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Jin, Ha : Under The Red Flag

University Of Georgia Press, Athens, GA, 1997

ISBN 0820319392

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. 207 pages. The author's second collection of short stories. Now considered a contemporary classic. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions, particularly copies that are signed on a tipped-in page. Published in a small and limited print run as a hardcover original only by a University Press. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Ha Jin's "Under The Red Flag". One of his landmark, defining works. Ha Jin has seamlessly and eloquently melded historical fact with personal experience. His short stories have been compared to the works of Isaac Babel, the greatest Russian short-story writer of the 20th century. The weight of History impinges upon his characters, often unbearably so, but the historical canvas never overwhelms what is most gripping about any story, the destiny of every particular human being or as Harold Bloom once put it, "every particular human suffering, which is the true subject of literature". Ha Jin came to the United States as an adult barely able to speak English. He still has difficulty speaking it and has said that the main impetus for writing is the opportunity it affords him to sit down and write and re-write, edit and re-edit, and start all over again if necessary until he is satisfied with the results. He has begun and abandoned works that he has lost count of in the process. But he has learned the language to the point that he is now regarded as one of its living Masters. He uses his acquired language as an incomparable storyteller and poet of the first rank who bears witness to the collision between personal experience (in all its pain, beauty, and complexity) and the arbitrary suffering that History, Fate, and Destiny inflict upon all human beings, whether they be powerful or powerless. His sympathy for every human being in all his or her particularity is unsurpassed among contemporary American writers. Ha Jin opted to remain in the United States, teaches at Boston University, and is a naturalized American. "Ha Jin profoundly understands the conflict between the individual and society, between the timeless universality of the human heart, and constantly shifting politics of the moment. With wisdom, restraint, and empathy for all his characters, he vividly reveals the complexities and subtleties of a world and a people we desperately need to know" (Award Citation, National Book Award). An absolute "must-have" title for Ha Jin collectors. This copy is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed in blue ink-pen on the title page by Ha Jin. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page, as copies available online are. This title is a contemporary classic. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. Winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award for "Ocean of Words". Winner of the Flannery O'Connor Award For Short Fiction for "Under the Red Flag". Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and the National Book Award in 1999 for "Waiting". One of the finest American writers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER HA JIN TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0820319392.

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