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48th out of 85 books
—
914 voters
A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain
Robert Olen Butler's lyrical and poignant collection of stories about the aftermath of the Vietnam War and its impact on the Vietnamese was acclaimed by critics across the nation and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1993. Now Grove Press is proud to reissue this contemporary classic by one of America's most important living writers, in a new edition of A Good Scent from a Strange...more
Paperback, 269 pages
Published
April 5th 2001
by Grove Press
(first published 1992)
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Original post at Book Rhapsody.
***
Intro
I have two copies of this book. I decided to buy a more decent copy because the first one that I had is like a coloring book. There were paragraphs after paragraphs highlighted with various colors. I don’t mind highlighting, although I don’t practice it, but it seems that the original owner of the book used it to perfect the art and science of highlighting.
Besides, one is supposed to highlight only if there is a need to do so, like if there is an urgency to...more
***
Intro
I have two copies of this book. I decided to buy a more decent copy because the first one that I had is like a coloring book. There were paragraphs after paragraphs highlighted with various colors. I don’t mind highlighting, although I don’t practice it, but it seems that the original owner of the book used it to perfect the art and science of highlighting.
Besides, one is supposed to highlight only if there is a need to do so, like if there is an urgency to...more
Part of my duties as a librarian is to continually analyze the collection and sometimes I have to actually discard books. I hate to disappoint you all but not all books are keepers in medium sized libraries. This book came upon my desk when someone thought we could weed it from the collection. When I researched the book I found that it won the Pulitzer in 1993. That was enough to entice me to read it.
I am so glad I did. It is a collection of short stories about Vietnam and the Vietnamese, many w...more
I am so glad I did. It is a collection of short stories about Vietnam and the Vietnamese, many w...more
Aug 29, 2012
Tyler Jones
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
refugees,
short-stories
Back in my book selling days, Robert Olen Butler's Tabloid Dreams was, shortly after it came out, THE book all the cool kids working in bookstores were recommending to anyone who cared for a recommendation from a kid in a bookstore. I got caught up in the Tabloid Dreams hysteria that gripped my circle of co-workers for three weeks back in 1996, forcing countless unsuspecting Calgarians to buy the collection of short stories. What's that Ma'am? You like Maeve Binchy? Why then you will adore Tablo...more
I'm afraid I found the collection of stories uneven. Some were very touching and memorable. A couple dragged on and on and I did not connect to the story or characters at all (The Americans). Plus it had no plot and I just hatae that in a story or novel.
I could hardly bring myself to read the last 2 stories, which is very odd since I really enjoyed most of the others. So I thought about giving the book a 3. But the good stories (Mr. Green & the one about the jealous husband) were very good,...more
I could hardly bring myself to read the last 2 stories, which is very odd since I really enjoyed most of the others. So I thought about giving the book a 3. But the good stories (Mr. Green & the one about the jealous husband) were very good,...more
Short stories about the aftermath of the Vietnam War and its impact on the Vietnamese. Poignant and lyrical prose.
Some favorites:
Preparation: two friends; one had died and she is preparing her for burial. Reviews their past and how she loved the woman's husband first and how friendship prevails.
Mr. Green: About a grandaughter and her grandfather and how she is inadequate simply because she is female and how she survives with a sense of self calling forth the Crucification and the 12 Apostles.
The...more
Some favorites:
Preparation: two friends; one had died and she is preparing her for burial. Reviews their past and how she loved the woman's husband first and how friendship prevails.
Mr. Green: About a grandaughter and her grandfather and how she is inadequate simply because she is female and how she survives with a sense of self calling forth the Crucification and the 12 Apostles.
