When Heaven and Earth Changed Places: A Vietnamese Woman's Journey from War to Peace

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When Heaven and Earth Changed Places: A Vietnamese Woman's Journey from War to Peace

4.07 of 5 stars 4.07 · rating details · 1,167 ratings · 153 reviews

It is said that in war heaven and earth change places not once, but many times. When Heaven and Earth Changed Places is the haunting memoir of a girl on the verge of womanhood in a world turned upside down. The youngest of six children in a close-knit Buddhist family, Le Ly Hayslip was twelve years old when U.S. helicopters langed in Ky La, her tiny village in central Viet...more

Paperback, 400 pages

Published November 1st 1993 by Plume (first published April 29th 1989)

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First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung

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Jul 26, 2007 Rebecca rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is the closest I have ever come to understanding the horror of war. You are in the story and with her the whole time.

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Mar 24, 2009 Kay rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, autobiography, asia, vietnam, war

We all know war is a bad thing, but reading this book really gives an insight as to how it damages the land over which its raged. The way community and life is ripped to pieces and the fabric of society unravels and is rewoven as something less appealing is well portrayed. To come through this and be able to share the story as well as attempt to rebuild and heal says a lot for the authoress.

The violence is never glorified, nor is the atrocities, but told in a way that taps into your emotions and...more

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Apr 05, 2013 David Cupples rated it 5 of 5 stars

Another book I read in Vietnam around the time of the Millennium (or shortly thereafter). It is of course the basis for the Oliver Stone movie Heaven and Earth and the author, Le Ly Hayslip, the model for the film's main character. How cool that Stone one way or the other stumbled up Hayslip's book and decided to turn it into a movie. How cool also to read a book about Vietnam written by a Vietnamese. In my recollection she took pains to be even-handed when it came to dishing against both sides,...more

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Mar 19, 2013 Megan Brizzell rated it 5 of 5 stars

For my research paper on Vietnam I chose to read the book "When Heaven and Earth Changed Places: A Vietnamese Woman's Journey from War to Peace". Though at times the book was extremely graphic, I enjoyed it thoroughly.

The narrator, Le Ly, is the youngest of six children born to peasant farmers in Ka Ly, a town on the central coast of Vietnam. Since she is the sixth child, her name actually means "sixth child" so her parents would know who she is. She has a close relationship with her parents, w...more For my research paper on Vietnam I chose to read the book "When Heaven and Earth Changed Places: A Vietnamese Woman's Journey from War to Peace". Though at times the book was extremely graphic, I enjoyed it thoroughly.

The narrator, Le Ly, is the youngest of six children born to peasant farmers in Ka Ly, a town on the central coast of Vietnam. Since she is the sixth child, her name actually means "sixth child" so her parents would know who she is. She has a close relationship with her parents, who teach her valuable lessons she carries through her life. From her father, Trong, she learns important Buddhist philosophies that help her make sense of the war; from her mother, Huyen, she learns the love and bonds of family.

Villagers of Ka Ly fight for both sides of the war. Le Ly’s own brothers are split between North and South, creating permanent divisions within her family. By day, the village is under the rule of the Republicans, and at night, under that of the Viet Cong. At first, the Viet Cong’s motives for war correspond more closely to the villagers own beliefs and values then those of the South, and consequently, the villagers, including Le Ly, help the Viet Cong. If the villagers do not help the Viet Cong, they are almost always tortured and held at a prison. Le Ly soon learns the severity of the Viet Cong when she is raped and exiled from the village. Her mother joins her, and they leave to find work in Saigon, while her father remains there to tend to the land of their ancestors.

