A Song Everlasting

A Novel

By: Ha Jin

Narrated by: Feodor Chin

From the universally admired, National Book Award-winning, bestselling author of Waiting—a timely novel that follows a famous Chinese singer severed from his country, as he works to find his way in the United States

At the end of a U.S. tour with his state-supported choir, popular singer Yao Tian takes a private gig in New York to pick up some extra cash for his daughter’s tuition fund, but the consequences of his choice spiral out of control. On his return to China, Tian is informed that the sponsors of the event were supporters of Taiwan’s secession, and that he must deliver a formal self-criticism. When he is asked to forfeit his passport to his employer, Tian impulsively decides instead to return to New York to protest the government’s threat to his artistic integrity.

With the help of his old friend Yabin, Tian’s career begins to flourish in the United States. But he is soon placed on a Chinese gov­ernment blacklist and thwarted by the state at every turn, and it becomes increasingly clear that he may never return to China unless he denounces the freedoms that have made his new life possible. Tian nevertheless insists on his identity as a performer, refusing to give up his art. Moving, important, and strikingly relevant to our times, A Song Everlasting is a story of hope in the face of hardship from one of our most celebrated authors.

Not his best

This book is more like a journal than a novel. I found it very dull. If it hadn’t been a book club selection, I would have put it down.

Wonderful Story

A Song Everlasting is a unique story. I enjoyed this book so much. The main character was well drawn and I felt myself becoming very attached to him and rooting for him all the way to the end I’d the book. Even though it is a novel, I learned many things I never knew about China and later on in the book about cancer. The story moved fast and I could hardly stop listening!

Ha Jin continues to author works of art

I enjoyed this book just as much as I enjoyed my first short story of Ha Jin’s in my college Literature course called “Saboteur”. Just as with his short stories and books I can never anticipate the direction the story might lead, but it is nevertheless enjoyable.

In this book, I kept attempting to project what might happen and I was constantly worried for the main character. I appreciated the characters evolution through his immigration journey - he appeared simple and structured initially but his character was complex and artistic. I couldn’t put the book down (rather I couldn’t stop listening)!

Couldn’t put it down!

Read beautifully and at the perfect pace. It’s all about freedom. Developed a greater appreciation of what it must be like to leave one’s country of origin.