content: I actually read this book while I myself was waiting - in a hotel in Guatemala to meet the son I was to adopt! Like most of the other reviewers, this book was a disappointment to me. Interestingly enough, it is the first book I've ever read which was written in English, but the style makes you think it was translated from Chinese. The best part of the book is that it offers a rare view of day-to-day life in China during a terrible period. In addition, the descriptions are quite beautiful; rendered in a rich, yet delicate manner. And I was thrilled that the author made the wife out to be a decent human being, and not some shrew. However, the plot just doesn't deliver. Even though the idea of it is quite staggering -here is this man waiting for almost 20 years to marry this woman - there is really very little dramatic content. Events just happen quietly, unfolding as if you were watching clouds move in the sky. Why it won the National Book Award is beyond me.