Nanjing Requiem

Since Ha Jin won the National Book Award for Waiting, his writing keeps opening up like a big, beautiful fan; this book sounds as far-reaching as anything he has ever written. And even bolder about looking into last century's heart of darkness. Essential where good literature is read. - Library Journal <br> Jin describes horrible acts in a style bordering on reportage, lending bitter realism to his chronicle of violence and privation.... Jin paints a convincing, harrowing portrait of heroism in the face of brutality. - Publishers Weekly <br> Ha Jin brings a cool, spare documentary approach to this rich trove of material...a book that renders a subtle and powerful vision of one of the 20th century's most monstrous interludes. - New York Times Book Review <br> <br> Jin continues his scrupulous excavation of buried truths about Chinese life...eviscerating... Writing with unnerving austerity, Ha Jin resolutely addresses inexplicable terror and miraculous resistance. - Booklist, starred review <br> Requiem is necessary testimony...Jin's loyal readers will notice a bluntness--jarringly effective here--different from his previous works, as if Jin, too, must guard himself against the horror, the horror. - Library Journal, starred review <br> The novelist's subtle mastery enriches the work...A matter-of-fact, plainspoken narrative that has a profound impact. - Kirkus, starred review <br> Should be required reading for anyone who isn't familiar with what happened at Nanjing...Courageously and unflinchingly, Ha Jin has taken an important step in remembering both the victims and the heroes of that senseless slaughter. - Associated Press <br> Profoundly moving. - Cleveland Plain Dealer <br> Manages to deliver glimpses of the massacre in all its reeling madness: the young woman who is driven insane by her manifold violations; the ways violence can smite the spirit, even when the body is spared; the sight of 'shells bursting in the ai