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thebookburglar's review against another edition
5.0
Simplistic, yet powerful and entertaining. Definitely worth reading.
rheckner's review against another edition
4.0
A fantastic novel — once I really started reading it, I couldn’t put it down. The writing is evocative and snappy. I could feel the main character’s frustration and confusion. This novel is both funny and dramatic — and serves (as the back cover summary says) as “a potent reminder if the universality of human folly.”
poetryamano's review against another edition
5.0
Solid novel! Jin's writing here evokes the best things about Chekhov and Kafka - a sense of everyday people, their humanity, its pettiness and brilliance. The story revolves around Bin Shao, a worker in a commune who seeks to rise above his station in life. A common story, but the insight into communist China is illuminating. China as a setting is handled with such subtlety it never takes over the story. Reading it while applying to PhD programs makes Bin's struggle all the more relatable.
jackiefranklee's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
tense
medium-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
4.25
showthisbooksomelove's review against another edition
3.0
The Pond is the Commune, and Shao Bin is in the pond. This story about communism and fascism, is designed to shed light on the injustices and corruption present in China (as they would be anywhere). Shao Bin is a young man with a wife and young daughter, working at a fertilizer plant. This story seemed along the lines of Animal Farm, but from a Chinese perspective.
This novel is chalk full of imagery as metaphor. Bin often finds himself thinking things like, "You shouldn't play the lute to a water buffalo, he said to himself. Without doubt Song was ignorant of the fine arts, unable to appreciate real work." He seems to feel he has more artistic talent and appreciation than everyone around him.
Bin writes/draws political cartoons to shed light on the faults of his supervisors. However, he often finds that political corruption runs so deep among the higher ups in the commune, that his supervisors give rewards and take punishments seemingly on a whim. In fact, the response from his superiors with regards to his attempts to uncover their injustices was,"An ant can't shake a tree. If a mantis tries to stop a tractor, it will only get itself crushed. Please have second thoughts before you try again."
And, of course, this is the story of rage. This is the story of how angry one man can become when it feels like he is not treated equal to his peers when the basis for all of their existence and persistence seems to be based on achieving equality through communism. Ha Jin expresses his anger very explicitly at times, saying things like, "I screw your ancestors! I screw them pair by pair!" He waffles back and forth between threats, subversive publicized messages, and sucking up to the officials, yet it seems nothing works, so he often gets angry.
This novel is chalk full of imagery as metaphor. Bin often finds himself thinking things like, "You shouldn't play the lute to a water buffalo, he said to himself. Without doubt Song was ignorant of the fine arts, unable to appreciate real work." He seems to feel he has more artistic talent and appreciation than everyone around him.
Bin writes/draws political cartoons to shed light on the faults of his supervisors. However, he often finds that political corruption runs so deep among the higher ups in the commune, that his supervisors give rewards and take punishments seemingly on a whim. In fact, the response from his superiors with regards to his attempts to uncover their injustices was,"An ant can't shake a tree. If a mantis tries to stop a tractor, it will only get itself crushed. Please have second thoughts before you try again."
And, of course, this is the story of rage. This is the story of how angry one man can become when it feels like he is not treated equal to his peers when the basis for all of their existence and persistence seems to be based on achieving equality through communism. Ha Jin expresses his anger very explicitly at times, saying things like, "I screw your ancestors! I screw them pair by pair!" He waffles back and forth between threats, subversive publicized messages, and sucking up to the officials, yet it seems nothing works, so he often gets angry.
candiemarsh's review
5.0
A delightful read! I was expecting a dramatic story but this turned out to be full of laughter and life lessons. Fast read; a humourous take on fighting against corrupt power and having the determination to stand by your own morality and principles regardless of the hardships thrown at oneself by irresponsible parties. The ending is a bit open ended but I would attribute it to the author allowing some leeway to the character development based on the reader's own perception of Shao Bin's situational outcome.