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After Sorrow: An American Among the Vietnamese
byLady Borton
Format: HardcoverChange
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Personne Lente
5.0 out of 5 starsvery thoughtfull
February 8, 2001
As a veteran of the war in Viet Nam, I can say that the thought of reading another book about the war was not appealing. Most of the books are so apologetic, jingoistic, or wrapped up in macho face-saving that they are of little use. This book was recommended by a friend who met Ms Borton in Han Noi, Viet Nam. He had not read her book, but was impressed by her enough to tell me about her. Unknown to my friend, I was in Quang Ngai City in 1969 when she was there (I in Air Cavalry, she with Quaker Services) and I knew of (and respected) the work of her organization from that time. I found 'After Sorrow' in my Colleges library and after reading it, have since bought several copies to give to friends, mostly fellow veterans.
The reception has always been positive. It is an excellent book: personal and painfully revealing and very well written. It covers several extended visits by Ms Borton to various parts of the country over a span of some twenty years. I recommend it to anyone interested in the war, or the role of women in war, or really anyone interested in a good book. The beginning section, a visit to a village in the Mekong delta area, was particularly startling in the discussion of how effective the village women were as guerillas. My only complaint is the use of translated names without giving the Viet Namese original. The translated names are beautiful and lyric but I would like to know what 'Autumn' or 'River' or 'Second Harvest' are in their own language.
11 people found this helpful
Deborah Fink
5.0 out of 5 starsYesJune 16, 2016
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
If you're interested in an intimate look at ordinary Vietnamese, this is the book. The characters and scenes are well done.
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Ping Lim
3.0 out of 5 stars
11 people found this helpful
Deborah Fink
5.0 out of 5 starsYesJune 16, 2016
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
If you're interested in an intimate look at ordinary Vietnamese, this is the book. The characters and scenes are well done.
HelpfulComment Report abuse
Ping Lim
3.0 out of 5 stars
Long Winded But EssentialJuly 13, 2001
Format: Paperback
From her experience living together with the common people, Lady Borton is able to reveal to us the main reason why the Americans failed to win the war in Vietnam. In fact, the war is already lost even before it began. Vietnamese is those special breed of people that's enormously proud of their country & should Americans have learnt about Vietnamese history, then, they would have to think twice before deciding to chip in efforts in assisting the French, & subsequently, to fight against communism. It so happened that after interviewing the common people, they were not fighting the Americans for communism but they simply wanted to win the right to enjoy their lives, to live as a free person with their own people. We also learnt of women's significant contribution towards the cause. Along the way, they lost their loved ones, & many became victims to chemical warfare conducted by the Americans. Surprisingly, many Vietnamese don't have ill-feelings against Americans because they always regarded the American Government differently from the Americans. The book also gives us a glimpse of their cultures (celebration of Tet & New Year), difference beween North & South Vietnam. To make the reading more interesting, there were pictures taken of the author with her new found friends ie. villagers, drawing of villages layouts, map of Vietnam, outline of Vietnam history, description of Vietnamese terms, relevant poems to start every & each chapters written by Vietnamese nationalists & poets. I don't find the book particularly captivating to read as it's quite long winded describing every little details about domestic chores. For those that yearn to feel the essence of villagers' life, perhaps, it's worth the while. Still, this doesn't deter the author's goal of reconciling between the States & Vietnam, & thus, the title of the book, After Sorrow.
3 people found this helpful
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James Chaffee
1.0 out of 5 starsLeftist propaganda, mostly lies.March 25, 1999
Format: Paperback
This is a pernicious piece of leftist propaganda. The most obvious lie is that the author is politically neutral. Other pieces of nonsense litter the book from the preface and early chapters on. For example, on page five the author states that the United States embargo kept information about AIDS out of Vietnam. This is such an utter lie that it is embarrassing. It is well known that the Vietnamese government itself kept this information out of the country through its highly efficient censorship of news and information. Government censorship is still being used to edit out information regarding internal problems, including drug abuse. A better perspective on the absurdity of the Vietnamese medical establishment, which readily received medical supplies from the U.S. during the embargo, can be obtained by reading Brothers in Arms by William Broyles, Jr. This book was recommended to me by my guide while I was there.
In Grace Paley's preface to the book, it is stated that the United States defended "Quang Tri with almost total destruction". Along with a strange notion of geography (on the other side of what river is Quang Ngai, which is in fact south of Danang!), it is not mentioned that the actual destruction of Quang Tri was a result of the violation of the Paris accords by the Armies of the North in 1972. In fact, the stretch of Highway 1 around Quang Tri and Dong Ha, originally called the Street Without Joy by the French, has been renamed the Street of Terror by the locals. This is because of the 30,000 or so civilians, fleeing Dong Ha and the invading North Vietnamese Army, who were intenionally slaughtered by North Vietnamese artillery. Those terrified civilians remembered the 5,000 or more men, women and children who were massacred by the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese during their occupation of Hue in the 1968 Tet offensive. Many of those massacred in Hue were buried alive.
