motashaael:Những thiên đường mù - Dương Thu Hương (Paradise of The Blind) (Translators: Phan Huy
motashaael: Những thiên đường mù - Dương Thu Hương (Paradise of The Blind) (Translators: Phan Huy Duong and Nina McPherson)1988One of the reasons why I really love historical novels, or historical fiction in general, is that I feel that I learn more about the places and people than just reading a history book. There is something more personal. Even the greatest history books won’t succeed if it’s just narration of one fact after another. This is why I loved this novel by the Vietnamese author Duong Thu Huong. When most outsiders, including myself I admit, hear the name “Vietnam”, the first images that come to our minds are of the war, and not the war from the Vietnamese perspective, in most cases. Heck, even if you search “Vietnamese music” on Youtube, some of the first results you’ll get are the Rock songs during the 60s and 70s that are associated with Vietnam through foreign culture. This is why the novel explores to different periods of modern Vietnamese history, the Vietnamese land reforms during the 50s which took place against the fall of French colonialism, and the post war period in the 80s. We learn how people had to scramble to survive at times, and just do their best to live during harsh times. Many people praise it as an “anti-communist” novel or a critique of socialism. This isn’t my impression. The novel’s framework is about how governments can roll over their people with their “projects”. It’s entirely told through the eyes of its people as brutal changes are forced upon them, and how society evolves with these changes. Yet at the heart of this novel, we have three crucial figures, three women: A daughter, a mother, and an aunt. This is above all a family drama. Chang, a young woman and the narrator of the novel, was forced to leave her studies to work as a textile. She lives in Russia as an “exported worker” and is urgently summoned by her uncle Chinh, an official in the communist party living in Moscow. She narrates to us her harsh childhood through on her train voyage as we discover more and more the family drama. Chang’s mother Que is a proud woman and cherishes her family above all, and would sacrifice everything for her family. On the other hand, a sort of familial civil war ensues with Chang’s aunt Tam, the sister of Chang’s father, and her clear grudge against Chinh for the miseries her caused her family during the Land Reforms. It is a family drama plunges us deep in Vietnamese tradition and lets us discover many important aspects of Vietnam such as the importance of food (Seriously, I got hungry by the great description), the reverence of the ancestors, family bonds, and Thu Huong gives us such picturesque descriptions of her beloved country. Yet the novel exposes many hardships that especially women face in a masculine, and at times, very patriarchal society. The novel lets us as well ponder very important question. We ponder the deepness and importance of family bonds, the conservation of traditions, the gender roles in society, and personal freedom VS tradition. For how far are we willing to defend our family considering all their bad actions? Are we to accept previous traditions and customs forced upon us just to conserve them, even if they are toxic to our happiness? These and more are some of the main dilemmas that befall our young protagonist. So again, I loved this novel and it not only let me learn more things of a place foreign to me, but it really invited me to reflect upon several matters such as family, blood relations, and heritage amongst other. Thu Huong allowed me hear some voices and experiences from Vietnam that go beyond the outsider portrayal. I highly recommend this novel. -- source link