Nanking Requiem

Ha Jin, who wrote the novel Waiting, is the author of the recently published Nanking Requiem which I just finished reading. In a nutshell, here's what I learned: war is (fill in negative adjective--they all seem like cliches); my knowledge of world history is pathetic; I need to brush up on geography.

The war in this book takes place just before World War II when Japan attacked China apparently for land expansion. The Chinese woman who tells the story is the president of a girls' college that becomes a refugee camp when the city of Nanking falls to Japanese forces. An American named Minnie is the heart and soul of the school-turned-camp. Whatever brutality or atrocity you've seen, heard of or imagined takes place in this book. The author seems to imply that all war, except for a country's defense against foreign invaders, is indefensible. This justifies most wars, at least in the minds of the country who believes its sovereignty has been threatened. Afghanistan, maybe; Iraq, ridiculous. Then there are civil wars. But let's not go there.

I know next to nothing about non-Western world history, only what I've pieced together from books, television and other media that hasn't been historically vetted. The American educational system doesn't teach you much about the rest of the world. In AP US History, you barely make it to the the late 50's before they run out of time. I should have taken more history courses in college.


As for geography, I've always been interested in the topic but was never schooled in it. Most people are like ants, seeing only what's in front of them. I actually know where all the United States are and could fill in a map of Central and South America, Western Europe and much of the Middle East and Africa. Forget about Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and the Stans. Nanking is in Eastern Central China according to my Atlas..

One more point about the novel. Jin describes facial features in a way that brings them alive. He tells you the shape of the head, the hair type and style, the eye shape and positioning, et cetera. I will note this for my writing.


Now I'm reading The Tiger's Wife  byTea Obrent and Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut. My son Harry recently read Slaughterhouse Five and Breakfast of Champions. Then it's on to a re-reading of Catch-22. My son Mark read it in three days. He said he liked the non-sequential structure. Talking about books must be genetic.