I have returned to Vietnam recently and can say that it is difficult to find anyone who is now proud of having served with the Viet Cong. In fact, from Hoi An to the DMZ the Marines are heroes. The Hanoi Government is an extremely corrupt police state that is killing its citizens and its economy, and is uniformly hated in both the North and the South, which essentially remain two countries, just as they were before the war.
It's obvious that the reason the current regime allowed this woman to live in a former Viet Cong village is the same as the reason that they allowed the Marxist Tom Hayden and such notables as Jane Fonda to travel in their country, namely for propaganda purposes. However, the true colors of the revolution, which purged any nationalist (non-Marixt) elements after the war, have been shown in recent times, even though the news media of the United States still does not publish the stories of oppression and political and religious persecution in that country. It is apparent that the reason Lady Jane wrote this misleading account was to try to reconcile the embarrassing truth told by the fleeing boat people with her own belief in the beneficent Marxist government that conquered the South. My own experience is that the country is full of people who are struggling to leave, mostly without success.
I could introduce Paley and Lady Jane to a woman who lived outside Dong Ha all through the war, still living there, who would tell a different story if she was not afraid of reprisals against herself and her family. And I know a former boat person from Quang Ngai, living in the United States, who would also tell a different story.
In truth, this book is a piece of propaganda meant to cover the embarrassment of a leftist who helped victimize the South Vietnamese people by supporting a brutal Stalinist regime in one of the lost battles of the Cold War. Unfortunately, those people are still suffering with the result of that failure on our part.
If you want to revisit and marvel at the nonsense spewed out about the wonderful Communists during the 60s and 70s, then read this book in that spirit, but if you want some truth read the more balanced account of a revisit by William Broyes, Jr. mentioned above.
36 people found this helpful
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Carole Raisbeck
4.0 out of 5 starsAnother Point of View Rarely Noted in the USMarch 28, 2001
Format: Paperback
Lady Borton holds some strong opinions as I have noted on a recent trip to Viet Nam. In this wonderful book however she holds them in check and expresses everything in the words, experiences and thoughts of others who presumably were there. Reading this in country and in fact in the exact places cited in the book was a moving experience. Borton does not actually take a view on agent orange here although she has one. In fact emphasising that a woman's statements in the text are annecdotal and without statistical foundation is more than fair to other opinions. Nor does she promote communism but rather separates it from the nationalism which won the war for her friends who only begin to thrive when a market economy arrives. This is a wonderful story reflecting what other war participants think and feel in contrast to our own long held ideas.
4 people found this helpful
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Dennis R. Koehn
5.0 out of 5 starsA Deeper LookFebruary 4, 2009
Format: Paperback
Lady Borton lives with the Vietnamese people and tells their story with empathy and insight. She reveals the face of the enemy that the French and the Americans never saw during the liberation struggles to oppose colonial oppression. This book sheds light on the American failure to understand the hearts and minds of this nation of artists and poets.
6 people found this helpful
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Susan MacIver
5.0 out of 5 starsOne of the most beautiful books I've ever read.October 6, 1999
Format: Paperback
It's hard to describe this book, which is so lovely. I've fallen in love with the Viet Nam people, their courage, their steadfastness in the face of horror, and the surprising part the women played in finally gaining their independence.
6 people found this helpful
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Format: Paperback
From her experience living together with the common people, Lady Borton is able to reveal to us the main reason why the Americans failed to win the war in Vietnam. In fact, the war is already lost even before it began. Vietnamese is those special breed of people that's enormously proud of their country & should Americans have learnt about Vietnamese history, then, they would have to think twice before deciding to chip in efforts in assisting the French, & subsequently, to fight against communism. It so happened that after interviewing the common people, they were not fighting the Americans for communism but they simply wanted to win the right to enjoy their lives, to live as a free person with their own people. We also learnt of women's significant contribution towards the cause. Along the way, they lost their loved ones, & many became victims to chemical warfare conducted by the Americans. Surprisingly, many Vietnamese don't have ill-feelings against Americans because they always regarded the American Government differently from the Americans. The book also gives us a glimpse of their cultures (celebration of Tet & New Year), difference beween North & South Vietnam. To make the reading more interesting, there were pictures taken of the author with her new found friends ie. villagers, drawing of villages layouts, map of Vietnam, outline of Vietnam history, description of Vietnamese terms, relevant poems to start every & each chapters written by Vietnamese nationalists & poets. I don't find the book particularly captivating to read as it's quite long winded describing every little details about domestic chores. For those that yearn to feel the essence of villagers' life, perhaps, it's worth the while. Still, this doesn't deter the author's goal of reconciling between the States & Vietnam, & thus, the title of the book, After Sorrow.
