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Title: The Other Side of Heaven: Postwar Fiction by Vietnamese and American Writers by Wayne Karlin, Le Minh Khue, Vu Truong, Truong Vu ISBN: 1-880684-31-4 Publisher: Curbstone Press Pub. Date: September, 1995 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.67 (3 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: REVIEW QUOTES
Comment: "Stunning in both scope and content..." --Publishers Weekly
"Karlin has established a reputation as a superb prose stylist. His uncanny ability to examine the human condition by juxtaposing historical periods and tracing the dramatic impact of one person's history on other characters and consequent events has won him praise...This excellent novel is highly recommended..."
--Multicultural Perspectives
"A superb collection." --Kirkus Reviews
Rating: 4
Summary: A Two-Sided Perspective
Comment: The layout of the book is rather interesting, and serves to make the point of the authors clear. Each section of the collection is prefaced by a part of a poem that illuminates the struggles victims on both sides of the war faced. The anthology is also organized in a form that alternates between American and Vietnamese short stories. The plight that the Vietnamese people faced during the Vietname war is often overshadowed by America's turmoil, and it is helpful to see both sides of the coin. Some very formidable Vietnamese authors are included in the anthology, so it is also a helpful way to introduce oneself to Vietnamese literature. I think that the book is very worthwhile, and it makes an interesting attempt at healing the scar which divides two nations.
Rating: 2
Summary: Useful for Exploring Different Perspectives
Comment: If you, like me, have gotten your impressions of Vietnam and the Vietnam War mostly through American movies, the American press, American books, etc., this anthology of short stories can be a worthwhile way of exposing yourself to other perspectives.
I don't mean to imply that most Americans have encountered only pro-American and pro-war propaganda. Quite the contrary. Actually a lot of the popular movies and such about the Vietnam War present the American role in that country quite negatively. But whether the Americans are the heroes or the villains, they're still the main focus. The Vietnamese typically are portrayed as a mysterious "Other," who serve merely as extras in a drama about complex, flesh and blood, American persons.
Half of the stories in this anthology are written from the Vietnamese perspective. Even within that, of course, there are countless sub-perspectives. The reader is given the opportunity to see the war through the eyes of Vietnamese men, women, civilians, soldiers, those allied with the Americans, those battling against the Americans, those who stayed in Vietnam after the war, those who left, etc. I definitely appreciated that.
Having said that, I can only give this book 2-3 stars, because only a handful of the stories, a handful of the scenes, drew me in or seemed particularly memorable. I felt myself forcing my way through a lot of the book. I am not a literary critic, and I fully admit that this is merely a subjective reaction on my part, so I would urge people to give the book a chance and draw their own conclusions. The stories only made a deep connection with me quite infrequently and I have to give an honest rating based on that, but others might find themselves affected quite differently.
I suppose one could find fault with the tendency of the stories to present the characters just a little too sympathetically. You'll find very few "bad guys" in here. Presumably those would be the American politicians, generals, etc., and they're left out of these stories almost completely. Instead, the stories focus on the Vietnamese, and on the type of powerless Americans whom we are supposed to more or less relieve of responsibility for the evils of the war-the grunt during the war and the veteran back home afterwards. And these characters are mostly presented in a way that conveys the message that if you really understood their circumstances and what went into the things they did, you wouldn't condemn these folks. Not all that objectionable a sentiment certainly, but still, I wouldn't have minded stories with just a little more bite, even at the cost of some of the reconciliation and healing.
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Title: Patriots: The Vietnam War Remembered from All Sides by Christian G. Appy ISBN: 067003214X Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: 22 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $34.95 |
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Title: The Sorrow of War: A Novel of North Vietnam by Bao Ninh, Frank Palmos, Phan Thanh Hao, Bao Ninh, Bao ISBN: 1573225436 Publisher: Riverhead Books Pub. Date: April, 1996 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: The Stars, the Earth, the River: Short Fiction (Voices from Vietnam, No 1) by Bac Hoai Tran, Dana Sachs, Wayne Karlin, Le Minh Khue, Bachoai Tran ISBN: 1880684470 Publisher: Curbstone Press Pub. Date: May, 1997 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Vietnam Wars 1945-19 by Marilyn Young ISBN: 0060921072 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 25 September, 1991 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo ISBN: 080504695X Publisher: Owl Books Pub. Date: 15 November, 1996 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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