War Trash

WAR TRASH

by Ha Jin

 

Award: PEN/Faulkner Winner 2005

 

Nomination: Pulitzer Finalist 2005

 

Date Read: November 3, 2004

 

Because of the title, I of course expected this to be a war novel, which I generally do not like. But having recently read The Narrow Road To The Deep North and enjoying that novel, I had hoped to enjoy this one as well. Alas, it was not to be.

 

War Trash is a rather tedious fight over Chinese POWs during the Korean War. The war captives are in the impossible position of deciding their own fate once released from Korean prisoner camps. If they choose the Nationalists, prisoners will be sent to Taiwan to start a new life. If they choose, the Communists, prisoners will be sent back to mainland China to be reunited with their families, although they will forever bear the label of cowards because they did not die for their country but had the audacity to allow themselves to be captured.

 

All of these prisoners experience abuse so continual that it didn’t register completely with me as a reader. They are used as pawns by their own country, sent into battle as a nod to Communism. They are ill-equipped in weaponry and food and their failure is inevitable.

 

Yet, for the suffering these Chinese soldiers endured, they are forsaken by their country and used as bargaining chips in spreading Communist ideology. 

 

War Trash reads like a memoir and for this I have to give Ha Jin the merit he deserves. I often felt as if I was reading a true account of an officers’ experience, rather than a fictional novel. Ha Jin is brilliant at his gift, so although I may not have enjoyed the content, I did enjoy the skill behind it.

 

Looking Back: Waiting

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