Reviews - Góry śpiewają

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3.33k reviews for:

Góry śpiewają

Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

4.35 AVERAGE

lenamenke's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 51%

didnt really find it engaging enough to keep going, the way the two stories are told are not my thing

stillhouette's review against another edition

4.75

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

encyclopediabritanika's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

I, like many, read The Women and felt its lack - lack of a viewpoint that wasn't so very American. I was directed to read this so I could learn of life in Vietnam from a Vietnamese perspective, and I'm so glad I did. Spanning generations, it covers life through Land Reform, communism, and the war. The grandmother of the story endured so much, but kept her positivity and resilience in the face of horrific circumstances that would have left me curled up by the side of the road crying. I love her. Really great alternative to The Women. I look forward to reading Dust Child by this author.

danielle67's review against another edition

4.0

Oh my… what a heartbreaking and beautiful book. I was bawling on an airplane as I finished. I knew very little about Vietnam’s history before reading this & I learned a lot with this story - Especially since there are 2 POVs with their own timelines. One of my favorite parts was how she included Vietnamese proverbs throughout. For being Nguyễn’s first English novel, this is so impressive. It’s a dialogue heavy book (which I normally don’t enjoy) and I found those parts to be a bit choppy, but the story is so powerfully done that I’m going with a 4!

“Somehow I was sure that if people were willing to read each other, and see the light of other cultures, there would be no war on earth.”