The...more
This Pulitzer-prize winning collection of short stories portrays the many ways in which cultures can clash, in this case Vietnamese and American cultures – during the war, after the war, immigrants to America, soldiers’ post-war experiences. While not all stories may not be appropriate for use in school (Fairy Tale tells the story of love between an American, Vietnam War veteran and a Vietnamese immigrant prostitute in New Orleans, and Love is the story of a man who used to provide false informa...more
This collection (the updated edition) is mostly anchored by its final four stories: "The American Couple"; "A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain"; and the two later additions, "Salem" and "Missing." I'm incredibly ambivalent about the book as a whole, as an act of cultural(ly appropriative?) ventriloquism, but it's hard to deny the sheer narrative power of its ending.
As we deal in being a nation at war, it is sometimes good to reflect on the past.
Vietnam, a conflict whose scars still lie deep in America's psyche is of often misunderstood.
With fifteen short stories in A Good Scent From a Strange Mountain Stories by Robert Olen Butler, this book takes you into the ordeals of the Vietnamese.
The voices are young, old, and a diverse background. The mix brings alive and humanizes this often misunderstood period of our nation's history.
A Good Scent From a Strange M...more
Vietnam, a conflict whose scars still lie deep in America's psyche is of often misunderstood.
With fifteen short stories in A Good Scent From a Strange Mountain Stories by Robert Olen Butler, this book takes you into the ordeals of the Vietnamese.
The voices are young, old, and a diverse background. The mix brings alive and humanizes this often misunderstood period of our nation's history.
A Good Scent From a Strange M...more
With fifteen short stories in A Good Scent From a Strange Mountain Stories by Robert Olen Butler, this book takes you into the ordeals of the Vietnamese. The voices are young, old, and a diverse background. The mix brings alive and humanizes this often misunderstood period of our nation's history. A Good Scent From a Strange Mountain Stories by Robert Olen Butler movingly gives life to multilevel impact of the Vietnam War.
With this short story collection, some of the stories are good while othe...more
With this short story collection, some of the stories are good while othe...more
I bought and read this book when it first came out, back in '92, inspired to find it after hearing a radio commentary. At the time, I had just returned from a life-changing stay in Taiwan and was fascinated by all things Asian. Thought of it again this week while reading
The Unwanted
.
This is a collection of stories told from the points of view of various Vietnamese expatriates at various stages in the process of becoming assimilated into American culture. The author has a remarkable ability to...more
This is a collection of stories told from the points of view of various Vietnamese expatriates at various stages in the process of becoming assimilated into American culture. The author has a remarkable ability to...more
This was my book club's selection for the month, and - to be honest - I wasn't exactly thrilled at the prospect of reading it. I don't have much of an interest in short story collections or the Vietnam War, so this anthology didn't hold much appeal.
However.
The reason I joined the club is to experience new and varied reads, and this book didn't disappoint in those categories. I found that I really enjoyed the short story format - it was easy to read a story or two during a sitting and not worry a...more
However.
The reason I joined the club is to experience new and varied reads, and this book didn't disappoint in those categories. I found that I really enjoyed the short story format - it was easy to read a story or two during a sitting and not worry a...more
I’m really torn over whether this book deserved a Pulitzer for several reasons. First, several of these stories are stunning and do what great short stories do. They set you up and spin you through a slice of life at a discombobulating pace then leave you pinned at some unanticipated place. Like playing pin the tail on the donkey. However, I found one or two to be good, but not great. Thus four stars….(the expectations are high for a Pulitzer Prize winner.)
The stories were interesting and fueled...more
The stories were interesting and fueled...more
3 likes · like · see review
This is a wonderful collection of stories that reveal the thoughts and lives of the Vietnamese people in their struggle to not lose their cultural heritage as they survive in a new land. It’s funny, sad, heart-felt, passionate and powerful and demonstrates the commonalities of mankind as well as our differences.