The bustling city of Saigon is overwhelming and intimidating to Le Ly and her mother. They eventually find employment from a wealthy businessman, Anh, and his family. Le Ly is a governess to his children and a personal maid to his sickly wife; Huyen is a second housekeeper. Le Ly falls in love with Anh and soon becomes pregnant with his child. When she discovers her pregnancy, Le Ly and her mother are thrown out of the house. She returns to Danang, homeless, unemployed, and pregnant. When he hears about his daughter’s unwed pregnancy, Le Ly's father disowns her., but after her son Huang’s birth, Trong forgives his beloved daughter. After the birth of her son, Le Ly supports her family by selling souvenirs on the black market. During this time period, the black market was extremely dangerous, and was a risk to be part of it. She also secretly visits and cares for her father, who remains in the village. In spite of Le Ly’s diligent care, Trong becomes inconsolably disillusioned with the war. He also grows depressed because he is separated from his family. He eventually commits suicide by drinking acid.

Ed Monroe, an elderly civilian contractor. Ed, lonely for companionship, asks Le Ly to marry him. Taken with his kindness and the opportunity to leave Vietnam for the United States, Le Ly accepts. Through her positive dealings with Americans—her relationship with her first husband, Ed, and her subsequent boyfriends—and negative experience with the Viet Cong, Le Ly’s opinion of “the enemy” changes. After her father’s death, Le Ly is no longer confused about where her loyalty should lie. She decides that she will leave Vietnam as soon as possible. After months of preparation and the birth of her second son, Le Ly leaves her homeland, unsure if she will ever return. Though Le Ly is excited about leaving and having more freedom and opportunities as a human being, she is also distraught and despaired as she has to leave her family, and her home behind. Le Ly so desperately wants to help her family and let them have the same opportunities as her, but she knows they would never leave Vietnam.

In the 1980s, the Communist Party of Vietnam starts to allow Viet Ku—Vietnamese expatriates—to return to the country. When she arrives in Saigon, Anh greets her warmly. Together they travel to Danang for the reunion with her family. Le Ly realizes that she has returned to a country controlled by fear, more so than when she left. She also realizes that she may be putting her family in danger by returning. The communist party was not exactly welcome to returning Vietnamese.

The first couple of days were extremely difficult for Le Ly, and her oldest brother and mother do not exactly welcome her either. Le Ly's brother suspects she is a spy, and will not accept her at first. Once Le Ly convinces them she is there to see them and spend time with them, they give in and eventually accept her American gifts. During this time, Le Ly realizes her return could be potentially dangerous to her family.

Le Ly speaks to her brother about setting up a medical center and improving the relationship between the government and the Viet Ku and the rest of the world. She doesn't want other Viet Ku to have to go through what she did: rejection. Though her family accepted her after some time, they didn't treat her with kindness or love, as family should. This interaction disappointed Le Ly heavily, and was always heavy on her heart. She exposes her family to the important lessons that she learned. From her teaching, Huyen mends the strained relationship with her daughter and reunites the whole family. After a tearful goodbye to her mother and sisters, Le Ly leaves Danang with a renewed desire to help her country. On the flight back to Saigon, she catches a glimmer of Ka Ly out the window.

I thought this book was wonderful, and it also opened my eyes to the troubles of Vietnam. "When Heaven and Earth Changed Places: A Vietnamese Woman's Journey from War to Peace" was a really great and informative book. It taught me so much on Vietnam's background, and how people were treated and how they lived back then. I was extremely happy I picked this book for my research paper because it incorporated so much of the Vietnamese culture in it, including Vietnamese language and extremely detailed encounters Le Ly had with the Viet Cong and Republicans. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a great read, or even a book about the Vietnam War. This book changed my outlook on Vietnam and the war. (less)

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Nov 29, 2012 David P rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: current-events, memoir

A remarkable, fascinating autobiography by a Vietnamese woman. Le Ly was a peasant girl in a rice-paddy village near Danang, and she lived precariously throughout the Vietnam war. It is all there--Viet-Cong terror, escape to the city, life on the fringes of the US army, also poverty, temptation, violent death and rape, as well as insights into Vietnam's culture, centering on Buddhist traditions and warm extended families.

