This is a strange tale of witchcraft and super normal activity with a bit of a mysterious disappearance. Kupersmith uses time jumps and changes in poiThis is a strange tale of witchcraft and super normal activity with a bit of a mysterious disappearance. Kupersmith uses time jumps and changes in point of view to, eventually, try tying the disparate protagonists together. Its still a bit jumbled in my mind though.
I liked the locale – Vietnam. I liked the time jumps to French colonization and the Japanese invasion and occupation of Vietnam.
I think Kupersmith caught the dog’s sense of smell well based on what I learned from a whole unrelated book, An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Young. Dogs sense of smell and direction is amazing but that’s not the reason to read this book – just a connection I made.
A little too strange for my liking. Three stars but I predict its average Goodread rating will fade over time as more people read it. ...more
An interesting construction with both mother and daughter alternating chapters in a memoir. It hits a lot of issues for both mother and daughter thougAn interesting construction with both mother and daughter alternating chapters in a memoir. It hits a lot of issues for both mother and daughter though as my book club partner notes those common issues are disjointed in the book. Lin my describe it early while Harlan does at the end. I flowed with this but can see how the book might have felt better constructed had they been in adjacent chapters.
It does cover a lot of emotional and trying events. Lin Cao flees Vietnam as the US military departs. She must assimilate in a new country and struggles to make friends. There is the return visit to the country as many departing Vietnamese have done.
Harlan, being a teenage at the time of writing, focuses more on mother-daughter conflicts and, dare I saw, Asian mother expectations.
Lin speaks Vietnamese and French and noted English as the toneless language. That resonated with me as I’ve listened to my share of tonal languages and struggle to hear differences that comes naturally to native speakers.
One could interpret this book as mother and daughter each want to make their points regardless of what the other writes or says. There are common threads but not always and each highlights their struggles and frustrations.
A positive for the construct but an average book overall – 3.5 Goodread stars. ...more
I thought the actions of the Vietnamese mother rang true as did the rebellion of her sons. It’s a bit of a coming-of-age story wrapped around the pligI thought the actions of the Vietnamese mother rang true as did the rebellion of her sons. It’s a bit of a coming-of-age story wrapped around the plight of Vietnamese refugees in the late 1970s and 1980s thrust into a strange community. Nguyen does a great job showing how family dynamics are impacted as the two cultures collide. And, the general ignorance of Americans in the 70s about Vietnamese values was spot on.
Like any family it has its dull periods even though Nguyen uses time jumps to cover the late 1970s up to the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Nguyen shows us the frailty of family and the disruption caused by the wrong words or not letting an issue drop. Perhaps one of Nguyen’s messages is that most of us will stray as young adults but time brings us full circle as we realize the grass really isn’t greener elsewhere.
A good read if you have the time but there are better stories of refuges and cultural clashes. Three and a half Goodread stars, rounded up being this is Nguyen’s debut. I’ll read his next book. ...more
There is an absolute ton of information packed into this book. I definitely took only a fraction from Frances FitzGerald’s knowledge and expertise. ThThere is an absolute ton of information packed into this book. I definitely took only a fraction from Frances FitzGerald’s knowledge and expertise. That’s not her fault. It’s just packed with insights that I couldn’t digest with one reading.
You’ve got your work cut out for you when tackling this book. I’m glad I made it through the book that, while it focuses on the Vietnam War and the US’s actions, it provides a good history of Vietnam, its culture, and belief systems. Also note that FitzGerald finished the book in 1971 so it does not draw the war to a conclusion or provide a retrospective review of the entire war.
I was impressed with FitzGerald’s writing, word choice, and phraseology. It was worth reading but there will be no second reading for me.
A few quotes and points stuck with me. The first was a Thai proverb provided early in the book as FitzGerald reviewed how other countries behave during the war. The essence was that it’s a bad idea to help an elephant that is falling down but good to help one trying to stand up. I guess the challenge, if you see one in motion, is knowing which is occurring. In the context of this book, the many iterations of the South Vietnamese government were in the process of falling down so helping was only going to hurt you.
The growth in US personnel was astounding. Not just the military buildup but the number of advisors and nonmilitary personnel. Political advisors, logistics advisors, government advisors, and even rice growing advisors! Really? Early in the book, we read that Vietnam had “advanced rice cultivating capability” compared to other Asian countries yet the US sends in someone to advise on rice farming. No wonder many of the Vietnamese officials ignored the US advisors.
