Dương Thu Hương

I read Novel Without a Name (1995) and Paradise of the Blind (1988) and was quite impressed with both. This was written in 1996 and is much longer than the first two. (She has three other novels that I know of translated into English: No Man's Land, Beyond Illusions, and The Zenith.) Though there were sections that I enjoyed, this is easily my least favorite of the three. I thought it often predictable, didactic, and even occasionally lazy. In addition, though all three books were translated by the same team (Nina McPherson and Phan Huy Duong), this translation seemed awkward from time to time with odd word choices, syntax, and a reliance on cliches (a comment echoed a number of times on goodreads as well). Unlike the other works of hers that I have read, this one treats the war far more incidentally, focusing instead on life in post-war Vietnam and in particular on the marriage of Hung, a gifted composer. and his wife, Suong, an exceptional singer. Hung loses his job in a political power play and he quickly spirals into self-destructive behavior. He is mistaken by the regime as a “boat person” seeking to flee the country. As a result, he is sent to a re-education camp and his life and marriage take a drastic turn for the worse. I won’t spoil the ending but I will say that I found parts—if not much of it—hard to accept. There is plenty of social, political, and even philosophical commentary. Minor characters tend to be stick figures except for one relatively significant one who disappears from the narrative without a trace. I will admit much of my disappointment relates to my great respect for the other two novels, but despite the segments of the writing I liked here, despite the (generally) excellent portrayals of Hung and Suong, despite some moving and powerfully wrought sections, I can’t bring myself to recommend it. I’m sorry to see only no other reviews here and eagerly await others’ opinions.… (más)

Quan, who enlists to fight for his country as an idealistic 18-year-old, has now fought for North Vietnam for a decade. Those ten years have taught him, if nothing else, the costs of idealism. Even as he tries to balance his patriotism with his cynicism, Quan turns to old memories for solace. Given the chance to return home, he seizes on the chance to make the physically and psychologically demanding journey. That journey forces him to confront his past, among other things: his father, his childhood sweetheart, his boyhood friends now maimed or dead, and ultimately to recognize that his innocence and his idealism came at an enormous price. How should he handle his disillusionment with the Communist Party? A quiet, emotionally charged book, this often reads like the stories of an old man looking back on his life. That it is, instead, the reflections of a 28-year-old veteran, told mostly through a series of vignettes, illustrates the power of the book. Indeed, the collection of loosely connected “stories” really can be seen as almost a mythic quest by a hero toward (self-)knowledge.… (más)

> Babelio : https://www.babelio.com/livres/Thu-Huong-Au-zenith/121587

> DEUX CHEFS-D'OEUVRES. DEUX ROMANS INITIATIQUES. À LIRE ABSOLUMENT. — Qualité de la construction romanesque. Écriture à la fois sobre et flamboyante, tendre et crue, évoquant tragédies, destins, pouvoir. C'est bien la magie de la littérature que cette capacité d'emmener le lecteur dans les méandres de l'histoire vietnamienne contemporaine, à travers le regard des différents personnages.
La vie de l'auteur ; qui vit depuis 2006 à Paris, vaut un roman. Cette femme née en 1947 au Vietnam, a connu la guerre contre les français, a lutté 20 ans contre les américains et 20 ans contre le pouvoir en place à Hanoï. (Jacques MARMEY)
• Duong Thu Huong, Terre des oublis, 794 pages, 2006, Sabine Wespieser
• Id., Au Zénith, 800 pages, 2009, Sabine Wespieser
—Carnets du Yoga, (278), Juin 2009, (p. 19)… (más)