He is indecisive, emotionally immature, repressed and unfulfilled. Bound by custom and duty to both the loyal Shuyu and the more modern Manna, Lin feels trapped. This is a tragic story, not a love story. They are forbidden to be together and their every move is watched and dictated by the army.Įach year on his annual visit to the countryside to visit his wife and daughter, he asks Shuyu for a divorce so that he might marry Manna, and each year something happens to prevent it. Lin works in an army hospital in the city, where he forms a bond with a nurse named Manna. What’s it about? Based on a true story the author heard from his wife on a visit to China, Waiting is about a doctor who waited 18 years to divorce his wife so that he could marry a co-worker at the army hospital where they both worked.įollowing parental and societal expectations, Lin Kong enters into an arranged and loveless marriage with the traditional Shuyu, an older woman who was willing to care for his ailing mother. Why did you read it? My book club chose it for our March discussion. I’ve had it on my shelves for years, and this was my second reading. It won the National Book Award for Fiction in 1999. Where did you get it? It was a Christmas gift when it first came out in hardcover. Setting: Communist China during the Cultural Revolution Subscribe in a reader Subscribe to Books on the Brain by Email
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