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Chronicles of A Village
A fragmentary poetic novel that interweaves the legends, tragedies and histories of a fabulated village in modern-day Vietnam Chronicles of a Village is set in an anonymous Vietnamese village based on the author's personal memories. The surrealistic narrative touches on the country's pre-modern history, the colonial era and the onslaught of modernity that irreversibly affects the mountains, rivers, soil and memories of a wretched people. Written in vibrant fragments that resemble prose poems, the novel combines the author's melodious style of oral storytelling with historical micro-narratives and mythological elements. The book takes the reader through poetic and political landscapes teeming with ancient legends, love stories, marvelous nature, war tragedies and modern alienation, which constitute the beauty and 'the fatal historical disabilities of a land'.
- GenresFiction
142 pages, Paperback
Published July 28, 2022
11 people are currently reading
225 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 4, 2025
This book was extremely intriguing and beautifully written with meandering and rule bending prose that reflected the subject matter. While I loved the writing style, I found it extremely easy to get lost. I bounced back and forth between adoration of how it was written, and complete confusion of what the author was talking about. Definitely glad I read this, but it has left me feeling like I need to read something a bit simpler.
November 8, 2022
I am so glad I revisited this book after Chaitanya @penguinbookssea prompted a reminder. Thank you so much to the publishing house for the #ARC .
At first glance, it seemed to be incoherent. But after reading up on the author’s frame of mind, it occured to me this story is actually written in ellipsis. That’s the beauty of writing a historical story; one can’t tell the truth from the tale. Surreal.
Do not be put off by the lack of punctuations or paragraphing. Such is the intended syntax. Not for grammatical purposes. Fragmented monologues of the writer’s anecdotes, folklore, fictional tales, imaginations or visions pieced together, sometimes ending or beginning abruptly. There isn’t any story arc. An absent plot with poems and prose layered poignantly .
Even I get tongue tied when asked to recall my trauma. Can’t exactly place a beginning to it. Can’t avoid feeling the lump in my throat.
Similarly in this stance, the writer expresses his sorrows and pain his people, family and friends suffered perpetually during and after the war in Vietnam. As he sieves through the post-(proxy) war wreckage, he threads the stories of his rural agrarian community and the women of his household engaging in their daily activities, weaving, worships and cults.
Many of his visions conjured up are drawn parallel to his growing up years listening to #folklores .There was instant justice punishments and gratifications meted out for every action in those worlds. Hence, he questions the same for the war architects who have walked away guilt-free and scot-free in this world where his land was riddled with bombs, bullets, and bloodshed.
A critical piece of work in Vietnamese literature that tells the story of the people from this village hoodwinked into false freedom only to become war remnants. Full of pathos.
Admire the translator’s dedication in working through a challenging piece of writing just so these reminiscences are amplified to the rest of us. Thank you @qqquyennn for making my world a lot richer.
#chroniclesofavillage #penguinbookssea #translatedworks #QuyenNguyenHoang #NguyenThanhHien #vietnameseliterature #penguin #igreads #bookstagram #bookstagrammer
At first glance, it seemed to be incoherent. But after reading up on the author’s frame of mind, it occured to me this story is actually written in ellipsis. That’s the beauty of writing a historical story; one can’t tell the truth from the tale. Surreal.
Do not be put off by the lack of punctuations or paragraphing. Such is the intended syntax. Not for grammatical purposes. Fragmented monologues of the writer’s anecdotes, folklore, fictional tales, imaginations or visions pieced together, sometimes ending or beginning abruptly. There isn’t any story arc. An absent plot with poems and prose layered poignantly .
Even I get tongue tied when asked to recall my trauma. Can’t exactly place a beginning to it. Can’t avoid feeling the lump in my throat.
Similarly in this stance, the writer expresses his sorrows and pain his people, family and friends suffered perpetually during and after the war in Vietnam. As he sieves through the post-(proxy) war wreckage, he threads the stories of his rural agrarian community and the women of his household engaging in their daily activities, weaving, worships and cults.
Many of his visions conjured up are drawn parallel to his growing up years listening to #folklores .There was instant justice punishments and gratifications meted out for every action in those worlds. Hence, he questions the same for the war architects who have walked away guilt-free and scot-free in this world where his land was riddled with bombs, bullets, and bloodshed.
A critical piece of work in Vietnamese literature that tells the story of the people from this village hoodwinked into false freedom only to become war remnants. Full of pathos.
Admire the translator’s dedication in working through a challenging piece of writing just so these reminiscences are amplified to the rest of us. Thank you @qqquyennn for making my world a lot richer.
