Ha Jin, National Book Award winning author

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Ha Jin is one of only three writers who have won the PEN/Faulkner twice.

Winner of the National Book Award and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Jin is known for spare and elegant stories about Chinese culture. His latest novel, " A Free Life, " is an epic tale of immigrants in America. His picks:

Ha Jin's Five Most Important Books

1. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
   
   
   (literature and fiction, classics, romance)
   
   "It helped me structure my novel "Waiting," opening it to both the city and the countryside."
   
   


2. The House Of The Dead by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
   
   
   (classics, literature and fiction, religion and spirituality)
   
   "A fictionalized memoir, it taught me how to describe prison life in my novel "War Trash."
   
   


3. Pnin By Vladimir Nabokov
   
   
   (literature and fiction, classics)
   
   "It showed me how the distortion and misuse of English could create a style that reflects the struggle of immigrants."
   
   


4. A Bend In The River by V.S. Naipaul
   
   
   (literature and fiction)
   
   "The book changed my understanding of the world, especially my attitude toward the past."
   
   


5. The Emigrants by Michael Hulse
   
   
   
   "Blurs the boundary between fiction and nonfiction but also teaches the wisdom of survival."
   
   


6. Ada, Or Ardor: A Family Chronicle By Vladimir Nabokov
   
   
   (literature and fiction)
   
   "partly because several friends have started it but never finished it. I will dip in soon."
   
   


Source:
http://www.newsweek.com

What was the book that most influenced your life?

A Bend in the River [by V. S. Naipaul], mainly because of its views on the past and on the relationship between the individual and the community.

1. A Bend In The River by Vladimir Nabokov
   
   
   (literature and fiction)
   
   


Source:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com

What are your ten favorite books?

1. Anna Karenina By Leo Tolstoy
   
   
   (literature and fiction, classics, romance)
   
   


2. War And Peace By Leo Tolstoy
   
   
   (literature and fiction, classics, nonfiction)
   
   


3. The Brothers Karamazov By Fyodor Dostoevsky
   
   
   (literature and fiction, classics, mystery and thrillers, romance)
   
   


4. Silence By Shusaku Endo
   
   
   (literature and fiction, religion and spirituality)
   
   


5. My Antonia By Willa Cather
   
   
   (literature and fiction, classics, teens)
   
   


6. Heat And Dust By Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
   
   
   (literature and fiction)
   
   


7. A House For Mr. Biswas By V. S. Naipaul
   
   
   (literature and fiction)
   
   


8. Pnin By Vladimir Nabokov
   
   
   (literature and fiction, classics)
   
   


9. Dreams Of My Russian Summers By Andrei Makine
   
   
   
   


10. Dead Souls By Nikolai Gogol
    
    
    (literature and fiction, classics)
    
    


Source:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com

If you had a book club, what would it be reading?

Dreams of My Russian Summers. Because it's a beautiful book.

1. Dreams Of My Russian Summers by Andrei Makine
   
   
   (literature and fiction)
   
   


Source:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com

Ha Jin recommends...

1. Lucky Us By Joan Silber
   
   
   (literature and fiction, romance)
   
   "A love story of our time."
   
   


2. The Lost Daughter Of Happiness by Geling Yan
   
   
   (literature and fiction)
   
   "Geling Yan stands as an eminent writer from the Chinese diaspora. . . an ambitious, eloquent, and unique book. "
   
   


3. In Open Spaces by Russell Rowland
   
   
   (literature and fiction, girl fiction)
   
   "Charged with dramatic tension, a joy to read."
   

Why should you listen to him?

Ha Jin is a widely acclaimed author of novels, short stories, and poetry. He launched his writing career in 1990—just three years before joining the creative writing faculty of Emory University—with the publication of a collection of poems entitled Between Silences: A Voice from China.

Since that first book, Jin has produced numerous other works, including the poetry volumes Facing Shadows (1996) and Wreckage (2001), and the short-story collections Ocean of Words: Army Stories (1996), Under the Red Flag (1997), and The Bridegroom (2001). Jin has also published the novels In the Pond (1998), Waiting (1999), The Crazed (2002), War Trash (2004), and A Free Life (2007), his first novel set in the United States.

Awards

1. Waiting by Ha Jin
   
   
   (literature and fiction)
   
   "National Book Award for Fiction Best Novel winner (1999) : Waiting
   
   PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction Best Novel winner (2000) : Waiting"
   
   


2. War Trash By Ha Jin
   
   
   (sci-fi)
   
   "PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction Best Novel winner (2005) : War Trash"

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