It is strong stuff, made just a bit more palatable by the way Le Ly inter...more A remarkable, fascinating autobiography by a Vietnamese woman. Le Ly was a peasant girl in a rice-paddy village near Danang, and she lived precariously throughout the Vietnam war. It is all there--Viet-Cong terror, escape to the city, life on the fringes of the US army, also poverty, temptation, violent death and rape, as well as insights into Vietnam's culture, centering on Buddhist traditions and warm extended families.

It is strong stuff, made just a bit more palatable by the way Le Ly intertwines two stories--her growing up in Vietnam up to her emigration in 1970 to the US, as a war bride; and her return visit in 1986. It helps to know that the story ended well, that not only did the author survive the war, but so also did most of her family and friends.

A second book, co-authored with her son Jimmy, covers her life in the US in the intervening period, a life that was far from tranquil. "Child of War, Woman of Peace" is well written and full of unexpected twists, and is well worth reading (you might even read it first, as I did), but it is a different story, as different as America is from Vietnam. A recent film tried to combine both books into a condensed story and failed--maybe because in no way can such a rich and detailed tale be distilled to a movie lasting a mere two hours. Books still hold the edge.

Through Le Ly's eyes we see how the war appeared to the Vietnamese themselves. If you ever wondered which side the Vietnamese people themselves supported, this book will provide a lot of food for thought, but no pat answers. At times the reader suspects there is much more to the story, that Le Ly chose withhold some details or has subtly softened what she told. With ties and loyalties to both the US and Vietnam, she could not offend the authorities in either place, the more so because of her personal mission of peace, about which the reader learns in the epilogue (and to greater extent, in "Child of War").

And one senses here how loyalties in Vietnam were split, too. The Viet Cong represented the fight for independence against colonial France and the native pride of a nation, but their indiscriminate terror in the countryside claimed innocent lives and destroyed families and villages. The "republicans" which fought them were corrupt and no strangers to cruelty, either. It is anyone's guess how the Vietnam war may have turned out if America could have found honest and dedicated allies, and if its emissaries had shown better discipline. History gives no second chances, only a few lessons: considering the steep price paid for those lessons, we better pay attention.
(less)

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Aug 23, 2011 Melodi rated it 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars. I love this kind of book. Where I learn about another persons experience, who lived in another land, had a hard life, and has overcome those obstacles placed before them. I think it is a teaching experience and builds in me a stronger spriit and a kinder person. America is such a melting pot of cultures and religion, I think it is absolutely necessary to continue to learn about the differences that American people encompass so that we can be tolerant and understanding of one another.

A...more

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Jan 13, 2012 Kelly Lynn Thomas rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mfa-books, memoir, vietnam, signed

Reading for my Vietnam Travel Seminar. I would recommend this for anyone who's read a little bit of literature about the Vietnam war from the U.S. perspective, as this book gives you the Vietnamese perspective.

The first 90 pages or so go a bit slow as she sets up the culture and establishes what it means to be a poor village farmer in Vietnam. And then horrible things start to happen, and don't stop happening until the end. The author's village, Ky La, is forced to declare loyalty to one side d...more

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Jul 22, 2007 Megan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone!

This is the truly amazing story of a woman who grew up in central vietnam during the war and eventually found her way to America. Excellently written, terrifying and extremely poignant, it's hard to believe that anyone could go through so much and still have any faith in the human spirit. Seriously--it's sounds like depressing subject matter, but this is a must read.

1 like · like · see review

Nov 16, 2010 Samuel Burt rated it 4 of 5 stars

When heaven and earth changes is an emotional roller coaster of former Viet-Cong member Le Ly Hayslip. The book is split between present and past memories in her life, telling you about her memories then crossing over to present time telling of her risky visit back to her hometown. This memoir has a large amount of emotion as this young girl grows up in a dark world surrounded by the Vietnamese-American war, knowing nothing else.The reader is also informed with the tactics the North and South...more

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Jan 19, 2009 Isabella rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Reading books set in Asia is becoming a habit with me lately.