#chroniclesofavillage #penguinbookssea #translatedworks #QuyenNguyenHoang #NguyenThanhHien #vietnameseliterature #penguin #igreads #bookstagram #bookstagrammer
October 1, 2022
Jangan membawa ekspektasi apapun ke Toko Buku, maka kamu akan menemukan hal ajaib di sana. Buku ini salah satunya, waktu baca judulnya aku langsung tertarik dan melihat ini buku dari penulis dan penerjemah Vietnam tentu saja makin seru. Memang akhir-akhir ini aku sedang tertarik mempelajari diriku sendiri termasuk ruang tinggal dan bahkan regionalku. Bacaan dari Eropa jadi kurang menarik lagi dan buku ini benar-benar menawarkan itu.
Cerita dalam buku ini menceritakan kisah si narator tanpa nama yang menggambarkan perubahan yang terjadi di desanya. Bagaimana bentang alam dan ketenangan hidup di kampung jadi kedamaian tanpa jeda. Membuat pemikiran dan penyair pun punya diksi serta kepekaan diri yang solid. Lantas saat penjajah dan saudagar masuk, tatanan sosial berubah sehingga menjadi penug kekhawatiran.
Buku ini membuatku punya imajinasi baru soal Vietnam, soalnya sebelum membaca buku ini aku cuma tahu soal perang Vietnam dan romantisasi Hanoi. Jika kamu ingin memulai mendekonstruksi pemikiran kolonial dalam otakmu lewat sastra, buku ini sangat tepat sebab selain punya cerita yg bagus tapi juga nambah referensi puisi yang mantep.
Minusnya satu dari Buku ini, aku merasa narasinya sangat maskulin. Perempuan cuma jadi objek dari posisi narator. Apakah karena feminisme adalah ajaran penjajah? Mari terus membaca supaya kita tahu jawabannya.
#WhatSekarReads #WhatSekarReads2022 #ChroniclesofAVillage
Cerita dalam buku ini menceritakan kisah si narator tanpa nama yang menggambarkan perubahan yang terjadi di desanya. Bagaimana bentang alam dan ketenangan hidup di kampung jadi kedamaian tanpa jeda. Membuat pemikiran dan penyair pun punya diksi serta kepekaan diri yang solid. Lantas saat penjajah dan saudagar masuk, tatanan sosial berubah sehingga menjadi penug kekhawatiran.
Buku ini membuatku punya imajinasi baru soal Vietnam, soalnya sebelum membaca buku ini aku cuma tahu soal perang Vietnam dan romantisasi Hanoi. Jika kamu ingin memulai mendekonstruksi pemikiran kolonial dalam otakmu lewat sastra, buku ini sangat tepat sebab selain punya cerita yg bagus tapi juga nambah referensi puisi yang mantep.
Minusnya satu dari Buku ini, aku merasa narasinya sangat maskulin. Perempuan cuma jadi objek dari posisi narator. Apakah karena feminisme adalah ajaran penjajah? Mari terus membaca supaya kita tahu jawabannya.
#WhatSekarReads #WhatSekarReads2022 #ChroniclesofAVillage
November 16, 2022
[Review copy from Penguin SEA]
Vividly poetic.
Reading Tip:
Start at the back, by reading the translator's afterword. This book resembles poems and it's beautifully scattered. The afterword will provide some perspective for you to better indulge in the author's words.
The Chronicles of a Village is a collection of the author's memories. The author describes the village and events through prose poems. It's a melodious diary, really.
This book surprised me and I surprised myself by finding it therapeutic. While my reading experience was preceded by a hurdle in understanding the chapters, something about the author's tone spoke clarity.
I never truly enjoyed reading poems. This book gave a middle ground between poetry and fiction. The words felt warm, the sentences inviting. As the author described what the author saw, I couldn't help but yearn to be in the village.
Readers who enjoy learning about culture will likely love this, but there's more. The simple moments and observations captured by the author, for me, were the highlights. It amazed me how the author noticed the littlest of things. Such a graceful reminder of how life travels beyond money and materials.
Be WARNED, though.
Because the phrases are akin to poems, it demanded more of my focus. If you're anything like me, I'd suggest reading this in a quiet place, when you're at your absolute ease. Then, re-read it.
I'm not a re-reader, but if there's one book that calls for me to break that chain, this would be it.
A commendable composition. It was a challenge for me, yes, but a refreshing one at that. Definitely widened my reading horizon. Now, grab a cuppa tea, relax and visit this village...
Vividly poetic.
