The Sorrow Of War eBook: Bao Ninh: Amazon.com.au: Kindle Store
Length: 244 pages Word Wise: Enabled Enhanced Typesetting:Enabled
Page Flip: Enabled Language: English
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5.0 out of 5 starsI loved this book
BySusan Inglison 7 February 2015
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
I loved this book! was reading it while I was teaching in Hanoi. I found it incredibly moving. Would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to get a glimpse into the "other side" of the American/Vietnam war experience.
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Amazon.com: 4.2 out of 5 stars 129 reviews
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5.0 out of 5 starsTop Level of the Genre
ByAmazon Customeron 11 January 2017 - Published on Amazon.com
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This work is about the Vietnam war from a North Vietnamese soldier's point of view. It isn't particularly political, though it was banned in Vietnam for a time, perhaps still is, because it was critical of the war and of politics. A soldier's reflection on the atrocities of war and psychological damage war inflicts upon nations and upon the soldiers and citizens. Can a person or society ever heal from war? This, I believe is an important question asked by the question, and, as Roland Barthes proposes, "literature is the question minus the answer," and Bao Ninh's work is true to Barthes' proposal on this point.
I am loathe to provide spoilers, and for literary works, style is as much a part of the content as plot, so I suppose this is a spoiler of sorts: The plot is not presented in a linear way, but dislocates time, which is common in many Vietnam War novels. I imagine a masters or doctoral thesis can be performed on Vietnam War novels and the dislocation of time as a stylistic device. For this novel, however, it is an absolute necessity stylistically to produce the effect the novel builds to near the end, so stick with it if you have trouble with that approach to plot.
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5.0 out of 5 starsRecommended for everyone
ByAmazon Customeron 19 August 2016 - Published on Amazon.com
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
One of the best novels about war and about the responsibilities of writing and bearing witness. The book is essential reading for Americans (and is certainly not DRV propaganda) and for anyone questioning militarism. I really can't praise this book enough! It's engaging and reads quickly, but still has a lot of depth, so it rewards everything from casual reading to serious study.
The translation is quite good as well, except a few typos and (in the Kindle edition) missing diacritical marks on Vietnamese names. It'd be nice as well if there were the translator explained that, in Vietnamese, people address each other using "uncle," "aunt," "little brother," "grandfather," etc, in order to show relative status, NOT because they are related--this confused me at first.
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5.0 out of 5 starsWell-written novel on the devastation of war
ByGreen Dragon USAon 31 August 2015 - Published on Amazon.com
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Mesmerizing and well-written love and war "memoir" of North Vietnamese soldier of the Vietnam war. The devastation and cruelties of war had robbed young lovebirds of their youth, their innocence, their happiness...and now they are left hardened-hearted, indifferent to vulnerable emotions, and incapable of being in love or feeling happy. The stories jumped around in timeline; however, the main character (Kien)'s memories were so vivid and many times visceral in his war experience: no mention of glory, victory or necessarily defeats but mostly the story-telling led through fates of the deaths and how those haunting souls never left Kien.
My favorite quotes:
"...hard to remember a time when his whole personality and character had been in tact, a time before the cruelty and the destruction of war had warped his soul. A time when he had been deeply in love, passionate aching with desire, hilariously frivolous and lighthearted...when he too was worthy of being a lover and in love...but war was a world with no home, no roof, no comforts. A miserable journey of endless drifting... War was also a world without romance. He couldn't avoid the drain on his soul, the ruin his young men were escaping from as they set about squeezing the last remaining drops of love from their nightly adventures."
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5.0 out of 5 starsA Riveting Memoir Packaged as a Novel
ByFrank Bellizzion 28 March 2014 - Published on Amazon.com
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Although presented as a novel, it seems obvious that this book is really memoir of a soldier who fought as part of the North Vietnamese army. Apparently, Bao Ninh realized that if he told his own story in a straightforward way, it would never make it past the censors in communist Vietnam. So he told his own story as a piece of fiction. If it looked like a made-up story, the government wouldn't care as much. That's one way of thinking about how this book came into existence, and it makes sense to me. Anyway, even in translation, Bao Ninh's story is elegant, evocative, haunting, memorable. It is not for the faint of heart, and will likely change the way American readers think about the Vietnam War.
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5.0 out of 5 stars'The Sorrow of War' a must read
ByDavid Hinchliffeon 21 December 2012 - Published on Amazon.com
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For those of us who took to the streets in protest during what was then referred to as the 'Vietnam war', this book is most definitely a must read. With rave reviews from the Sunday Times, the Guardian, New Statesman and Independent, there's always the potential for the book to fall short of such high praise. This simply written but powerful book does not. There is an aching, palpable, relentless sadness that pervades this small but momumental story about the war which Vietnamese now refer to as the "American War". As Vietnam assumes its position among the top ten tourist destinations for Australians, it's vital that we understand more of that country's recent history and our role in that sad tale.'The Sorrow of War' makes that story real and personal. Australians and Americans have a special responsibility when visiting Vietnam to show respect and appreciation in recognition of their struggle and of the complicity of former political leaders of our two countries in their suffering. For me the tragic story behind 'The Sorrow of War' makes the many smiling Vietnamese faces, their courtesy and their resilience and the small acts of generosity ith which they greet tourists all the more remarkable and humbling.
Go to Amazon.com to see all 129 reviews 4.2 out of 5 stars
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