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In the Pond
by: Ha Jin

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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780099428169
ISBN: 0099428164
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Number Of Pages: 160
Publication Date: January 03, 2002
Publisher: Vintage
Studio: Vintage
Sales Rank: 374037

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Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Excellent political fable
I hadn't heard of Ha Jin before reading In The Pond (whose title still baffles me even after having finished it) but I was immediately drawn to his uncomplicated, playful style. Although there are numerous comparisons on this site with Animal Farm, that may be misleading - this is less sinister and less allegorical, though both do effectively evince the strangulating hold of Communist authorities over the individual. The story is essentially about the efforts of factory worker Shao Bin to denigrate the factory bosses after they overlook him when some new apartments are made available to employees. They consider Bin an unhinged troublemaker, but as he starts to show the same imaginative streak in his protests as he does in his excellent artwork, ... Read More:

Rating:

- So simple- but I couldn't put it down.
After reading some of Ha Jin's short stories I couldn't wait to read one of his novels.
This is a very short book, written in the simplest of prose. The plot is rather predictable and the characters not very well developed.
However, hopefully without this sounding too patronising, I really felt as though the story was told by this working-class, poor, narrator. The language isn't flowery or poetic, it is the language of a maintenance worker in a fertalising plant, just as it is supposed to be (even though he is a self-professed intellectual). He describes the characters as one would expect him to describe them and the predicatability of the plot makes it seem realistic.
I couldn't put it down, and read the whole thing last Sunday. ... Read More:

Rating:

- Diverting parable
This a short novella about a factory worker kicking up a fuss about the allocation of worker housing when he isn't top of the list for housing closer to the plant. He uses his artistic skills and satire to become a thorn in the side of the corrupt party officialdom.

This is written very simply, laying out the tale in black and white. The characters are just puppets for the plot and one glides through this short book not really getting a handle on any of the characters. The plot is good but it didn't exactly set my heart a-flutter. You do get an insight into communist China, but it's more like looking through a crack in the door than anything else. I do like that it becomes irrelevant that you are in China and the normality of the regime ... Read More:

Rating:

- Corruption in post Animal Farm communist China (but funny!)
It's impossible not to compare this book to Animal Farm, in that it takes place in a communist environment where the pigs have become men, communist leaders as corrupt as the bourgeoisie they have supplanted, and is written in a similar, deceptively simple style. A magnificent and humorous story, which allows the Western reader to see just how different Chinese society is. My only complaint would be the oversweet ending, which is not particularly believable in context.

Rating:

- humourous struggle to attain a lifetime dream
One of the best books ha jin has written yet. Gutt wrenching story, soley built to keep you reading page after page. A short yet exciting book which grabs at your attention. brilliant read.

Books : In the Pond