Reading Tip:
Start at the back, by reading the translator's afterword. This book resembles poems and it's beautifully scattered. The afterword will provide some perspective for you to better indulge in the author's words.
The Chronicles of a Village is a collection of the author's memories. The author describes the village and events through prose poems. It's a melodious diary, really.
This book surprised me and I surprised myself by finding it therapeutic. While my reading experience was preceded by a hurdle in understanding the chapters, something about the author's tone spoke clarity.
I never truly enjoyed reading poems. This book gave a middle ground between poetry and fiction. The words felt warm, the sentences inviting. As the author described what the author saw, I couldn't help but yearn to be in the village.
Readers who enjoy learning about culture will likely love this, but there's more. The simple moments and observations captured by the author, for me, were the highlights. It amazed me how the author noticed the littlest of things. Such a graceful reminder of how life travels beyond money and materials.
Be WARNED, though.
Because the phrases are akin to poems, it demanded more of my focus. If you're anything like me, I'd suggest reading this in a quiet place, when you're at your absolute ease. Then, re-read it.
I'm not a re-reader, but if there's one book that calls for me to break that chain, this would be it.
A commendable composition. It was a challenge for me, yes, but a refreshing one at that. Definitely widened my reading horizon. Now, grab a cuppa tea, relax and visit this village...
January 8, 2024
Nothing quite like this, reminds me of Gabriel Garcia Márquez / Borges
Wonderful command of words post-translation, imbued with meaning, poetry, the author’s melancholia and gripes with history along with ancestry
Wonderful command of words post-translation, imbued with meaning, poetry, the author’s melancholia and gripes with history along with ancestry
October 13, 2024
Fiji Book Chronicles #1
Honestly feels like it’s the best one I could’ve finished while first getting here. Absolutely fits in with every rustic love and antiquated longing you could have, without ever diving too far into the rose-tinted romanticizing.
It’s hard, but then again, so is life. And in my current understandings with ecology and the gloomy things to come, it wouldn’t be so bad for most to take more from these attitudes often relegated to the anachronistic in favor of an ardent adoption.
To quote cheekily a somewhat childlike related work.
Unless?
Honestly feels like it’s the best one I could’ve finished while first getting here. Absolutely fits in with every rustic love and antiquated longing you could have, without ever diving too far into the rose-tinted romanticizing.
It’s hard, but then again, so is life. And in my current understandings with ecology and the gloomy things to come, it wouldn’t be so bad for most to take more from these attitudes often relegated to the anachronistic in favor of an ardent adoption.
To quote cheekily a somewhat childlike related work.
Unless?
June 10, 2023
this was such a gorgeous way to describe the awful ways humans can’t help but ruin things
April 27, 2025
Bailed on this book club book. Life is too short to read books I can’t get into (but really wanted to).
May 8, 2025
Really beautiful prose but easy to get lost in the writing; loved seeing the way the village and my understanding of it with expand; I keep thinking about the story about horses
October 17, 2022
"Chronicles of a Village" by Nguyễn Thanh Hiên is exactly what it says on the tin: it's a novel that chronicles the significant ongoings within an unnamed Vietnamese village. Told through fragmentary chapters, this is a beautiful account of the gradual changes overtaking a village as progress creeps further into its horizon.
The anecdotes related within this slim volume are based on the author's personal circumstances, so it is a pseudo-memoir in a sense. Faced with corruption and persecution, the narrator attempts to reconcile these ugly facets of human existence in order to find closure to the events which affected his family. It is also an eco-fiction with a heart; descriptions of the beauty of nature and how humans have once co-existed alongside it are in abundance, along with the ominous foreknowledge that humans will soon overtake nature due to our greed.
The fluid narrative style harkens back to a time of oral storytelling as Hiên weaves in folklore and mythologies which have descended through his ancestors to produce something truly poetic and lyrical. The non-linear writing (described as an 'act of drifting' in the afterword) and the long paragraphs might not be to everyone's taste, but it does make for a poetic read.
Much as I would like to go on and on about the beauty of this novel, I think this is the kind of read that's best experienced for yourself. If you're a fan of poetic writing in your fiction, this will likely whet your appetite. This is also a recommended read if you're looking to expand your Southeast Asian reading experience!
Thank you to Times Reads for the review copy; all opinions are my own.
The anecdotes related within this slim volume are based on the author's personal circumstances, so it is a pseudo-memoir in a sense. Faced with corruption and persecution, the narrator attempts to reconcile these ugly facets of human existence in order to find closure to the events which affected his family. It is also an eco-fiction with a heart; descriptions of the beauty of nature and how humans have once co-existed alongside it are in abundance, along with the ominous foreknowledge that humans will soon overtake nature due to our greed.
