Vietnam: The Land We Never Knew

by John Balaban

Color photographs show the land, people, and culture of modern-day Vietnam, through the eyes of a former American combat helicopter pilot

Genres: Travel

144 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1989

About the author

John Balaban (b. 1943) is the author of twelve books of poetry and prose. He has won several awards, including the Lamont Poetry Prize from the Academy of American Poets, a National Poetry Series Selection, and, forLocusts at the Edge of Summer: New and Selected Poems, the 1998 William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America. He was named the 2001–2004 National Artist for the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. In 2003, he was awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship. He has also been nominated twice for the National Book Award. In addition to writing poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, Balaban translates Vietnamese poetry; he is also a past president of the American Literary Translators Association. Balaban is a poet-in-residence and English professor in the creative writing program at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.

Reviews

[Ian McHugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful collection of photographs and, now that the book (at least the edition I read) is nearly 30 years old, a beautiful time capsule of a bygone age in Vietnam. The rural beauty and the hardship are captured here alongside the late-80s battered economy and misrule. Clifford's perspective - as a former US helicopter pilot who served in Vietnam in the 'American War' - captures the beginnings of the opening up of Vietnam in the late-80s and also the welcoming acceptance of 'things past' to American and the wider world. The book is a reminder of how far this beautiful nation has come in the past few decades - for better or worse.

[Max Dreyfus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es un libro de fotografías sobre Vietnam hechas por Clifford en 1989, cuando Vietnam estaba pasando por una difícil situación económica. Clifford es un antiguo piloto de helicóptero que participó en la guerra de Vietnam.
El texto del libro es del autor John Balaban. Balaban hace un recuento de la historia del país, las múltiples ocupaciones y subsecuentes liberaciones que han sucedido a lo largo de los siglos.
La influencia del Taoismo, Budismo, Catolicismo y Confucionismo ha moldeado la cultura vietnamita, con gran arraigo a la tierra y a la familia, así como también a la indepencia.

[Lysergius · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the first attempts at reconciliation between old enemies. Clifford's photographs combine with Balaban's text to paint an emotional and poignant picture of a nation trying to recover from 40 years of war. Masterful.