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What Members Thought
3.5 stars, rounded down; overall I found this easy to read and it made me feel all the emotions.
I think there were clear strengths and weaknesses to this novel. The characters captivated me and I quickly found myself invested in what happened to them. The author also does an impressive job conveying the diverse forms of suffering experienced by Vietnamese people from the French occupation through to after the end of the Vietnamese war. While I appreciate the author's attempt to depict a wide ra ...more
I think there were clear strengths and weaknesses to this novel. The characters captivated me and I quickly found myself invested in what happened to them. The author also does an impressive job conveying the diverse forms of suffering experienced by Vietnamese people from the French occupation through to after the end of the Vietnamese war. While I appreciate the author's attempt to depict a wide ra ...more
Honestly one of, if not my favourite, reads of the year.
It such a highly researched story, and every single character felt fleshed out. This book is a real celebration of Vietnam. I loved hearing about all the foods and traditions. As in books such as Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, this book chronicles the cruelty of the past, but brings hope to the current generation of characters. I rarely read books that touch on the Vietnam War, so reading this book was very eye-opening. I think Nguyễn Phan Quế Ma ...more
Had a good story, and I liked the characters. The perspective from northern Vietnam was refreshing: most of the stories I've seen from Vietnam are focused on America and the war, so seeing how the war (and everything else) affected a northern family was interesting.
However, the format of the book removed the tension from the story. I was never worried for a character because I knew that they either got through it or they didn't before the action happened.
The switching between spoken narrative ...more
However, the format of the book removed the tension from the story. I was never worried for a character because I knew that they either got through it or they didn't before the action happened.
The switching between spoken narrative ...more
