Ha Jin's first novel, In The Pond, tells the story of Shao Bin - a worker at a factory in a small Chinese town whose artistic talents go unappreciated by his superiors. What starts as trouble over housing allocations in the centrally-planned economy soon escalates into an exposé of corruption and allegations of persecution as Shao Bin's troubles continue to increase.

The concept of satire is at the heart of this novel both in its narrative and theme. Shao Bin is an artist and satirist foremost and Ha Jin uses satire and comedy to tell a fable of power and morality. A comedy of political pettiness, Ha Jin captures perfectly the small-minded nature of bureaucracy amidst the turbulent setting of China in the 1970s.

Yet despite all his struggles to improve his standing at the plant where he works and to expose corruption therein, he is easily placated by a new job offer that removes his antagonistic stance from the plant; he chooses to remain a big fish "in the [small] pond" where his talents can be displayed, rather than working to change himself and his family's life (as seen during the climax of the novel). Though this conclusion feels somewhat anticlimactic, since one would hope Shao Bin would achieve all that he set out to do, it perfectly encapsulates the mentality of this era in China and serves as a reminder of the allure of even a little bit of power.

Nevertheless, this short novel is an excellent introduction to Ha Jin's works and reveals (as [b:Waiting|235773|Waiting|Ha Jin|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327881519s/235773.jpg|985211] and [b:War Trash|14729|War Trash|Ha Jin|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1386922155s/14729.jpg|1267529] also do) a fascinating and little-known aspect of contemporary Chinese social history. ( )

Fictional account of morality and power in Communist China, short tightly written, vivid; will be seeking out other titles by him. ( )

The first use of his now classic cyclic structure, National Book Award winner (WAITING) Ha Jin tells of Shao Bin, a worker in a commune town and a fertilizer plant, who vies for a bigger apartment and repeatedly comes up against Party petty politics. He attempts change using cartoons, which create enough havoc to gain him the desired attention, only to be foiled again, at the end. Oh the irony. And the frustration of hitting the same wall, only harder each time until one's head explodes. Accomplished prose from this Chinese-American onetime poet. ( )