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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"We felt ashamed of becoming POWs...we should have died.", 27 Feb 2005
Author Ha Jin, born in the People's Republic where he lived until 1985, offers a unique perspective on that culture, different from that of most "Chinese" novels written for a western audience. Setting the novel in a POW camp in South Korea from 1951 - 53, Ha Jin focuses on the differing attitudes the Chinese, Koreans, and Americans have toward home, country, and each other. Through Yu Yuan, a young soldier from the Chinese Communist army, Ha Jin shows how differently one young man sees his life and his obligations but how similarly he values friendship, justice, honor, and love.The only son of an elderly mother, Yu Yuan is a twenty-three-year-old member of the Chinese army when his unit enters Korea to aid the North Koreans in 1951, but the Chinese army, Yuan discovers, is not a well-oiled "machine." Their weapons are Russian, but no one can read the instruction manual. Lines of communication are so long that men can get orders to march in two different directions from two different officers on two different days, and no officer is allowed to make his own decisions. Supplies are so low that men survive for months on flour and water. Wounded during a vividly described battle which inflicted atrocious casualties, Yuan becomes a POW, hiding his true identity because being captured is a crime in China. Abominable camp conditions, described in specific detail, are made worse when Nationalist Chinese officers, allies of the US, try to "convince" Communist POWs not to return to the mainland. Water tortures, unremitting beatings, murders, denial of food, the tattooing of anti-Communist statements on the bellies of Communists, and the (even worse) cutting out of the flesh containing these slogans if the men continue to refuse to go to Taiwan, are powerful "motivations" for refusing repatriation. Buffeted by fate and at the mercy of a Communist government which places no value on individuals, Yuan is not yearning for freedom, which he has never known. He simply wants to return home to his mother and fiancee with some sense of honor. Ha Jin's writing is efficient and precise, his narrative giving attention to stories of horrific battles, constant privation, and abusive behavior by Nationalist Chinese, mainland Chinese officers, and Americans. A strong novel which depicts a culture, rather than individuals, War Trash lacks a love story which sometimes unites other war novels, but it remains fascinating and rewarding for those who are curious about this alien way of life. Mary Whipple
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by Ha Jin
by Ma Jian
by Ma Jian
by Ha Jin
by Ha Jin