In THE THINGS THEY CARRIED by Tim O'Brien he has a short story about the young enemy soldier that he killed by throwing a hand grenade at him. In Olen Butler's A GOOD SCENT FROM A STRANGE MOUNTAIN, there is "Salem" the short story of a Vietnamese soldier that keeps a pack of Salem cigarettes that he recovered from a dead American soldier that he had killed. He is troubled because the government wants him to return all of the items that could be used to identify the dead Americans. Ho Chi Minh sm...more
Pulitzer 1993 - I read this book in about 4 days. All of th short stories are about Vietnamese families living and adjusting to life in the Lake Charles region of LA. Butler did such a great job with, I assume, understanding and writing from the Vietnamese perspective that I looked him up to see if, in spite of his name he was part Vietnamese. Turns out he served in Vietnam and came back to tell the stories. It was an interesting perspective to read and reminded me so much of Interpreter of Mala...more
Writing in mock broken English from the perspective of a naive Vietnamese prostitute with perky tits is so fucking stupid, but it still gets you a Pulitzer. This book makes me want to beat up my friends.
I loved this book. The author received a Pulitzer Prize for it in 1996 (I believe). He interviewed Vietnamese immigrants who settled in southern Louisiana after the war and used their stories to develop the short stories in this book. I enjoyed learning about the culture as well as how some have assimilated in the American culture. Some of the stories are really delightful and all are thought provoking. I would suggest that you skip the first two stories, which include some animal cruelty and co...more
This book was a recent pick by our Readers Group (now 10 years running) and it was an author/title that was new to me. I've discovered that the "no prior knowledge" approach can be a great way to approach film or literature as you bring no expectations to it. How I had missed this tough I don't know. Butler's Pulitzer Prize-winning short story collection of post-war Vietnamese immigrants is an important work by anyone's standard. If you've read novels on Vietnam then this is an important additi...more
Thank you, public library. I was looking for Robert Olen Butler's short story collection Tabloid Dreams, but this was the book by the author my library had, otherwise, I might not have tried this book of beautiful, poignant stories mostly written from the perspective of Vietnamese immigrants to Louisiana after the Vietnam War.
Every story had strength.
Notable: "The Trip Back," a businessman picks up his wife's grandfather at the airport for a long awaited reunion; "Love," a jealous husband tries...more
Every story had strength.
Notable: "The Trip Back," a businessman picks up his wife's grandfather at the airport for a long awaited reunion; "Love," a jealous husband tries...more
Pleasantly surprised - no, really surprised - to read these stories of Vietnamese refugees written by a white American in a voice that convinced me, at least, that it was written by Vietnamese themselves. Well, I guess I wouldn't know, would I? But the rhythm, the cadence of the language seemed of another place. I assumed one closely resembling the mental, emotional and spiritual world of the subjects. Each story was like an intense flavor drop of warmth, wisdom and insight. I particularly liked...more
I read this some time ago in my work-shopped short literary fiction phase. The story which led me to this book, from Best American Short Stories, left quite an impression with me and was a strong influence on a story I am working on but will never finish (yes, that's a promise). The rest of the stories have receded into time, leaving little trace. I felt at the time that the subject matter was what had grabbed people's attention, specifically the Southeast Asia thing. And I recall enjoying it. T...more
Some of the most beautiful stories I've ever read. You MUST read this one!
2 likes · like · see review
I know lots of people love this book, but these short stories were hit or miss for me. The book romanticizes (or maybe anti-romanticizes)the immigrant experience. The overarching theme is Vietnamese immigrants having trouble assimilating in America. You’ve heard it before: the old ways are pure and spiritual; America is soulless and video games, etc., etc.
