Book No. 57 of 2020
This was generally an engaging read which brings the Vietnam War, from the perspective of the Vietnamese people, to life. Speaking as an American for whom the war is an abstract concept, always viewed through an American lens, I found that the story gave me a much more enhanced understanding both of Vietnamese culture and of the backdrop of trauma and violence that unfolds on a generational scale with all conflicts.
The book excels in details, both beautiful (the fragrance of food) and horrific (brutal violence). I did find myself left wanting when it came to the depth of some characters, as well as some rather simplistic-feeling insights. (While I’m all for humanizing people more and ending war, characters on multiple occasions express the idea that if we all just understood each other, there would be no war, an idea which set against the backdrop of opposing political views reads as being comically naive.) I also felt that the buildup to the reveal of a character’s big secret was unnecessarily suspenseful and wasn’t justified by the narrative payoff.
Similar Reads
I thought frequently of Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Sympathizer, which also deals with many of the same themes, but imho has more emotional resonance.
One character’s long, winding journey, full of twists of fortune and loss and reconciliation, reminded me of many of the mothers’ tales in Amy Tan’s novels.
From a narrative standpoint, the book reminded me of Marjan Kamali’s The Stationery Shop.