From the Bookshelf of Around the World in 80 Books…

The Best We Could Do

Thi Bui

Start date: July 18, 2018

Finish date: October 2, 2018

Discussion: VIETNAM: The Best We Could Do

Why we're reading this: Our choice for Vietnam is The Best We Could Do. This beautifully illustrated and emotional story is an ev…more
[close] Our choice for Vietnam is The Best We Could Do. This beautifully illustrated and emotional story is an evocative memoir about the search for a better future and a longing for the past. Exploring the anguish of immigration and the lasting effects that displacement has on a child and her family, Bui documents the story of her family’s daring escape after the fall of South Vietnam in the 1970s, and the difficulties they faced building new lives for themselves.

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VIETNAM: The Best We Could Do

As You Read - What are you thinking about The Best We Could Do?
By Cait · 5 posts · 9 views

last updated Oct 24, 2018 07:11AM

What Members Thought

Jan 29, 2018 Becki Iverson rated it it was amazing

This hefty graphic memoir was all over best-of lists last year, and after reading I can totally see why. It's a lightly haunting, emotional but clear-eyed account of one family's experience during and after the Vietnam war, both as citizens of Vietnam caught between multiple warring factors that had nothing to do with them, and later as refugees and new immigrants struggling to find their way in the United States. For theater buffs, it's very similar in tone and subject matter to the play Vietgo ...more

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Aug 13, 2018 Elizabeth rated it it was amazing

Shelves: graphic-novels, memoirs, around-the-world, colonialism, asia, immigration

What a gorgeous graphic novel about a Vietnamese refugee family’s experience living through the First Indochina War and the Vietnam War, finally leading to their escape by boat to a Malaysian refugee camp followed by their admission to the United States. Reading this, I was strongly reminded of both Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel (most likely because of Bui’s focus on both of her parents and their unique relationships with her, as well as of course the graphic novel format) and What a gorgeous graphic novel about a Vietnamese refugee family’s experience living through the First Indochina War and the Vietnam War, finally leading to their escape by boat to a Malaysian refugee camp followed by their admission to the United States. Reading this, I was strongly reminded of both Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel (most likely because of Bui’s focus on both of her parents and their unique relationships with her, as well as of course the graphic novel format) and The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir by Kao Kalia Yang (a memoir about a family who fled to a refugee camp in Thailand in the aftermath of the Vietnam War and then immigrated to the United States, with the notable difference that the Yang family is Hmong, an ethnic minority who helped the American forces and faced genocide at the hands of the Vietnamese after the war).

I see at least one prominent review that suggests unspoken privileges make the descriptions of poverty in this book questionable, but I think this is unfair; Bui is very clear about her family’s privileges (especially on her mother’s side). Once the tables turn under communism, this is a liability rather than an advantage. I believe Bui’s depiction of the hardships the family suffered.

This is a great book for getting a different perspective on the Vietnam War and the history of the region, including some of the nuances of French colonialism (for example, it’s the first time I’ve read a book that covered the First Indochina War in addition to the Vietnam War). There are some great parts about birth and mothering (e.g. the difficulties of breastfeeding for the first time) including the shadows (evoked beautifully in the art) that haunt Bui as the daughter of refugees and how this connects to the way she was raised, as well as her own worries about passing down trauma to her child. Especially in light of the current crack-down on immigration in the United States, I hope this impressive and touching memoir about one way of being American is widely read and celebrated. ...more

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Aug 26, 2018 Anna rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I rarely read graphic novels, but this book makes me think I should change that habit. Simple, beautiful, thoughtful, emotional, and wonderful. I would love to re-read this book.

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Oct 22, 2018 Cait rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-by-poci, asian-author, u-s, books-by-woci, vietnam, comics, reading-around-the-world

1 like · Like

Jun 28, 2018 Murriel marked it as to-read

Jan 26, 2018 Elizabeth marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novels, asia, immigration

Jul 26, 2018 Sylvia Bull rated it it was amazing

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