Out of the five I finished this year, three were set there - Tokyo, India (New Dehli, Bangalore) and now Vietnam.

As the topic indicates, the story is very emotional and distressing. It portraits the Vietnam war through the eyes of a peasant girl that is right in the midst of it. It becomes obvious that the trouble comes from all sides, be it the Republicans, the Viet Cong, the French, the Americans. On the other hand, however, you can...more

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May 02, 2010 Ashley Marie Holden rated it 4 of 5 stars

Le Ly Hayslip's memoir reminded me that even from the worst of circumstances, if you don't give up, you can create something wonderful. This epic tale, spanning across her childhood in Vietnam to middle age in America, educates the reader on the delicate relationships of Vietnamese families and villages. Fascinating to hear the story told from the perspective of the villagers caught between their forced loyalty to the VietCong and their desperation to survive.

Also, there is a film of the same n...more

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Jan 02, 2010 Kirei rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: teens-and-adults

This book was hard to read at times, so I put it down and took a break from torture, rape, and the horrible deaths contained in its pages. However, it is DEFINITELY worth reading to get one woman's viewpoint of the situation in Vietnam during the sixties. I like that she seems unbiased. She does not particulary seem to take the side of the North, or the South, or the Americans. (Although she did become American, and seems patriotic to both Viet Nam and the U.S.)

If you live in a country where vi...more

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Nov 21, 2010 Diana rated it 3 of 5 stars

Maybe I should have picked up this book in 1993 when it first came out, but I wasn't as moved as I should have been. Yes, there were passages that disturbed me a bit, but it might have been the visual image from its movie counterpart ("Heaven & Earth", which is a fantastic movie by the way. It might be the first time in the history of the world where the movie trumps the book).

Oh, then there was this Amazon review that made me question the validity of the book: http://www.amazon.com/review/...more

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Mar 16, 2013 D Monte rated it 5 of 5 stars

I borrowed this book from my english teacher while we were reading The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien in order to write pieces on the Vietnam War. It was an extremely good book that showed me the "other" side of the Vietnam War. By reading both books, I got to look at all the suffering caused by the Vietnam War to both the Americans and the Vietnamese and the effects once the war was over. Of course, it's extremely sad and the way she uses imagery makes it worse, but she's only writing the t...more

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Jul 29, 2012 Trudy Jaskela rated it 5 of 5 stars

I read this book in fall 2011 after my visit to Vietnam.
Le Ly was 12 years old when the war came to her village in Vietnam. The VietCong and the Americans fought in her village. The effect on the family was devastating.
Before the age of 16, La Ly has almost starved, been raped, tortured, and imprisoned. She went to Saigon to work in bars.
Le Ly eventully married an American and moved to southern California. Twenty years later, she returns to Vietnam to visit her fractured family.
Excellent book...more

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Jan 01, 2013 nxlee marked it as will-come-back-to-someday

Shelves: 2012-book2movie-challenge

Okay I am just going to put this as DNF because it has been on my currently reading list for way too long and considering how many other books I've zoomed past while this stayed the same for so long, yeah... it's probably saying something.

It's not the case, like Little Dorrit where I couldn't finish because it was just mind-numbingly uninteresting for me to continue. I think I'm just in some reading slump/being a major procrastinator and overall lazy bum. We can all crucify me later.

I will proba...more Okay I am just going to put this as DNF because it has been on my currently reading list for way too long and considering how many other books I've zoomed past while this stayed the same for so long, yeah... it's probably saying something.

It's not the case, like Little Dorrit where I couldn't finish because it was just mind-numbingly uninteresting for me to continue. I think I'm just in some reading slump/being a major procrastinator and overall lazy bum. We can all crucify me later.

I will probably come back to read this one day. It is a really interesting book, although I am a bit confused as to how much (at this point) is translated into the film adaptation of Heaven and Earth - but considering the film has taken material from both this book and Woman of War Child of Peace, I wouldn't be too surprised if a lot of this book never made it to the big screen.