Some stories were good. A few were excellent. Many made me roll my eyes. The worst was the longest story in the book about a Vietnamese woman...more
Some stories were good. A few were excellent. Many made me roll my eyes. The worst was the longest story in the book about a Vietnamese woman...more
Fantastic collection of short stories. I don't remember if he won the Pulitzer for this one or Tabloid Dreams (I think that's what it was called). Anyhow, great writer and a nice guy. He taught at McNeese briefly a few years ago and frequented the McDonald's across the street from the university where my grandfather has gone every morning for coffee for the past 30 years (barring illnesses) and Mr. Butler often visited with my grandfather when he would go in. Gotta love an author who is not only...more
This collection of beautiful and deeply moving stories impressed me with their lack of pretension and their true honesty. Each story focuses on a different member of the Vietnamese community living near New Orleans after the Vietnam War. Each character is given his or her full humanity and the overall tapestry woven of their lives is profoundly effecting. No wonder this collection was awarded the Pulitzer Prize--an honor to this author, but also to the people who have come here from a country we...more
I feel bad giving this book only one star since it won the Pulitzer, but I did not like this book at all. It's a collection of short stories about Vietnamese immigrants in America. The dust jacket promised "lyrical" but delivered "short and choppy" instead. The stories could be revealing about the Vietnamese immigrant's experience in America, but the writing style is off-putting and frankly, doesn't make much sense to me. Even if the stories are from a Vietnamese person's point of view, and even...more
Robert Olen Butler served in Vietnam 1969 to 1971 - first as a counter-intelligence agent, and then as a translator. In an interview he remembers the time he spent in the country:
The army got me coming out of the University of Iowa, but they sent me to language school for a year before I went over. I spoke fluently from my first day there. And then I did work in intelligence for five months out in the countryside. I loved Vietnam and I loved the culture and I loved the people, I mean instantly....more
The army got me coming out of the University of Iowa, but they sent me to language school for a year before I went over. I spoke fluently from my first day there. And then I did work in intelligence for five months out in the countryside. I loved Vietnam and I loved the culture and I loved the people, I mean instantly....more
9 likes · like · see review
I went through a long phase where all I ever wanted to do was bike across Vietnam on my way to Angkor Wat. I cooked Vietnamese dishes, watched every Vietnamese film I could find, looked for language classes, and explored some amazing authors. This one, any person would enjoy. It's a collection of short fictional vignettes written from the quirky, lost-in-translation or strange-but-true viewpoint of recent Vietnamese immigrants adjusting to new lives in the deep south. Much I could relate to, in...more
This collection of short stories won the Pulitzer Prize, and deservedly so. Robert Olen Butler is a masterful writer. He served in the military in Vietnam, and all of the stories involve Vietnamese characters. Many Vietnamese escaped from their country after the fall of Saigon, and more than a few of them settled in New Orleans, a city Robert Olen Butler visits often.
If you write or aspire to write short stories, buy this book and study it well. ROB's characterizations are dead-on. And if you a...more
If you write or aspire to write short stories, buy this book and study it well. ROB's characterizations are dead-on. And if you a...more
This is more a collection of voices than of stories. Compelling, thoughtful, well-meaning, sometimes wise voices, trying to make sense out of life, humanity, nationalism, being Vietnamese, being old, living with war, and trying to love through all the complexities of being human.
I didn't read the book. By happy accident I listened to it. I'd sure recommend the experience. Hearing this collection of voices made the journeys they described and their earnest attempts to understand themselves and t...more
I didn't read the book. By happy accident I listened to it. I'd sure recommend the experience. Hearing this collection of voices made the journeys they described and their earnest attempts to understand themselves and t...more
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“I’ll never stop believing it: Robert Olen Butler is the best living American writer, period.”
– Jeff Guinn, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Robert Olen Butler has published eleven novels which includes The Alleys of Eden, Sun Dogs, Countrymen of Bones, On Distant Ground, Wabash, The Deuce, They Whisper, The Deep Green Sea, Mr. Spaceman, Fair Warning, and Hell, as well as five volumes of short fiction; Tab...more
More about Robert Olen Butler...
– Jeff Guinn, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Robert Olen Butler has published eleven novels which includes The Alleys of Eden, Sun Dogs, Countrymen of Bones, On Distant Ground, Wabash, The Deuce, They Whisper, The Deep Green Sea, Mr. Spaceman, Fair Warning, and Hell, as well as five volumes of short fiction; Tab...more
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