Reviews

A Good Fall by Ha Jin

zeev's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

2.5

favorites:  "a composer and his parakeets", "a good fall"

dishwaterpossum's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative lighthearted reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

The story about the parakeet really got me 🩷 

Good slow pace slice of life from Ha Jin. It was what I was expecting. 

rebcamuse's review against another edition

4.0

There's a lot here: some whimsy, a lot of dark humor, some heartache...in other words, life. But here Ha Jin captures live with a hyper-consciousness of the experience of Chinese immigrants in the U.S. We are invited into struggles of love and life, often against the backdrop of Flushing in Queens, NYC, and sometimes the understanding is remote, and other times it is more visceral. "A Composer and his Parakeet" hearkens back to an older time of fables, while keeping a modern narrative. Other stories, such as "Choice" and "The House Behind the Weeping Cherry" demonstrate that necessity and circumstance can both blur lines and forge relationships. It is an excellent book for the nightstand, reading one story at a time. To read it cover to cover would likely be rather unwieldy, although it would likely highlight Ha Jin's overall message regarding immigrant experience. That the characters are dynamic and diverse is important unto itself, and this is a great offer to think about the many layers and facets of life that fly under the radar.

amb3rlina's review against another edition

3.0

I enjoyed these stories but they didn't necessarily make me feel satisfied or mystified either. The characters were interesting and the stories well drawn though.

ldpaige's review against another edition

in “the beauty,” when dan calls his only newborn baby girl a “little bitch”….. jin lost me. “a composer and his parakeets” was so good….. but “the beauty” turned me all the way off.

dili's review against another edition

4.0

A really poignant and revealing set of short stories that look at the lives of Chinese immigrants in America. Really well written. If you like Murakami you'll like this, but it feels like there's more meat to the tale here. Although the ends of some stories seem a little too sudden/open-ended/unfinished. For a story about Chinese, much of it feels very Sri Lankan.

emanuelsmedbol's review against another edition

4.0

Deceptively simple stories that delve deep into the immigrant (Chinese) experience.

_pickle_'s review

1.0

Extremely mediocre, if such as thing is possible. The characters in each of the stories felt flat and insincere. The writing was plodding and while functional lacked any particular charm or even personality. Perhaps the worst thing was the ending of each story which seemed to spell out in excruciating detail just what the morale of that particular story was.

One to skip.

larsinio's review against another edition

4.0

most of the stories were really really good. Well written, interesting, multi dimensional characters.

Ha Jin is a good author and i plan on reading more of his short stories (the bridegroom)

2000s's review against another edition

4.25

A pretty decent short story collection. None of the stories felt super world-changing since they were pretty plain and conventional, and there were a few that just fell totally flat, but overall I enjoyed them. I feel like they were accessible and simple without being too boring. Pacing was great throughout, every story worked great in the short story format. Favorites were “A Composer and His Parakeet,” “Choice,” “The House Behind a Weeping Cherry,” and the titular story.