Commencing in the last days of Saigon, this novel follows the fate of a Captain in the South Vietnamese Army. Aide to a General, bastard son of a French priest…Communist agent. The novel is written in the form of a confession given while in custody – we don’t learn until close to the end who has actually captured our protagonist.
I liked this book, by which I mean I thought it was good. However, I also did not like it, in that I did not enjoy reading it. So what happened? It ticks all the boxes any rational person could want. It’s meticulously plotted, intriguingly structured, solidly and imaginatively written, thematically and morally complex. It explores the effect of American popular and political culture on Vietnam, as well as the effect of the Vietnam War on American popular and political culture. It is critical of aspects of Vietnamese culture while respecting its protagonist’s dedication to the liberation of his homeland. It’s obviously well-researched, but the research wasn’t allowed to intrude on the natural development of the story. While it was in front of me, I was perfectly happy to keep turning the page. But as soon as I put it down, I had no interest in returning to it. (I read three Agatha Christie novels while in the middle of it.)
Ultimately, it might come down to something as simple as personal preference. I’m just not that interested in this chunk of history. The subject-matter, while objectively interesting, was not that interesting to me. It might be to you, in which case I recommend this novel unreservedly.
It’s unfair of me not to like it, because the rational part of my brain thinks this is an IMMENSELY important novel. I’m so, so sick of reading new releases about World War II; there must have been dozens of them on the best-seller list in the last five years. But how often do we get a new novel, written in English, about the Vietnam War, written from the perspective of a Vietnamese protagonist, set partly in America, written by someone from a Vietnamese/American cultural background? It should be (and is) a rare treat – just not for me.
Trigger warnings: combat scenes, rape scenes, torture scenes, implied clerical paedophilia.