The government in North Vietnam developed and integrated with the population but in the South corruption reigned. A completely decentralized South Vietnamese military and government allowed side businesses to prosper. FitzGerald writes of the South’s government, “One could not fire bad officials because they bought their position and one couldn’t promote good ones because they didn’t”. And the wealthy South Vietnamese wanted the US to preserve their wealth just as the French had.
As the war years progressed, US officials strove to make reality match the desired reality even as the gap widened. It was disheartening to read of disconnects between the US and Vietnam. General Westmoreland had few dealings with the Vietnamese and viewed the war from his military background. The US Federal government lacked an understanding of the Vietnamese people. The South Vietnamese view depended on one’s perspective: job, social status, geographic location.
The book is a great lesson on the failings of nation building. One wonders if any lessons were taken from Vietnam by the US government before attempting other nation building exercises in Iran, Iraq, and most recently in Afghanistan?
I listened to the audiobook that clocks in at a whooping 24 hours. The narrator was good but I was left wondering why a male narrator was used. Were the publishers worried we, as readers, may not have taken the book as seriously? FitzGerald’s knowledge of Vietnam, the political and social dynamics are so readily apparent – right from the beginning – so any good narrator would work. ...more
A good war story. Not about war, perse, rather how the soldiers dealt with war. There’s the eponymous story with both literal and figurative things caA good war story. Not about war, perse, rather how the soldiers dealt with war. There’s the eponymous story with both literal and figurative things carried which is a well told in the title story. The symbolism of things carried – especially those for good luck – are described. A great lead story for the book.
My favorite story was On the Rainy River during which the author tells of being drafted and the fear of going to Vietnam. He drives to a motel on the Rainy River near the Canadian border Elroy Berdahl. Elroy is stoic and creates an opportunity for Tim O’Brien to enter Canada but silently lets Tim make his own decision. The story of a person coming to grip with fear and uncertainty.
Throughout the book several reoccurring themes prevail.
Humor is needed. This comes out time and again in the stories Tim O’Brien wrote. From the gallows humor of talking and toasting a dead Vietnamese or singing the song Lemon Tree after Curt Lemon was killed – literally blown into a tree – both told in The Lives of the Dead.
Superstition prevails. Especially good luck charms as described in the title story but weaved throughout. O’Brien returns to Vietnam to place the personal item of a dead colleagues in the ground where he died. This is told in Field Trip.
PTSD is real. It wasn’t called that then but Tim O’Brien clearly is living it as many stories he writes are about Vietnam and he recognizes its impact on his life. We also read about the trauma and guilt Norman Bowker felt and his escape from it in both Speaking of Courage and Notes led to his suicide.
This is a rather quick read with many short stories mixed in with a few longer ones. You can read a bit whenever you have a little free time.
Definitely in my top two war stories with the other being All Quiet on the Western Front which also delves into the lives of soldiers. A 4.5 on my personal Goodreads scale. ...more
I was interested in this book as I’ve been close to the river’s headwaters and delta. The headwater area is amazing as three major rivers flow in oppoI was interested in this book as I’ve been close to the river’s headwaters and delta. The headwater area is amazing as three major rivers flow in opposite directions in adjacent valleys – the source of the Yangtze that flows northwest, the Mekong that flows southeast, and the Salween also flowing southeast. Three major rivers flowing in parallel valleys.
What a crazy river. It absconded another river by splitting it in two using the lower portion as a second channel to the ocean and the upper to flow backwards during the monsoons filling Tonle Sap in Cambodia.
This is an economics book wrapped around the history and future of the river. It flows from the upper reaches, chapter by chapter, down to the delta. The history of the areas I know as interesting. Conservation is the theme that exudes the book but tomorrow doesn’t look good for the river.
Dams have flourished in the upper Mekong and are being build down river too. This holds back water reducing downriver flows need by fish and plants while sediment is captured behind dams so it doesn’t flow to the delta causing the delta to sink. Biodiversity is declining. Rising ocean levels, reduced water flow, and a sinking delta is transforming the delta's environment.
I read the 2019 edition. An edited version is needed as there were numerous mistakes like duplicate words and repeated phrases – especially in the later part. Nothing that can’t be read through but it causes my eyes to stutter.
Felt a bit like a textbook. I guess this is why my review reads more like a book report. Worth reading if the region is of interest as it was for me. 3.5 Goodread stars, rounded down. ...more