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Web-only Exclusives
November 30, 2000

From Our Correspondent: Hirohito and the War
A conversation with biographer Herbert Bix

From Our Correspondent: A Rough Road Ahead
Bad news for the Philippines - and some others

From Our Correspondent: Making Enemies
Indonesia needs friends. So why is it picking fights?

home home millennium century 1999

DECEMBER 31, 1999 - JANUARY 7, 2000 VOL. 25 NO. 52

Turning Easterly Young Man
Our collection of the Best Books of 1999 about Asia or written by Asians

It cannot be a bad year for Asian books when the National Book Award, America's equivalent of the Booker Prize, for both fiction and nonfiction is awarded to works with Asian themes. A blow for greater internationalism, and possibly a subtle dig at growing anti-Chinese hysteria, was the honor bestowed on Chinese immigrant and ex-PLA soldier Ha Jin for his novel, Waiting, a love story set in provincial China. The nonfiction award went to John W. Dower for his new history of the American Occupation of Japan, Embracing Defeat.

Ha Jin's success seemed to confirm the prescient remark of the 1998 fiction winner of the National Book Award, Alice McDermott. She said that the competition was "definitely moving in a westerly direction" - meaning toward Asia. Now in his early 40s, Ha Jin was born in Liaoning province and served for six years in the People's Liberation Army. He left China in 1985 to study English at Brandeis University and remained in the United States.

    1999: THE YEAR
The Year
A mass of surprises from the unruly masses

Newsmakers:
• Habibie How the grand plans of an Indonesian president fell before the unpredictable whims of voters
• Son Masayoshi The founder of Japan's Softbank empire shows the online way to zillionairehood
• Wan Azizah A wife-turned-oppositionist lends voice to Malaysia's reform hopes
• Li Hongzhi The qigong master who gives nightmares to China's rulers and inspiration to millions of followers
• Pokémon From video game to kiddie craze, a Nintendo original captivates a world of young minds

Deaths
Final farewell to Morita Akio, Eugenio Lopez and other figures who left the scene

Personalities
Jackie Chan, Imelda Marcos, Rupert Murdoch are among the big names that caught our eye

Innovations
Palm V, iBook, AirPort and other products that presage the post-PC era

Lows
Recognizing outstanding acts of underachievement
• Dear Santa What Bill Gates really wants for Christmas

Movies
Superb cinema from around the region
• The Two Samurai Kurosawa is dead; long live Kurosawa

In & Out
Trends here today, gone yesterday

Books
The year's best written by Asians or about Asia

The writer has published one previous novel, The Pond, and two collections of short stories. Waiting beat out several strong entries and is steadily climbing The New York Times best-seller list (currently No. 19). From Atlanta, Georgia, where he is a professor of English at Emory University, Ha Jin discussed his work in an e-mail conversation with Senior Writer Todd Crowell:

How does it feel to be in the limelight?
The award came as a surprise, of course. I wish I could find more time for my writing, but I'm happy with the book.

How do you explain the appeal of your subject for Americans?
The story is just part of it. I feel that the appeal might also have been derived from how the story was written. It's the style that has made the book a different love story.

When were you comfortable enough writing in English to begin composing stories in the language?
I have never felt comfortable in English, but the struggle can often lead to a better reward.

One reviewer called Waiting a "love story without much love." Do you think that is a fair observation?
Yes, the protagonist, Lin Kong, is a man incapable of love, though he is a decent man on the whole. Emotionally he is retarded and has never had an opportunity to develop his love. As a result, he cannot reciprocate either of the women who love him. Instead, he has ruined their lives.

What are your models?
Mainly Western novels, specifically Madame Bovary and Anna Karenina because the two books are classic love stories. Both Flaubert and Tolstoy are also great stylists. And I just wanted to write a book in the same convention. Let's face the truth; fiction is not strong in Asian literary traditions.

Waiting - reviewed below - was one of a treasure trove of books published in 1999 about Asia or by Asians. Here is a selection of the best:

WAITING by Ha Jin. For years writing teachers will be holding up Ha Jin's arresting first sentence as an example for aspiring novelists: "Every summer Lin Kong returned to Goose Village to divorce his wife, Shuyu." The protagonist, an army doctor, was forced by his parents into an arranged marriage with an illiterate village girl. Strangely enough for the 1960s, she has bound feet, But Lin loves Manna Wu, a nurse assigned to his hospital. He wants a divorce but is stymied by Communist Party puritanism. Despite its setting and subject, Waiting is written with Western readers in mind. And Jin expertly weaves in historical and cultural background especially for them.

