by Ha Jin
First published 2002
Jian Wan sits beside his thesis advisor's hospital bed, watching Professor Yang rave in delirium. The respected literature scholar has suffered a stroke, and his fevered mind spills decades of buried secrets. Yang speaks of his dead wife, his compromises with the Communist Party, and the literary works he never dared to write. Jian listens to these confessions while navigating his own crisis. His fiancée Meimei pressures him to abandon his studies and emigrate to America. His department expects him to care for Yang while finishing his dissertation. As Yang's condition worsens, Jian realizes his mentor's madness reveals truths about survival under political oppression that his academic training never taught him. The young man must choose between the security of exile and the uncertain path of remaining in China to witness his teacher's final reckoning with a lifetime of intellectual surrender.
Genres: fiction, historical-fiction, contemporary, academic
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, mentor-mentee
Setting: China
Period: 20th-century
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