[ book tip by Helga Kapitany ] 'Ocean of Words' is a collection of 12 stories and portrays army life on the chilly border between China and Russia in the early '70s. This book won the 1997 Ernest Hemingway Foundation/Pen Award for First Fiction.

[ Favourite quote ] "Grandma was right: The most wicked creature on earth is man. That ox had worked for its master till it was old; when it couldn't work well, the master sold it to the slaughterhause for money.The ox had wept just now, begging the fat butcher in silence for its life, but people wanted to eat beef, so they ignored its tears and butchered it. Man is a true beast."

[ book info ] Jin, Ha: Ocean of Words. Vintage International , New York, 1998 . ISBN: 0-375-70206-7.