I think as someone who also is of Vietnamese ethnicity, it is really fascinating to read about how the Vietnam war had affected and radically changed the lives of so many. My knowledge of it comes from whatever movie portrayal is currently out there, as well as anecdotes from both my parents and grandma, so yeah.

Another thing I always had to keep in mind was that I am a first generation Asian Australian. I have never left the country and grew up in a predominantly Western society - it shouldn't be some big surprise that some things the narrator talked about Vietnamese culture made me crinkle my nose and think there was something inherently problematic about it. But, considering that I was also raised with a Vietnamese background and had to learn about its culture via my family, some of the stuff that Le Ly Hayslip talks about - especially about the importance of family, it made total sense to me because a lot of stuff she says, I basically grew up being taught that as well.

From what I read, I think I could easily relate to it more on the basis of both the narrator and myself growing up and taught (roughly) the same ideals. But even from the measly 70 or so pages I've read, it isn't hard to get engaged in the story and be horrified at some of the things both the 'Republicans' and the 'Viet Cong' will do in order to fulfil their own ~~selfish~~ purposes, and the story of the narrator and others in their rural community only serving the crime of being in the middle of it all.(less)

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Nov 09, 2010 Jileen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Definitely a book that keeps you turning pages. And just when you think it can't get any worse... it does.

My father fought in the Vietnam war and never really talked about it. He did have tons of slides (you know, the old slide/projector shows before VCRs...) It was very interesting to me to learn about this foreign country that I saw so many slides of. Their culture, the beliefs, the ideals that were important to Vietnamese families and their ancestors. Fascinating!

I have felt so badly for the...more

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Jul 23, 2010 Eric_W rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: history-historiography

Part of the problem reading history is that sometimes one tends to look at the overall picture; the strategic view, rather than the impact of an event on the individual Le Ly Hayslip has recounted her family's personal experiences during the Vietnam war from the perspective of those caught in the middle. Her story portrays the agony of the destruction of a centuries-old way of life and the ruination of a country. The village she lived in, Ky La, was just a tiny fanning village, one surely no one...more

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Sep 17, 2008 William rated it 4 of 5 stars

Like Sorrows of War this was another fascinating look into the lives of the Vietnamese during the 1960’s & 70’s. In this book we even get a bit of a glimpse into French occupation in the 50’s.
The perspective of Le Ly is filed with both emotion and a stiff upper lip. She shows a lot of grit and inner strength during episodes of extreme trauma and her saga is both inspiring and sad on many levels.
My only complaint is that at times I felt she tended to ramble and give numerous examples that m...more

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Jan 31, 2010 Matt Shake rated it 4 of 5 stars

This autobiography of a young girl caught in the ravages of the Vietnam War is an excellent story that will move you. This book is so filled with raw and brutal memories of this war that it is a miracle that it was ever written. It must have been quite a release to get all of those memories out into public. This book shows us the human and inhumane face of war as we see the kindness and the rage that war brings forth. It was so sad and so redemptive to read.

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Oct 09, 2008 Ariyati rated it 4 of 5 stars

Based on a true story of Le Ly Hayslip during her childhood in Ky La, near Da Nang in the central coast of Vietnam. Republican people were there (supported by the colonial also the invader) while the rest were supporter of Northern Vietnam communist, Uncle Ho party. Viet Cong(VC) had a back up from local people in her village.

Her childhood include becoming VC activist until given honorary song. Being captured by the police (goverment) but managed to get away few times seems not enough. The curse...more

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Feb 13, 2011 Arlie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

Le Ly Hayslip has the soul of a poet - her narration of growing up in war-torn Vietnam intermingles with her reunion with her country and family when she returned in the '80s. The writing is poignant and beautiful even as the story is sad, heartbreaking, and even a bit funny at times. Gifted with a wonderful family, Le Ly generously shares what she has learned about life: about love, hate, war, and - most of all - forgiveness.

