Bittersweet. I've had a difficult time figuring out how I feel about this book. The writing is lovely, straightforward in a way that was almost comforting; where other books have taught me to expect a trick or sudden disaster, this one just describes things, presenting scenes for their own sake and not as foreshadowing. It's strange because the story depends on empathy with the protagonists, and does foster that, but at the same time I didn't really like them - but not in the easy way in which you dislike, and don't mind disliking, Unlikable Characters. These characters, and my feelings about them, are much more complex and difficult to sort out. I will absolutely be reading another of Ha Jin's books after this.