Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by mesal
A Song Everlasting by Ha Jin
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Thank you to NetGalley as well as Knopf Doubleday for providing me with a free e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Ha Jin's upcoming novel is a character-driven, reflective tale about a Chinese singer forced out of his home country, taking refuge in the United States and hoping to become naturalized. You can really tell that the author drew from his own experiences as a man who moved from China to the States, rejecting mainland politics and forging a different life.
The writing style is very straightforward, with short, simple sentences that methodically get the story across to the reader. That isn't to say that the language itself is plain. Quite the opposite: the author constantly uses poetry and verse in his writing, elevating it to a degree. At first I thought I wouldn't be able to get used to such a writing style, but one chapter in and I stopped noticing it entirely, drawn in by the plot, characters and setting.
Neither NetGalley nor Goodreads specify this anywhere, but I'm pretty sure this is fiction, regardless of how realistically it has been written. (You could have fooled me into thinking that Ha Jin was writing Yao Tian's biography. I would have believed you.) The author really takes you into the minds of the characters and the reasons behind every tiny action, leaving no detail unmentioned.
I felt that a lot of this book managed to relate to current affairs as well. No matter the year, there is always a government in the world that the people find controlling and oppressive, and that truth has not changed even today. I found that many of the poems Ha Jin quoted, or the lyrics Yao Tian wrote, perhaps unintentionally could easily be used in reference to countries that aren't China but would fit just as well. I won't be quoting them, though, regardless of how much I want to, because at the end of the day this is still an ARC. If you want to see what I'm talking about, read the book when it comes out next month :)
Ha Jin's upcoming novel is a character-driven, reflective tale about a Chinese singer forced out of his home country, taking refuge in the United States and hoping to become naturalized. You can really tell that the author drew from his own experiences as a man who moved from China to the States, rejecting mainland politics and forging a different life.
The writing style is very straightforward, with short, simple sentences that methodically get the story across to the reader. That isn't to say that the language itself is plain. Quite the opposite: the author constantly uses poetry and verse in his writing, elevating it to a degree. At first I thought I wouldn't be able to get used to such a writing style, but one chapter in and I stopped noticing it entirely, drawn in by the plot, characters and setting.
Neither NetGalley nor Goodreads specify this anywhere, but I'm pretty sure this is fiction, regardless of how realistically it has been written. (You could have fooled me into thinking that Ha Jin was writing Yao Tian's biography. I would have believed you.) The author really takes you into the minds of the characters and the reasons behind every tiny action, leaving no detail unmentioned.
I felt that a lot of this book managed to relate to current affairs as well. No matter the year, there is always a government in the world that the people find controlling and oppressive, and that truth has not changed even today. I found that many of the poems Ha Jin quoted, or the lyrics Yao Tian wrote, perhaps unintentionally could easily be used in reference to countries that aren't China but would fit just as well. I won't be quoting them, though, regardless of how much I want to, because at the end of the day this is still an ARC. If you want to see what I'm talking about, read the book when it comes out next month :)