EYE ON THE WORLD by Gavin Young. The author of eight travel books, Young turns inward. He traces his love affair with Southeast Asia from his years as a correspondent covering the Vietnam War through this tribute to the Polish-born novelist and fellow romantic, Joseph Conrad, In Search of Conrad. Between war and Conrad were journeys made on junks and freighters, even skiffs, for his classic Slow Boats to China. The author's photographs complement the text. Eye is a successful combination of autobiography and travel writing.

WHO'S IRISH? by Gish Jen. No, not another Frank McCourt memoir of growing up Irish. Who's Irish? is the ironic title for Chinese-American Gish Jen's musings on the immigrant experience in America. Jen covered this ground in her two previous novels, most notably in Mona and the Promised Land, but this is her first collection of short stories. And what a terrific collection. One hears the colloquial voice of the Chinese grandmother as she attempts to discipline her American-born grandchild, only to come up against her daughter's American-style parenting. John Updike picked one of the stories, "Birthmates," to include in his anthology, The Best American Short Stories of the Century.

FOREIGN BODIES by Hwee Hwee Tan. Mei, a Singaporean overachiever, and her friend Eugene link up with an expatriate Englishman who manages to get himself arrested for masterminding a gambling syndicate. This story line allows Tan ample room for often hilarious observations on some of Singapore's obsessions, including cleanliness, education (or at least getting good grades) and blind obedience to the establishment. Tan's first novel is a lively cross-cultural take on the Lion City through the eyes of three twentysomethings.

ABOUT FACE by James Mann. American relations with China have had their ups and downs since former president Richard Nixon visited Beijing in 1972. But over the years, the major elements in American policy have been remarkably stable, no matter who was in the White House, argues Mann. These elements are secrecy, a propensity to deal only with China's elites and an unwritten promise not to directly challenge the authority of the Chinese Communist Party. This book by the diplomatic correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, is an excellent survey of a difficult relationship.

GOTAI FUMANZOKU by Ototake Hirotada. "I don't understand why so many people have read the book," says its unassuming author. More than 4 million people so far have purchased Ototake's autobiography of growing up without arms or legs, turning the recent Waseda University grad into a best-selling author and top social commentator. Published in October 1998, it was translated into English this year with the understated title Not in Perfect Shape. A boisterous and moving account of how the human spirit can overcome even the most challenging handicaps.

HULLABALOO in the Guava Orchard by Kiran Desai. Renouncing the world is an admired Hindu ideal, even if few people actually do it, fewer still at the tender age of 20. Sampath Chawla finds peace in the guava tree, reading letters, talking to cows and handing out homilies that pass for wisdom: "If you cannot find a car, you must do without." There is considerable humor in this book, even if it does at times seem a little remote from modern India. Kiran is the daughter of novelist Anita Desai, and this novel got a considerable push from the Indian literary establishment. Which does not mean it is not an enjoyable story.

THE SCENTS OF EDEN by Charles Corn. The tiny Spice Islands in the Moluccas, now off the beaten path, were once the fulcrum of international trade and geopolitics. Nutmeg and cloves were to the 16th century what narcotics are in the modern era. To protect its monopolies each country had to build permanent settlements, thus setting in train the ultimate conquest and colonization of the archipelago. This story of the global battle to control this fabled trade makes for a fascinating voyage into the past.

EMBRACING DEFEAT by John W. Dower. The American Occupation of Japan (1945-1952) was the last example of Western colonialism in Asia. That the exercise in nation rebuilding was, on the whole, benevolent and successful is acknowledged even by the Japanese themselves. Not that it was a pleasant time. One of the book's strengths is that it gives much more space to the Japanese perspective than most others that have covered the period. It is especially good at evoking the hurt and overwhelming sense Japanese had of being misled by their leaders during World War II. Much detail is devoted to the emperor and the lengths that the occupiers went to prevent him from behing tried as a war criminal.

JALAN JALAN by Marites Danguilan Vitug and Criselda Yabes. Travel writing by Asians about Asia is all too rare. Which is why this book is especially welcome. The authors, both Philippine journalists, meander through remote parts of Malaysia, Indonesia and their own country. They have a special affinity for forgotten peoples and remote places. Charming vignettes of these encounters are threaded throughout the book. The work is best when they return to their own country. Their sections on Muslims and Christians in Mindanao are intelligent and sensitive. A solid, satisfying read.

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