3 people found this helpful
HelpfulComment Report abuse
James Chaffee
1.0 out of 5 starsLeftist propaganda, mostly lies.March 25, 1999
Format: Paperback
This is a pernicious piece of leftist propaganda. The most obvious lie is that the author is politically neutral. Other pieces of nonsense litter the book from the preface and early chapters on. For example, on page five the author states that the United States embargo kept information about AIDS out of Vietnam. This is such an utter lie that it is embarrassing. It is well known that the Vietnamese government itself kept this information out of the country through its highly efficient censorship of news and information. Government censorship is still being used to edit out information regarding internal problems, including drug abuse. A better perspective on the absurdity of the Vietnamese medical establishment, which readily received medical supplies from the U.S. during the embargo, can be obtained by reading Brothers in Arms by William Broyles, Jr. This book was recommended to me by my guide while I was there.
In Grace Paley's preface to the book, it is stated that the United States defended "Quang Tri with almost total destruction". Along with a strange notion of geography (on the other side of what river is Quang Ngai, which is in fact south of Danang!), it is not mentioned that the actual destruction of Quang Tri was a result of the violation of the Paris accords by the Armies of the North in 1972. In fact, the stretch of Highway 1 around Quang Tri and Dong Ha, originally called the Street Without Joy by the French, has been renamed the Street of Terror by the locals. This is because of the 30,000 or so civilians, fleeing Dong Ha and the invading North Vietnamese Army, who were intenionally slaughtered by North Vietnamese artillery. Those terrified civilians remembered the 5,000 or more men, women and children who were massacred by the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese during their occupation of Hue in the 1968 Tet offensive. Many of those massacred in Hue were buried alive.
I have returned to Vietnam recently and can say that it is difficult to find anyone who is now proud of having served with the Viet Cong. In fact, from Hoi An to the DMZ the Marines are heroes. The Hanoi Government is an extremely corrupt police state that is killing its citizens and its economy, and is uniformly hated in both the North and the South, which essentially remain two countries, just as they were before the war.
It's obvious that the reason the current regime allowed this woman to live in a former Viet Cong village is the same as the reason that they allowed the Marxist Tom Hayden and such notables as Jane Fonda to travel in their country, namely for propaganda purposes. However, the true colors of the revolution, which purged any nationalist (non-Marixt) elements after the war, have been shown in recent times, even though the news media of the United States still does not publish the stories of oppression and political and religious persecution in that country. It is apparent that the reason Lady Jane wrote this misleading account was to try to reconcile the embarrassing truth told by the fleeing boat people with her own belief in the beneficent Marxist government that conquered the South. My own experience is that the country is full of people who are struggling to leave, mostly without success.
I could introduce Paley and Lady Jane to a woman who lived outside Dong Ha all through the war, still living there, who would tell a different story if she was not afraid of reprisals against herself and her family. And I know a former boat person from Quang Ngai, living in the United States, who would also tell a different story.
In truth, this book is a piece of propaganda meant to cover the embarrassment of a leftist who helped victimize the South Vietnamese people by supporting a brutal Stalinist regime in one of the lost battles of the Cold War. Unfortunately, those people are still suffering with the result of that failure on our part.
If you want to revisit and marvel at the nonsense spewed out about the wonderful Communists during the 60s and 70s, then read this book in that spirit, but if you want some truth read the more balanced account of a revisit by William Broyes, Jr. mentioned above.
36 people found this helpful
HelpfulComment Report abuse
Carole Raisbeck
4.0 out of 5 starsAnother Point of View Rarely Noted in the USMarch 28, 2001
Format: Paperback
Lady Borton holds some strong opinions as I have noted on a recent trip to Viet Nam. In this wonderful book however she holds them in check and expresses everything in the words, experiences and thoughts of others who presumably were there. Reading this in country and in fact in the exact places cited in the book was a moving experience. Borton does not actually take a view on agent orange here although she has one. In fact emphasising that a woman's statements in the text are annecdotal and without statistical foundation is more than fair to other opinions. Nor does she promote communism but rather separates it from the nationalism which won the war for her friends who only begin to thrive when a market economy arrives. This is a wonderful story reflecting what other war participants think and feel in contrast to our own long held ideas.
4 people found this helpful
HelpfulComment Report abuse
Dennis R. Koehn
5.0 out of 5 starsA Deeper LookFebruary 4, 2009
Format: Paperback
Lady Borton lives with the Vietnamese people and tells their story with empathy and insight. She reveals the face of the enemy that the French and the Americans never saw during the liberation struggles to oppose colonial oppression. This book sheds light on the American failure to understand the hearts and minds of this nation of artists and poets.
6 people found this helpful
HelpfulComment Report abuse
Susan MacIver
5.0 out of 5 starsOne of the most beautiful books I've ever read.October 6, 1999
Format: Paperback
It's hard to describe this book, which is so lovely. I've fallen in love with the Viet Nam people, their courage, their steadfastness in the face of horror, and the surprising part the women played in finally gaining their independence.
6 people found this helpful
HelpfulComment Report abuse
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