Only the Heart

by Brian Caswell, David Phu an Chiem

From the chaos and the fear of post-war Saigon, and the terror of pirates on the open ocean, to the triumph and tragedy of a new life, Only the Heart, is the story of Toan and Linh, and a family that endures the nightmare, in search of the dream.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, War, Fiction, Read For School, School

212 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Brian Caswell was born in Wales and moved to Australia at the age of twelve. He began his working life as a teacher, resigning in 1990 to become a full-time writer.
His first novel, Merryll of the Stones, was Honour Book (Older Readers) in the 1990 Children's Book Council Book of the Year Awards. He has since published three more books, A Dream of Stars (1991), A Cage of Butterflies (1992), which was short-listed in the 1993 Children's Book Council Awards, and Mike (1993) his first novel for younger readers. Two further novels, Dreamslip and Lisdalia, are scheduled for publication in 1994.

Reviews

[Celinia-isb · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book called "only the heart" by Brian Caswell and David Phu An Chiem it is about the Vietnam War, and the problem and hardships the Vietnamese faced while escaping their war stricken country. In the book, Toan which is the main character of this story and his family escape Vietnam, on a boat. During the boat trip, Phoung (cousin to Toen) is almost captured by sea pirates, but her mother saves her from sex with him, by offering herself. She is taken away and never seen by her family again. When they arrived to Indonesia people try to send them back. They needed to move somewhere else and it ended up in Australia This novel is filled with hope. It shows the inside of Vietnam, the way people feel about the war and the experiences, that caused the Vietnamese people to become stronger. Only the heart is filled with hope, desolation and a dream. I recommend this book for isb students because it is about the war in Vietnam. It is kind of hard to read this book.

[Lauryn Oviedo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A heart-warming story based on the true story of the authors personal experience of being an Australian-Vietnamese refugee.

[Kazia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book I had to study for year twelve english, and while the essays were annoying, the book itself was very interesting to me. It's incredibly honest and personal about an issue that still lives on today. its told from the multiple perspectives of the family members. though events are in chronological order, there are many flash backs and looks into the future.This serves to convey the connections between all the events and establishes all the characters motivations. The trade off is it can make the narrative confusing and difficult to follow at times.

It's a depressing but ultimately uplifting story that's about leaving the familiar in order to pursue a better life, and getting there no matter how hard it gets. Even with the threat of ship-wreck, Thai pirates, supply shortages and disease, the family still goes ahead. Then the next challenge arises; adapting to a totally different country and culture.

If you are interested in modern history and/or are wondering about the illegal immigration issue, it's a good little book to look at. It's also just a good way to observe the resilience of the human spirit no matter how strenuous the situation. Either way, it's one book that will be popping up in your thoughts for a long time after it's read.

[Mon · Rating 2 out of 5]

To be frank this review is probably a bit biased considering I have not read this since I was 14, and it was school related which pretty much means I speed read it in 5 minutes before the English exam. Now, the reason this book didn't impress me was it out dated ideals and as a textbook, it doesn't achieve it most basic requirement - to present a morale that would last in a kid's head for more than an hour of exam.

[Dawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very disappointing read. So much potential but let down by the formatting of the story - even though the story was told by different characters, the author did not differentiate between the characters enough to allow their voices through. Instead, the novel read as if it was told by the one person.

[Ben Krajancic · Rating 2 out of 5]

Who can go through this amount of crap and not have their character develop not even in the slightest, major flaw in the writing.

Also, I get the writing style is supposed to be more of a documentary style, but you can't evoke an emotional response for a character existing for merely a chapter.

[Andre Hermanto · Rating 1 out of 5]

Forced to read this in high school and hated it.

[D.A. Cairns · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was given to me by a friend because of the Vietnamese connection. The two major waves of Vietnamese refugees to come to Australia form a major part of our national story. Many books have been written about the refugee experience by refugees themselves and their children. Perhaps the best known is Anh Do's "The Happiest Refugee."

Personal tales of people taking life threatening risks, leaving behind most if not all of their possessions, and other family members, and fleeing their home countries to find safety and peace are bound to be moving; equally inspiring and disturbing. This is true of Only the Heart. It has some fascinating history, humourous interludes, heart wrenching moments and great suspense. Unfortunately, the structure of the novel ruined the story for me.

Two problems I had: one the use of multiple points of view and tense shifts was haphazard and only occasionally useful. I found it distracting. The other was the non lineal narrative. Backwards and forwards in time. Australia. Vietnam. Australia. The overall effect was a lack of cohesion. Furthermore the long section towards the end of the book about the tragic incident involving the family and a Vietnamese gang in Sydney didn't quite fit and was disproportionately lengthy.

The book contains some profound insight and some very poignant scenes. The author clearly demonstrates great sensitivity for the people he writes about. In that sense, and for other reasons the book is aptly titled.

