Vietnam

[Diane , Armchair Tour Guide]

Post any books about Vietnam here.

[Diane , Armchair Tour Guide]

Books set in Vietnam:



Catfish and Mandala by Andrew X. Pham
When Heaven and Earth Changed Places by Le Ly Hayslip
The Book of Salt by Monique Truong (Set mostly in France)
Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes
The Quiet AmericanThe Quiet American by Graham Greene
The Sorrow of War: A Novel of North Vietnam by Bảo Ninh
A Vietcong Memoir: An Inside Account of the Vietnam War by Truong Nhu Tang
The Eaves of Heaven: A Life in Three Wars by Andrew X. Pham
Last Night I Dreamed of Peace: The Diary of Dang Thuy Tram by Dang Thuy Tram
Paradise of the Blind by Dương Thu Hương
The Tapestries: A Novel by Kien Nguyen
Dispatches by Michael Herr
Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson
Going After Cacciato by Tim O'Brien
The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli
Tripwire by Lee Child
We Were Soldiers Once...and Young by Harold G. Moore
A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo
A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam by Neil Sheehan
Vietnam: A History by Stanley Karnow
Everything We Had: An Oral History of the Vietnam War by Al Santoli
If I Die in a Combat Zone: Box Me Up and Ship Me Home by Tim O'Brien
A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain: Stories by Robert Olen Butler
All the Broken Pieces by Ann E. Burg
Dragon House by John Shors
Marine Sniper: 93 Confirmed Kills by Charles W. Henderson
Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
Cracker!: The Best Dog in Vietnam by Cynthia Kadohata
In Pharaoh's Army: Memories of the Lost War by Tobias Wolff
Up Country by Nelson DeMille
Born on the Fourth of July by Ron Kovic
Fire in the Lake: The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam
Fields of Fire by James Webb
The Beauty of Humanity Movement by Camilla Gibb
Four Hours in My Lai by Michael Bilton
Dear America: Letters from Vietnam by Bernard Edelman
They Marched into Sunlight by David Maraniss
Nam: The Vietnam War in the Words of the Men and Women Who Fought There
Tunnels of Cu Chi by Tom Mangold
Hell In A Very Small Place: The Siege Of Dien Bien Phu by Bernard B. Fall
The House on Dream Street: Memoir of an American Woman in Vietnam
Street Without Joy: The French Debacle in Indochina by Bernard B. Fall
The Girl in the Picture: The Story of Kim Phuc by Denise Chong
Novel without a Name by Dương Thu Hương
Water Buffalo Days: Growing Up in Vietnam by Huynh Quang Nhuong
The Lover by Marguerite Duras
Memories of a Pure Spring by Dương Thu Hương
Daughters of the River Huong by Uyen Nicole Duong
The Sacred Willow Four Generations by Duong Van Mai Elliott
Beyond Illusions by Dương Thu Hương
Close Quarters: A Novel by Larry Heinemann
Dumb Luck by Vũ Trọng Phụng
Spring Essence by Ho Xuan Huong
If You Lived Here: A Novel by Dana Sachs
Secrets of the Red Lantern: Stories and Recipes from the Heart by Pauline Nguyen
When Hell was in Session by Jeremiah A. Denton
Crossing the River: Short Fiction by Nguyen Huy Thiep by Nguyen Nguyet Qui
The Crystal Messenger by Pham Thi Hoai

[Diane , Armchair Tour Guide]

More books set in Vietnam:



Wandering Souls: Journeys With the Dead and the Living in Viet Nam
Patriots: The Vietnam War Remembered from All Sides by Christian G. Appy
Marble Mountain: A Vietnam Memoir by Bud Willis
Keep Your Head Down: A Memoir by Doug Anderson
They Marched Into Sunlight: War and Peace Vietnam and America October 1967
The Best and the Brightest the Best and the Brightest by David Halberstam

[Faith]

When Duty Calls by Faith DeVeaux

[Diane , Armchair Tour Guide]

Postcards from Nam by Uyen Nicole Duong

[Kate]

Nha Trang Haunted
Paranormal romance - novella. (adult content)
The story is fiction, but the Nha Trang airport really is haunted.

