about the talking fish

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Writer. Wheelman. Occasional DIY mechanic. Walking collection of hang-ups. Hopeless romantic. Old-school. Analog soul in a digital world. I am all of these things and more.

Tuesday, April 16, 2002

Bought a copy of Ha Jin's novel "Waiting." It's rather old already, and it was a supposed bestseller a year ago. I decided to pick it up, since I was always so curious about the Chinese, having had enough exposure to Japanese culture already.

It's about this doctor in the Chinese Red Army who had a wife he didn't love, since they were married under arranged marriage conditions. Now that his parents are deceased, the doctor decides to divorce his wife for a nurse he meets in the army hospital in the town of Muji. Every time the doctor talks to his wife about divorce, she goes along until she disagrees in front of the judge himself. Now it's been eighteen years, and the doctor decides it's been long enough waiting.

The book is quite simple to read, and it isn't that long either. "Waiting" is a pretty good book because it's actually full of ironies about love. Living in a country where native Chinese usually insist on keeping their bloodline pure, I noticed in the book that deep down, the Chinese and the Filipinos are very similar when it comes to emotions, love and family.

Now if only we had a lot more respect for each other's cultural peculiarities...

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