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Paradise of the Blind: A Novel by Duong Thu Huong,Nina McPherson |
Novel without a Nameby Duong Thu Huong |
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The author of Paradise of the Blind, the first novel from Vietnam ever published in America, traces a young man's experiences fighting for North Vietnam, in a novel banned in Vietnam for its subversive content. Reprint. 10,000 first printing. NYT.
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Absolutely Horrible -  |
Novel without a Name Review |
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I'd like to start off with a disclaimer. Everyone feels that this books is a stunning portrayal of the horrors of war and the toll this has on normal people, that the author was punished for daring to pen such a momentous work, and that the author uses beautiful language. All of those things are absolutely true. And none of those things make this horrible book worth reading. The narrator of this book, who seems to be suffering from sorrows in his childhood as well as the miseries of war, does nothing but wander around the jungle, whining about how much he misses shrimp sauce, encountering people that either serve no point or bolster the theme of hypocrisy and disillusionment until the point is redundant. Most of these characters are flat and die or disappear within pages. There is no character development at all, next to no plot, no real action, and no resolution to the feeble conflicts that arise. Plus, the narrator is continually experiencing odd (and usually gruesome) visions or dreams, usually for no apparent reason. Even worse are his flashbacks. He seems to have a flashback every few pages. I'd heard that flashbacks were a very clumsy literary advice and that authors should avoid them, and now I certainly know why! It's awful! These flashbacks also make things somewhat confusing. There is no sense of continuity, and this detracts from the idea of a coherent plot. So in spite of having a story to tell, a point to make, and a gift for vivid, even lovely prose, the author just couldn't make it work for me. |
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"That ideal, well, the kids need it. And it's all we need to turn them into monks, soldiers, or cops." -  |
Novel without a Name Review |
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Fiction possesses (among other things) the brilliant quality of putting us in somebody else's shoes, and that in a manner as moving and eye-opening as it is safe and temporary. Still, in very few novels indeed could this quality be more urgently called for than in Duong Thu Huong's "Novel Without a Name" ("Tieu Tuyet Vô De", 1991). Certainly this nameless novel of war and its terrible costs--death and destruction, certainly, but also the disruption and interruption of lives, ravaging of hopes and dreams, and the pitiless erosion of youthful idealism and naive ambition--has something to say to everyone who's ever pondered the human condition and the insane things we do to each other in the name of our own pet ideologies. Certainly too this oddly straggling tale tracing the painful arc of a Viet Cong company commander's increasingly bitter disillusionment and spiritual fatigue as the war drags on for the better part of a decade must speak volumes to readers in Vietnam, if they can get their hands on this banned book published only abroad at all, as they reflect upon their own personal experiences and national history. Yes, then, this work of fiction is both evocatively specific and sweepingly universal in the way that all great literature inevitably turns out to be.
However, this novel (masterfully translated by the team of Phan Huy Duong and Nina McPherson) also has something very specific to reveal to the American reader. Opinions about the Vietnam War are incredibly diverse in this country, of course, but whether you think the war was a noble crusade against Communism, an ignoble act of cruel imperialism, or even just a bumbling mistake in U.S. policy, or anything else in-between or other, it eventually boils down to an American drama featuring American protagonists and antagonists in which the Vietnamese themselves are merely co-stars and extras. This goes for John Wayne's "The Green Berets" and Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" alike; even the more recent ersatz Beatles musical "Across the Universe" unconsciously locks itself into the same limited pattern. "Novel Without a Name" knocks one out of that pattern with a sudden rude jolt and as such is an essential corrective, an enlightening and thought-provoking remedy for this tunnel-vision, this blind spot, this lack of perspective. Life was just as complex if you were a North Vietnamese soldier, it turns out--it was also nasty, brutal, and interminably long (if you managed to survive, that is). Besides all that, though, this is just a good, well-told story. Duong's prose deploys all five senses with searingly vivid force, placing the reader smack dab in the protagonist's world. With a few finely chosen details she sketches her characters indelibly in one's memory in a manner that flawlessly inspires you to give a darn what happens to them without sentimentally tugging at heartstrings in an obvious fashion. As novels go there seems to be no real structure or plot, merely a meandering spiral to a fizzling anticlimax that's vaguely unsatisfying but probably intentionally so--which sounds boring, but it's actually hard to put the book down. Moments of gritty ugly realism predominate, punctuated by almost hallucinatory dreams and visions sometimes darkening into nightmares, and perhaps this tense back-and-forth is what gives the novel its driving pattern and holds it together. That and the cycles of wandering travel, brief respite, and sudden violence. Whatever the case, "Novel Without a Name" is an unforgettably gripping and deeply important work that will haunt you long after the last page has been turned. |
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NOVEL WITHOUT A NAME - |
Novel without a Name Review |
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"NOVEL WITHOUT A NAME" by Duong Thu Huong is about a soldier fighting for the ideals of Communism. He is in fact, a Viet Cong officer and has been fighting the war for 10 years. His decade of fighting, killing, and watching his life slowly fade away causes him to become jaded and a disbeliever in the "great cause."
His feelings of patriotism are eventually covered with the dust of hatred and disillusionment. His entire life begins to focus on his childhood, and the love of his mother. "Quan" is 28 years old in this novel and at times, his focus on his mother seems (to my thinking), almost bordering in the shadows of an Oedipus Complex. "Quan" is no doubt, a man of passion, art, and love. Unfortunately, most of these assets are lost in the clattering fire of AK-47's and steaming hot jungles. His opportunity to return home during these perilous times only helps to awaken his realization of change. He sees the change in his country, change in his family, change in his dreams, and most importantly... the change in himself! Ms. Duong Thu Huong is truly gifted and one of the most descriptive writers I have ever read. She obviously knows her country, it's people, their karma, and their souls. She is without a doubt...a superb writer!! An unusual title; an unusual book, and ...a great story. |
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Terse vivid prose unfurls a war story from the other side - |
Novel without a Name Review |
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It should be noted that Duong Thu Huong has done prison time for her writings. How interesting to see the other side of the same Vietnam War coin and find such vivid prose delineating a story of endless sacrifice, party corruption and bitter cynicism. U.S. soldiers had 13 month tour of duty. The North had as long as it took- 15 years in the hero's case. She writes expertly and hammers together a story of one man's experience of the war moving full circle from party ideologue to spent survivor leading an ever diminishing group of veterans |
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Full of Pain and Sorrow - |
Novel without a Name Review |
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As an American, I have only read about the Vietnam war from a US perspective. During my visit to Vietnam this year, I went to the Vietnam War Museum in Ho Chim Minh city which provided a Vietnamese perspective on the war. I was extremely moved and so upon returning to Tokyo (where I live) I came across this Novel Without A Name. The author really captured the pain, sorrow and loss of innocence that faced young Vietnamese men during these decades of war. I can't imagine being at war for over a decade (if we include the French war) when you life can be taken-away from you and your loved ones at any moment. Admist all this, the cental character tries to find a reason for being in all that he loves. A real sad book that I would not reccommend unless you have the heart to understand the psyche of this generation of Vietnamese youth. I enjoyed it..... |
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