[Maria Rosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

My son was made to read this book for year 12. The story is historically very informative and has given me further insight into stories Australian/Vietnamese have told me about their voyage to Australia. I think it is a good book for youths to read in order to gain knowledge, understanding, depth and empathy towards the background of Vietnamese/Australians. The language is pretty simple, and the stronger scenes do not have too much detail, therefore rendering it appropriate for a youth audience. Nevertheless there is a lot of thoughtfulness and insight into the mind of the characters in order to trigger readers to ponder about the situations they are reading. The writing is ordinary, not super captivating, but the story develops as a chronology with events identified in specific dates and places

[Gill Schell · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting account of the escape and journey of one Vietnamese family to Australia in the 70's and the challenges they faced when they got there. A teenager at the time, I still remember the vivid photos and TV coverage, and I suppose I was drawn to this book, picked up in a charity shop, out of curiosity. What happened to these "Boat People" as the world termed them. The literary style - using different voices in short bursts - sadly prevented any emotional attachment to the characters.

[Ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Smacks of school syllabus served with a heavy hand.

[Amy O'Leary]

Read for English.

[Phuong My]

I like it

[Janyne Kemp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fell in love with this book when I was in school and just had to reread it.

[Nick Smart · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is about the Vietnam war, and the problems and hardships the Vietnamese people faced while trying to escape their war stricken country. During the book, Toan and his family escape Vietnam, on a boat. They become part of the first wave of boat people. During the boat trip, Phuong is almost captured by sea pirates, but her mother saves her from becoming a sex slave, by offering herself, in fair exchange and sacrifice for the safety of Phuong. She is taken away and never seen by her family again. This was not her fault however, this was forced upon her through the Vietnam gangs. When the family makes it to Malaysia, the Malaysian people try to send them back, but they destroy the ship, forcing everyone to go overboard. Toan almost drowns. When they make it to Malaysia, they are on a list waiting to be transferred to another country so they can be safe from the war in Vietnam. After being late for their time to leave, Toan's father takes matters into his own hands. They escape from their "home" and chase after the dream for a better life for their family. They end up in Australia.
The Book Only the Heart was on i struggled to get the hang off lots of things were really confusing and the switching between character made it a lot harder for the reader to understand.
I rate this book 3.5 out of 10

[Pino Radenti · Rating 2 out of 5]

Only the heart is a true story of a Vietnamese family trying to flee their country during civil war. There is not really a main character in this book because it takes a look at multiple peoples thoughts and feelings and this is where this book loses me. It is always jumping from one character to another, year to year and location to location so consequently I couldn't keep up with this book and it felt like a chore reading it. I rate this book 5/10 only on the suspenseful parts I could understand but maybe more experienced or mature readers might find this book great.

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an interesting insight into the life of a refugee. It takes as through the path they take to reach freedom.

They main characters in this book have to risk all to get to Australia where they can live in safety and not in fear of the government.

This book had interesting elements in it and I think it was a good pro refugee book.

[Matthew Goldsmith · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really didn't enjoy this book, I thought that it had no plot and was going no where until the end. It wasn't like other books where they are so interesting that you have to keep on reading it. I only kept on reading it because I wanted to know where the author took it, it sort of became interesting near the end but I thought that was far too late to become interesting.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book, is very touching, you experience what the boat people actually have to go through to get here, you dont just simply hop on a bopat and bam, your welcomed here. you have too go through a lot, i wont spoil anything. just read it.

[Jock Parsons · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was a good book that we read in class my favrote part was when they got out of vietnam the they went to the refuge camp the the beast part was when the were alowed to come to australia. also i liked that they got out of the gang system

[Dani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hm.. this book wasnt a favourite of mine at all. It didnt really pick up speed for me until the middle-ish, and from there it was pretty good. Although there were some parts that i found boring in between. In saying that, it was still an okay read, but nothing too exciting

[Dione · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful Story... of Vietnamese culture and experience... Touching... Inspirational. Just simply beautiful!

[James Taranto · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was set in the vietnam war
It was about refugees fleeing to Australia fo a better life
I thought this book was good

[Henry Moss]

I personally did not enjoy this book very much but it still has believable characters and a thought provoking storyline.

[Josh Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

i enjoyed this book because it told you about why boat people come to australia.

[Nicholas Mautone · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unmemorable character, boring and terrible plotline.
1 star for having easily memorable quotes for my essay about it.

[An · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I read this book I almost cry because this work is during the Vietnam War and democracy and the evil communist and people leaving Vietnam on boats finding freedom.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read in year 10

Multiple perspectives, flashbacks and future glimpses make the book sometimes confusing and busy
Otherwise, very emotional, highly relevant and intensely gripping.