trabalho acadêmico como algo útil, principalmente se pensar em uma sociedade sem qualquer acesso à cultura, quanto menos à trabalhos acadêmicos, coloca em pauta muito mais do que os resquícios do anti-intelectualismo presente na China, sintomas dos anos da Revolução Cultural. O Ensandecido reflete também a própria mentalidade do acadêmico, que, seja por atritos profissionais, frustração existencial ou idealismo, estará sujeito sempre, em qualquer sociedade, a levantar a si mesmo esses questionamentos, que poderiam ser resumidos em um “vale a pena?”. Para o professor Yang, e mais adiante para o próprio Jian, não vale. Ao chegar no final da vida, quando poderia finalmente desfrutar da vida humana, o acadêmico não só continua frustrado profissionalmente, como já tem coisas demais sobrecarregando sua panela de pressão. A tendência de ela explodir mais cedo, de maneira ainda mais implacável, e manter-se perturbadora para seu dono até o final da vida, é ainda maior.
August 10, 2017
My first time reading a work of Ha Jin. His writing kept me completely enthralled throughout. It's simple, with such an amazing command of vocabulary & description. I had no previous knowledge of the history of China & the revolution included in this story but this work has peaked my interest to research further. The length of the book is perfect. It leaves you not only wanting more but thinking about the characters after it ends. Ready to read "Waiting".
September 15, 2020
Scoring 9 out of 10
A new to me author, who's book has been sitting on my TBR way too long.
But today I finally finished it. Finally not because I dislike it, but because it's taken me so long to start.
Loved the book. The ramblings of professor Yang, the impact they have on the people that hear them, the actions that are a result of them... All very interesting to read.
And amidst all the party and revolutionary talk (it's the time of the uprising of the students, Tiananmen) I found it surpising to learn about the growing of one individual, one person who took his truth out of his professor's words and deducted the reasons for other people's actions and made a decision.
Wholeheartedly recommended!
A new to me author, who's book has been sitting on my TBR way too long.
But today I finally finished it. Finally not because I dislike it, but because it's taken me so long to start.
Loved the book. The ramblings of professor Yang, the impact they have on the people that hear them, the actions that are a result of them... All very interesting to read.
And amidst all the party and revolutionary talk (it's the time of the uprising of the students, Tiananmen) I found it surpising to learn about the growing of one individual, one person who took his truth out of his professor's words and deducted the reasons for other people's actions and made a decision.
Wholeheartedly recommended!
March 26, 2022
My parents were in their early twenties in China during this time (my Mom was actually in Beijing when the Tiananmen protests happened, though not at the protests) and this book made me reflect on the choices they had to make in their own young adulthood. More to come, but agree with the other reviewers who wrote of a somewhat monotonous beginning giving way to being transfixed by the end.
May 6, 2024
Some background information on the Chinese Cultural Revolution is necessary to understand the story. This story reminds me of some of the stories I heard from my family about communism in Cuba as well.
January 30, 2021
Read this for a Post Modern American Literature English course at university. Opened my eyes to the tragedy of Chinese Cultural Revolution and how horribly exploited the middle and upper class was from the lower classes. How your neighbor that would once mow your lawn and care for you, would later sell you out to the government.
It allowed me a new perspective on the impact of trauma that lasts decades over and effects generations.
It allowed me a new perspective on the impact of trauma that lasts decades over and effects generations.
December 11, 2018
Takes a really original premise to explore issues of politics, identity, conformity, individuality, and social and moral duty. The prose is restrained, terse, and elegant. Extremely creative and empathetic. An important novel.
August 8, 2018
This was claustrophobically bleak but incredibly well done. It’s the end of the 1980’s in China and Jian is a graduate student. When his professor (whose daughter he is dating) has a stroke, Jian has to spend hours waiting at his teacher’s bedside and listening to his professor’s delirious rambling.
His professor suffered as an intellectual during the cultural revolution, and through listening to his ramblings Jian tries to piece together information about his teacher’s personal life past and present. His teacher’s ravings profoundly affect Jian and he begins to doubt his own plans for the future, and long to somehow escape his life.
There’s an airlessness to the writing in the scenes in the hospital that’s unnerving. Even as the professor loses all sense of time and place, he seems to be speaking the truth about his life and what he wants. Jian is horrified and shaken by his teacher’s confessions.
The authors juxtaposes Jian’s bedside vigil with the student protests in Beijing to explore how suffering expressed or responded to can easily become a form of madness.
His professor suffered as an intellectual during the cultural revolution, and through listening to his ramblings Jian tries to piece together information about his teacher’s personal life past and present. His teacher’s ravings profoundly affect Jian and he begins to doubt his own plans for the future, and long to somehow escape his life.
There’s an airlessness to the writing in the scenes in the hospital that’s unnerving. Even as the professor loses all sense of time and place, he seems to be speaking the truth about his life and what he wants. Jian is horrified and shaken by his teacher’s confessions.
The authors juxtaposes Jian’s bedside vigil with the student protests in Beijing to explore how suffering expressed or responded to can easily become a form of madness.
August 18, 2020
The story slides after Mr. Yang - the crazed died. Even though the last part and the ending are far-fetched, Ha Jin draws out an etiquette symbolism of the Revolution of 1989. Ha Jin's stories are one of the most haunting among Chinese ethnic writers'; fortunately, he has escaped the Crop Circles of Chinese telling traumatic personal stories in order to catch the Western audience. However, he could probably be more tender, meticulous, and unbiased. If Ha Jin aims to reach sensationalism and provocation in literature, then Chinese exiles writers have carried the mission.
January 27, 2008
For the fact that I had to review an online synapsis of what this book was about, says it all. Cold, boring, and a teaser in the beginning you can see coming from a mile away. I grabbed it because the author is a celebrated Boston University professor, and he had acclaim for his previous book. This thin read is definitely thin. Tiananmen Square flashback and a strained relationship. Skip!
April 14, 2010
a simple read, and at first, you're thinking,what the heck is this about? because each chapter goes off into different tangents, and you're trying to grasp Jian's thoughts, but you don't really follow--and that itself is intriguing. So by the end, you're still wondering and putting the puzzle pieces together. Interesting read and totally worthwhile if you're searching for banned books.
January 22, 2018
one of the finest books i have read recently. the narrative juxtaposes very beautifully the ambitions of a student about to embark on a academic career and his teacher grappling and suffering with the very same. the book also deals with the internal conflict one faces when faced with moral dilemmas and how choices though in the best of intention can go horribly wrong. Highly Recommended!
January 7, 2016
A stroke victim sometimes babbles nonsense that just might be more truthful than his pre-stroke talk. The message of the book seems a little jumbled to me. But liked the exposure to an insider's view of Chinese academic life.
April 9, 2007
It took awhile to get into this...slow going, but not bad.
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