The fluid narrative style harkens back to a time of oral storytelling as Hiên weaves in folklore and mythologies which have descended through his ancestors to produce something truly poetic and lyrical. The non-linear writing (described as an 'act of drifting' in the afterword) and the long paragraphs might not be to everyone's taste, but it does make for a poetic read.
Much as I would like to go on and on about the beauty of this novel, I think this is the kind of read that's best experienced for yourself. If you're a fan of poetic writing in your fiction, this will likely whet your appetite. This is also a recommended read if you're looking to expand your Southeast Asian reading experience!
Thank you to Times Reads for the review copy; all opinions are my own.
October 21, 2022
it was a morning i will never forget, the morning i opened the door to the sound of them shooting
First line and I’m convinced I’d love this book.
Short, amusing, poetic annals of an unknown village in Vietnam. The year isn’t specifically mentioned but I’m guessing around 1870s during the French colonial era.
The prose is written in journal-like hence it felt like reading someone’s personal diary, could be your grandfather. And often times, I felt like reading an actual memoir. But this is a work of fiction ladies and gentlemen..
I love how the thoughts gradually change as the narrator’s age. His inner monologues depict his matureness. From simply an innocent boy observing birds, leaves, hillside and mountains.. making remarks on the war aftermath.. then adolescence came in, experiencing a whole hormonal changes, he started to notice the other gender.. the peak of his life is during adulthood, facing adult dilemmas & suddenly the world is vulnerable, full of betrayals and corruptions.. he began to understand most of the things he has seen before. But most of all, nature is the centre point of this memoir. Not only the narrator is growing up, his surroundings too, his hometown develops day by day
P/s: I may have exaggerate his life story but that’s how I perceived this memoir
Reading this made me wish my ancestors did something like this. Telling me, writing to the future generations on what and how it was back then… or maybe, I should start first? 🤣
Have you ever wrote to your future self by the way?
Beautiful, beautiful writing and the translator did a great job in conveying this work of art 👏🏻
Big thanks to Ms @putrifariza & @times.reads for this book!
First line and I’m convinced I’d love this book.
Short, amusing, poetic annals of an unknown village in Vietnam. The year isn’t specifically mentioned but I’m guessing around 1870s during the French colonial era.
The prose is written in journal-like hence it felt like reading someone’s personal diary, could be your grandfather. And often times, I felt like reading an actual memoir. But this is a work of fiction ladies and gentlemen..
I love how the thoughts gradually change as the narrator’s age. His inner monologues depict his matureness. From simply an innocent boy observing birds, leaves, hillside and mountains.. making remarks on the war aftermath.. then adolescence came in, experiencing a whole hormonal changes, he started to notice the other gender.. the peak of his life is during adulthood, facing adult dilemmas & suddenly the world is vulnerable, full of betrayals and corruptions.. he began to understand most of the things he has seen before. But most of all, nature is the centre point of this memoir. Not only the narrator is growing up, his surroundings too, his hometown develops day by day
P/s: I may have exaggerate his life story but that’s how I perceived this memoir
Reading this made me wish my ancestors did something like this. Telling me, writing to the future generations on what and how it was back then… or maybe, I should start first? 🤣
Have you ever wrote to your future self by the way?
Beautiful, beautiful writing and the translator did a great job in conveying this work of art 👏🏻
Big thanks to Ms @putrifariza & @times.reads for this book!
June 14, 2024
still hesitating over whether this is 4- or 5-stars but i'll decide again next time because i'm definitely rereading it. tempted to say this succeeds at some of what mathias énard's gravedigger book aspired to do. quyên nguyễn-hoàng is surely one of the most exciting poet-translator-essayist extraordinaires at work today, just check out "learning late letters" or "to translate (into) the moon" to get a sense of her poetics, or her more recent essay "the gate" (routed thru paul celan, yoko tawada, meditations on language & many other figures). ecstatic that it's coming out with yale UP in april 2024!
May 21, 2025
Blurred the lines between prose + verse, oral + written stories, and reality + mythology... plus the whole thing was gorgeously written. The lack of hard stops in the writing gave the stories a meandering quality that really made them feel orated by an old uncle. Immersive and vivid depictions of a village from ancient history to modern day - the sections detailing the collision of industrialization, war, and colonization with the bucolic village (an ideal that maybe only existed in the narrator's head) were fascinating. Wonderful translation note included with the novel which contextualizes the work and author well for non-Vietnamese audiences.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews