This is from a Toronto-based English anthropologist and fiction writer of at least four novels, and some poems, this being the latest that I could find.
This one is based largely in Hanoi, and is written in the present tense, covering more than three generations of residents in 28 chapters. Hung’s Pho, a complicated multistage broth with fish, rice, meat, and spices figures prominently in the story as he makes it daily and distributes it to his clients from his rundown shack. The work of Vietnamese artists also becomes integral to the story, even if their value in capitalist terms seems to be exaggerated. They highlight protests in the struggles for liberation from the Japanese, the French, and the Americans, with brief allusion to that of the Chinese in the 15th century, causing further cruel repression from the communist leaders. Art and literature are seen as liberators with some characters having returned to Hanoi after being evacuated to Minnesota when the Americans withdrew, bringing with them ideas of capitalism. The title refers to an organization of protesters of the Communist regime .
For those like me who have difficulty keeping the names of characters in many novels straight, it would have been of immense help if the author had included a list of the main characters and their relationship to one another. I might then have been less confused by unfamiliar names such as Dao, Hung, Lan, Tu, Binh, Maggie, Phuong, Viet Ming, Truong, Khai, Amie, Pham Khoi, Van, Paul Nguyen, L’y Van Hai, Phuo ng, Mr. Vo, Bui Xuan Phai, Thuy Doc, Anh, Henry Thanh, and Phuc Li. I did include such a list with my much simpler novel Mere Mortals to avoid such confusion among readers.
A pet peeve: one character is described as having a throbbing vein on his forehead. Arteries throb, not veins.
As an introduction to various aspects of Vietnamese culture of the 20th century, this is a great start.
4.0/5
Thanks, Michelle.
The Passionate Reader 