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Jun 19, 2009 Pardis Parto rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Pardis by: no one

Fleeing the violence of the Viet Cong, Le Ly leaves her farming village with her mother for Saigon. After disgracing herself by becoming pregnant with her new master's child, she moves in with her sister and, through hustling the American troops, meets up with Steve Butler. They become lovers and, encouraged by his promises, she agrees to return with him to the strange but wonderful land of "America"

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Mar 01, 2010 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoirs, read-in-2010

I've read many, many war-time memoirs but this *may* be the first one I've read from the point of view of a peasant girl in Vietnam whose village was in the heart of the battlezone. By definition many memoirs written from inside a civilian view of a warzone tend to be written by very extraordinary people - since the average person doesn't necessarily get out or get educated enought to write such a view. But this book is a bit unique in that Ley Ly is a very ordinary peasant farmer who takes an u...more

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Nov 20, 2010 Libbi rated it 3 of 5 stars

Read this book for book club. It gave a very enlightening perspective on the war in Vietnam. However, I must caution that in a couple of spots both the content and language were inappropriate. I was able to mostly avoid these spots thanks to a good and mindful friend. This book made me feel so blessed to have been born in freedom. And it has given me a deep respect for strong Vietnamese women.

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Dec 26, 2009 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was a great book to read while traveling in Vietnam. I know it may seem like it was a strange choice for for two Americans to travel to Vietnam for Christmas, but we hear wonderful things about this country that shares such a painful history with ours. I felt like it wouldn't be right to come here with out learning hwat I could about the war. This book was a wonderful guide and offerend an unbiased perspective for me to learn from. I recommend it to anyone interested in learning about the V...more

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Aug 30, 2008 Rob rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction-for-humans

in many ways, this book reminds me of Black Elk Speaks. as literature, it didn't blow me away, but as a TRUE story, it becomes profound and important. the author was born in central vietnam in 1949 and the book tells her story up to 1970 when she came to the United States, intercut with an account of a return visit she makes in 1986 to seek out her surviving family members.

in the same sense that i think all americans should read Black Elk Speaks, everyone should read this, too. no matter what y...more

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Apr 19, 2010 Terri rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Terri by: Jenni Melander

Shelves: city-view-book-club

This is a fascinating story about Vietnam, the war, growing up during war and fighting to survive. Le Ly's life was horrific - no doubt about it - and yet she has managed to find peace and holds no grudges. Makes one very greatful to have a better life that is far away from the chaos of war. It was so interesting to read about Vietnam and to get a picture of what life would have been like for the American soldiers. It made it so much easier to understand why the war lasted so long and why it was...more

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Dec 31, 2012 Linda Tuplin rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was a riviting book that was the closest you can come to living through a war without actually being there. It was presented with sensitivity and without undue graphic content, but with unmistakable clarity as to what really happened. The author presents the story without anger or judgment, and seeks only forgiveness for both sides.

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Aug 04, 2009 Jaralee rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book did a wonderful job of seeing the Vietnam/American war from a young Vietnamese girl. The book spans most of the girl's lifetime, and is a true story. I learned so much about Vietnam, it's people, traditions, customs, but mostly I appreciated getting a glimpse of this war and this land from a different perspective.

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“For you see, the face of destiny or luck or god that gives us war also gives us other kinds of pain: the loss of health and youth; the loss of loved ones or of love; the fear that we will end our days alone. Some people suffer in peace the way others suffer in war. The special gift of that suffering, I have learned, is how to be strong while we are weak, how to be brave when we are afraid, how to be wise in the midst of confusion, and how to let go of that which we can no longer hold. In this way, anger can teach us forgiveness, hate can teach us love, and war can teach us peace.” — 10 people liked it

“The past, for everyone, is full of missed chances, surviving to understand them, if not set them straight, is one of the things that makes the next breath worth taking.” — 6 people liked it

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