false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1185214651m/1525451.jpg 1525451 7 Nan Wu immigrated to the United States from China to earn a graduate degree in political science, but with the Tiananmen Square massacre in the late 1980s, he and his wife Pingping make the difficult decision to bring their family to America and being a new, freer life in the West. With their young son Taotao, they live in the home of a wealthy widow, taking care of the house and grounds and slowly adjusting to the idiosyncasies of life in the United States. Overwhelmed by the options available in the "land of opportunity", Nan returns to his passion, poetry, with a dream of someday making it his career. Yet even as he and his family begin to acheive the American Dream, Nan still wonders about his first love, a woman who scorned him in China years before, and whether he can ever truly love Pingping and bring success to his family. <I>A Free Life</I> unsparingly documents the highs and lows of contemporary immigrant life; Ha Jin's gifts for finely-honed prose and rich characterization make the Wu family's relationships resonant. It's not the story of every immigrant, but it portrays much of that seminal American story. 2082841 2007 A Free Life total:657|5:3|4:10|3:17|2:3|1:0| 657 2380 1157 205 4 3 false false Fri May 23 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat May 17 23:20:39 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 23 22:43:49 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 2 false false Sun Mar 30 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Feb 22 21:08:53 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 05 00:38:21 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Nov 11 23:21:21 -0800 2007 Mon Nov 12 23:18:07 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 23 21:21:17 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 23 21:27:23 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Mar 26 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Mar 28 18:12:21 -0700 2008 Fri Mar 28 18:26:21 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false false Fri Dec 21 11:18:17 -0800 2007 Mon Dec 24 17:24:01 -0800 2007 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Mar 12 04:46:27 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 12 04:50:07 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Apr 17 10:41:18 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 17 10:41:29 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri May 29 12:37:28 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 01 00:45:07 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue Jul 17 19:31:17 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 17 19:32:57 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Apr 24 09:21:04 -0700 2008 Wed May 07 08:24:10 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Nov 25 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 04 13:52:46 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 25 20:03:00 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 13 12:13:59 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 13 12:37:26 -0800 2009
Through this account of a Chinese immigrant experience during the late 80'...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue May 05 22:21:19 -0700 2009 Tue May 05 22:21:32 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Oct 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 05 14:20:51 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 08 07:12:47 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Jul 24 17:42:47 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 24 17:47:12 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false true Tue Oct 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 13 10:49:36 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 23 12:50:10 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 2 false false Sun Nov 08 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Aug 01 14:01:31 -0700 2009 Sun Nov 08 21:11:23 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Oct 22 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 07 22:25:37 -0700 2008 Wed Oct 22 14:22:57 -0700 2008 To write in this language is to be alone,
to live on the margin where
loneliness ripens into solitude.


So writes Nan Wu in one of his beautiful poems at the end of this 660 page novel. This book consists of three parts: the story itself; a poetry journal kept by Nan Wu, t...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 09 19:29:24 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 04 12:45:20 -0700 2008 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=1525451