Jul 22, 2011 08:37 PM
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(Updated Jul 22, 2011 08:44 PM)
Waiting is a book for history lovers and those who adore everything oriental like me. As the reading progresses, one realises the futility of impulsive relationships, of hasty decisions that change the track of life forever. The story speaks of a character who is caught in the dilemma between duty and self-freedom. He sacrifices his freedom at first to follow his duty but then soon realises that his heart does not follow the same reasoning. However, even after patiently waiting for 18 long years and making supposedly'successful' choice, frustration haunts him till the novel breathes its last.
The story not only speaks of a girl who despite trying her best to fit in the conventional norms of the society finds herself totally out of it as a complete misfit. In her bid to have a secure and happy life after a prolonged period of suffering as an orphan child, she crosses the threshold of marriage and conventional relationships.
The novel brilliantly highlights a forgone China that boasted of strict rules and a stricter discipline of life. The hopelessness of a society bound by rules is brought out well with the plight of the girl who is ever attacked by a flurry of stains and accusations. To being an'other woman' to a'rape victim, ' the lady's life exposes the vacuum in a society controlled by the societal norms that cannot last forever and can only cause suffocation of humanity.
China, in all its glory, failed to uplift its people and their morals during its developing years as a rising nation. The iron hand rule of the army clearly showcases the dangers of power gone in a few hands. The novel portrays, both, at a society's level and at a personal level, the emptiness and rashness that plagues human beings. One can find similarities in Indian society as well as far as perception towards a'fallen' woman are concerned.
A good read if one wants to understand the culture and society of an age that our neighbour seems to have left behind.