[Diane , Armchair Tour Guide]

The Frangipani Hotel: Fiction by Violet Kupersmith

[Diane , Armchair Tour Guide]

Where the Wind Leads: A Refugee Family's Miraculous Story of Loss, Rescue, and Redemption by Vinh Chung.

[Diane , Armchair Tour Guide]

Lean In Like a Queen: 17 Lessons from the Last Queen of Vietnam's Daring Negotiations by Kim Do

[bossy]

The Headmaster's Wager by Vincent Lam

[Diane , Armchair Tour Guide]

Gene Mapper by Taiyo Fujii

[Melinda]

I really enjoyed Catfish and Mandala--which happens to be the first suggestion on this thread. I just thought I'd add my approval.

[Melinda]

Listen, Slowly--a kids' book, and though had some issues with the plot and characters, the cultural detail and setting were amazing


Listen, Slowly

[Diane , Armchair Tour Guide]

More books set in Vietnam:


The 13th Valley by John M. Del Vecchio
After Sorrow: An American Among The Vietnamese by Lady Borton
Apocalypse Hotel: A Novel by Hồ Anh Thái
Behind the Red Mist by Hồ Anh Thái
The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui
Black Dog, Black Night: Contemporary Vietnamese Poetry by Paul Hoover
Black Virgin Mountain: A Return to Vietnam by Larry Heinemann
Blood On The Risers by John Leppelman
Bloods: Black Veterans of the Vietnam War: An Oral History by Wallace Terry
The Book of Perceptions by Truong Tran
Bouddha by Jules Clarétie
The Buddha's Diamonds by Carolyn Marsden
Burnings by Ocean Vuong
Ca Dao Vietnam: Vietnamese Folk Poetry by John Balaban
The Cat From Hue: A Vietnam War Story by John Laurence
The Centurions by Jean Lartéguy
Chickenhawk by Robert Mason
The Collection of Heng Souk by S.R. Wilsher
Crossing Over: The Vietnam Stories by Richard Currey
Daughter of the River: An Autobiography by Hong Ying
The Defiant Muse: Vietnamese Feminist Poems from Antiquity to the Present
Derailed in Uncle Ho's Victory Garden: Return to Vietnam and Cambodia
Dog Soldiers by Robert Stone
Dragon Ascending: Vietnam and the Vietnamese by Henry Kamm
The Dragon Prince: Stories and Legends from Vietnam by Thich Nhat Hanh
Dust and Conscience by Truong Tran
Eating Viet Nam: Dispatches from a Blue Plastic Table by Graham Holliday
Embers Of War by Fredrik Logevall
Estuary by Sam Bunny

[John]

Destination Saigon: Adventures in Vietnam by Walter Mason

Hanoi Stories by Pam Scott

Seeing Vietnam: Encounters of the Road and Heart by Susan Brownmiller

[Suzy]

here are two more books set in Vietnam that I've enjoyed and which I don't think have been listed already.


Such a Lovely Little War: Saigon 1961-63

The Sympathizer

[Carol]

Suzy wrote: "here are two more books set in Vietnam that I've enjoyed and which I don't think have been listed already.

There’s a second book in Marcelino Truong’s series:

Saigon Calling: London 1963-75.

And Viet Thanh Nguyen’s short story collection also belongs here: The Refugees.

[Jimmy]

I am just finishing up with this one, and I think it gives an accurate picture of the life of a combat soldier in Vietnam. It is considered non-fiction:

Suicide Charlie: A Vietnam War Story
by Norman L. Russell

[Jimmy]

This book should definitely be included here:

Huế 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam

by Mark Bowden

[Jimmy]

And I enjoyed this one a lot as well. Deserves more fame:

Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character

by Jonathan Shay

[Fiona]

The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai