The Other Side of Heaven: Post-War Fiction by Vietnamese and American Writers

by Wayne Karlin

These stories represent the "second wave" of fiction--works about the aftermath of the Vietnam conflict as it moved into both countries, touching and forever changing not only the veterans, but also their families and their societies. Contributors include John Edgar Wideman, Larry Brown, Robert Olen Butler, Philip Caputo, Bobbie Ann Mason, Ngo Tu Lap, Tim O'Brien, and others.

412 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Wayne Karlin has published nine novels: The Genizah, A Wolf by the Ears, Marble Mountain, The Wished-For Country, Prisoners, Lost Armies, Us, The Extras, Crossover; a collection of short stories, Memorial Days, and three works of non-fiction: Rumors and Stones, War Movies, and Wandering Souls: Journeys with the Dead and the Living in Viet Nam, as well as poetry, stories and articles in literary journals and newspapers. He has received six State of Maryland Individual Artist Awards in Fiction, two Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts), the Paterson Prize in Fiction for 1999, the Vietnam Veterans of American Excellence in the Arts Award in 2005, and the 2019 Juniper Prize for Fiction for A Wolf by the Ears. Several of his books have been published in the U.K. and in translation in Vietnam, Italy, Denmark, Holland and Sweden.

Reviews

[freddie]

this is like. fine. i’m not rating it because i didn’t read the whole thing i really only skimmed it..

[Tito Quiling, Jr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still have faith that the original Viet texts are just as poetic as their translated versions because I leaned towards them rather than the foreign veterans' accounts. But that is not by invalidating the classic American take on the Vietnam War, having been beaten by an Asian country whom they underestimated, have led to numerous erasures of sort in history books. Although this collection does not claim to be an encompassing view of what lies on the other side of history, the book provides a more personal approach by focusing on the families affected and left broken by the war.

As with most collections, the first few stories and the last ones are stronger in terms of clarity, language, and subjects, while the ones in the middle can seem a bit too neutral and sometimes, vanilla. What is perhaps the best intention of "The Other Side of Heaven" is that it attempts to sustain the memories of the war, no matter how painful it gets and even if most would want it erased from their own beings. It is true that future generations can only learn about progress by not repeating the follies of the past. And some chapters in a nation's history include episodes that have tested human endurance.

[Petter Nordal · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's amazing to me how little peole consider the Vietnamese side of the war.

[Isadora Wagner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collection can be a little hit and miss but has some gems.