Before I share my thoughts on this book, I would like you to consider this bit of history: Mao Zedong died in 1976 and the decade-long Cultural Revolution - that shook up China and led to the persecution and death of many Chinese - ended with his demise and with the arrest and eventual conviction of the Gang of Four (which includes Mao's wife). In 1978, Deng Xiaoping, a Party member who fell out of favour with Mao, won the power struggle within the CCP and it was he who introduced capitalism-inspired economic reform to China. Now imagine living in these turbulent times, an era in between a planned economy, State-Owned Enterprises with secure, designated jobs and housing units, and strict Party control... and a (socialist) market economy, exposure to a modern Westernised lifestyle and a future that is open to your own interpretation. It must have been scary to live during these insecure years, not knowing where the country is headed. To highlight the feelings of this period, Ha Jin infuses his (very) short stories with irony and sarcasm. So, did I like the book? Unfortunately, not as much as I had expected. It has got to be one of the most frustrating books I have read this year. Humiliation, petty behaviour, injustice and unsatisfying endings galore in The bridegroom: stories. WARNING: SOME SPOILERS AHEADThe fun started as soon as I reached page 2; completely out of the blue, a local policeman throws tea over the protagonist of Saboteur and his wife. It's from this point onwards that the story escalates. Strangely enough, there seems to be no reason at all for the incident. Throughout the story, the focus is on the dire predicament of poor ill and mistreated Mr. Chiu; not even his own lawyer can assure that justice is done. In the end, Mr. Chiu has to admit his defeat and sign a false statement that it was indeed he who disrupted public order. His revenge is sweet however: by eating at several small food stalls, he succeeds in unleashing a hepatitis epidemic in Muji. Revenge is a theme that recurs in Flame and in After Cowboy Chicken Came to Town. In the first story, a rejected suitor returns after many years only to humiliate his former love interest. In the latter, cultural clashes (between American, Japanese and Chinese culture) lead to the Chinese staff being fired. The story ends with the angry laid off workers plotting sabotage. In many stories social control, both informal and formal, is apparent. Love is seen as something that may or may not grow after marriage. Most important is making a suitable match and producing children. Those that deviate, like the Woman from New York, the bigamous man with amnesia in Alive, the wonderful but gay Bridegroom and the poor Broken young female typist are all thwarted, shunned and/or even severely punished.A few of the stories can appear preposterous to the Western(ised) mind. A Bad Joke is a good example: it's about two peasants who are misfortunate enough to have a casual remark not only misinterpreted, but completely blown out of proportion. A comment like that would most likely be disregarded in current-day China, but in the uncertain period they lived in, it guaranteed a prison sentence or a severe punishment at the least.It's not so much that I disliked the book, but I did feel disappointed by the brevity of Ha Jin's stories. They felt unfinished and I would even go as far to say that some of them seemed underdeveloped. I short, I really would have preferred Ha Jin to elaborate on one or more instead of these twelve short snippets about people in Muji city. For example: In the Kindergarten features a little girl wanting to help her teacher gather more purslane. She and the other children have been promised a little extra for dinner, but instead, the teacher takes the leafy vegetable home. I kept wondering why. Perhaps to supplement her own meals? Or to earn a little extra on the side, by selling it as TCM? The ending of this story is particularly unexpected and strange. Finally, I would like to emphasise that the setting of this book is the early 1980s, not contemporary China. Many changes have taken place in the past 30 years and modern-day mainland China is a very different place than the country described in Ha Jin's book. I.e. Many State-Owned Enterprises have proven not to be viable in a thriving market economy, leading to massive unemployment and the encouragement of entrepreneurship (something that has not been around for very long, as The Entrepreneur demonstrates). If a Cowboy Chicken fast-food restaurant would open nowadays, people would not complain that it's not as good as traditional Chinese food, but open up shanzhai restaurants next door instead. Informal social control can never be truly eradicated, but entire subcultures have sprung up in the past decades: individuality is no longer frowned upon.The strength of his story collection is its poignancy and cruelty, wrapped in dark humour. He has successfully captured the essence of the period. A good effort, but (because of reasons mentioned above) ultimately not as good as I had hoped.
This book was my first contact with Ha Jin's writing, and it surprised me in many different ways. I can't say it ever once overwhelmed me or blew my mind at any point. It was the steady, honest voice of the writer that grew on me with every page. By the end of it, I was hooked and found myself craving more.When it comes to favourites, mine were definitely "Broken", "The Bridegroom", "Alive", "The Woman From New York" and "In the Kindergarten", more or less in that order.I enjoyed the different perspectives explored in each short story, from a kindergartner's, to the regular Chinese working man, to the women struggling between tradition and progress. The honest, almost humble tone is what gives these stories authenticity. Comedy and tragedy have their place and are mixed in just the right proportion most of the time. These are not stories that are meant to shock or sadden the reader, nor do they aim to make you guffaw. It is silently obvious throughout the text that they are only meant to paint a sincere picture of a society and its workings.On the downsides, the writing was just a little bit too un-poetic for my personal taste. I also found the plot lines to be somewhat obvious and predictable, which I think is a recurrent flaw in Ha Jin's writing. Most of the time, however, it didn't affect my reading experience since I wasn't reading this book for the plot lines, but rather for the social insight, the characters and their perspectives.I give it four stars, because I enjoyed the breeziness of the writing and the way in which it touched me as a reader. There is nothing too incredible about this book, but the unique voice of the writer is worth listening to.
What do You think about The Bridegroom: Stories (2001)?
This is a collection of strange stories, comically absurd in some places and Kafakaesque in others. They are set in the Chinese city of Muji City in the era after Mao when China was opening up to the rest of the world. It is still a communist nation, and some of the stories are about people caught up in conflict with the overwhelmingly powerful state and their doomed attempts to fight back. In the title story, for example, a young married man finds himself incarcerated for the crime of homosexuality. In the last story, "After Cowboy Chicken Came to Town", workers in an American-owned fast food business learn something about capitalism. Ha Jin is a great writer, but I didn't think these stories were a lot of fun.
—Beverly
I have been dibbling into this book over the last couple of weeks reading the short stories. This had been such a great read, I probably could have sat down and read it a lot quicker, but sometimes it's nice to stop after one story and let it soak in. I have a copy of Ha Jin's Waiting somewhere in the house so I shall have to find it and get it read.It was an interesting collection about ordinary people in modern China dealing with problems that we can relate to - but the rules and regulations o
—Ape
Ha Jin makes an interesting comments on modern Chinese life in this book. The blind obedience to authority, the gossipy nature of the culture that keeps everyone in line. Much of this book shows the helplessness of Chinese trying simply to live and exist in their society, where their every movement and conversation is monitored by their neighbors and colleagues. Anyone who does not quite fit in is allowed to disappear with a mere shrug from those around them. It's too inconvenient to have different people around. The last story in this book "After Cowboy Chicken Came to Town" is a funnier take on how a capitalist American venture influences its workers and the community around it.
—Lisa
